Moving a MY22 leaf by hand

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LMF5000

Active member
Joined
Oct 20, 2017
Messages
41
Had my leaf for 2 weeks so far and realized I couldn't figure out how to move the car around in the garage by hand. Our garage is just barely long enough for two cars, so with the ICE I normally get close enough for the parking sensors to give a continuous beep (maybe 30cm gap), then turn off the engine, put it in neutral, hop out, grab the rear quarter panel, and manually push the car by hand to within a centimeter of the wall. Pushing by hand is the safest way to get it right up to the wall without hitting it.

With the leaf, I can put it in neutral just fine, but as soon as the driver's door is open, it give the "shift to park range" warning, shifts back to Park, and thereby locks the drive wheels with the pawl in the gearbox.

I could 3D-print a gadget to keep the door sensor pressed to permit manually moving the leaf while the door is physically open, but I wanted to post the question here first. Is there a more elegant way to push the leaf around by hand without defeating the door sensor?
 
I can't directly help you, but what I did was get parking bumpers that stop the wheels, and after careful positioning, I anchored them in place. It may, depending on your cars' positions, mean that you drive over them, though.
 
if you insist on putting it in neutral to push....put the window down, press Brake pedal with a stick while reaching in and put the shifter in neutral. Proceed at your own risk.!!!
 
If you buckle the seat belt, the car thinks there is someone in the driver seat so it will stay in neutral and you can push it with the door open. You need to press the brake pedal to shift from Park to Neutral after buckling the seat belt (can be done with door open).
 
Sticking bumpers to the ground isn't so easy since the garage has a ceramic-tiled floor (bolts would mean drilling, and sticky tape would mean risking a bump if they shift).

The seatbelt idea looks delightfully easy - I will give that one a try.

Opening door and then putting into neutral doesn't work, if memory serves - I will try when I'm back at the car.
 
My 2019 allows shifting to Neutral with the door open, seat belt fastened, and foot on brake pedal whether sitting in the seat or standing beside the car. Since mine has the electrically-actuated parking brake, the parking brake must also be released by pressing the button while foot is on brake pedal.

Note: The dashboard warning "Shift to P Range" will display, but the car will stay in Neutral so it can be moved.
 
Solved! :)

On mine, if I open the door and shift to N, it quickly returns to P regardless, so that wasn't it.

The solution ultimately was to keep the seat belt buckled. So to summarize:
1. Exit the car
2. Fasten the driver's seat belt
3. Hold the brake, shift to N
4. Move the car (it won't automatically shift to P while seat belt is fastened)

Mine doesn't have the electronic parking brake, so I simply release the pedal as far as that's concerned.
 
LMF5000 said:
Solved! :)

On mine, if I open the door and shift to N, it quickly returns to P regardless, so that wasn't it.

The solution ultimately was to keep the seat belt buckled. So to summarize:
1. Exit the car
2. Fasten the driver's seat belt
3. Hold the brake, shift to N
4. Move the car (it won't automatically shift to P while seat belt is fastened)

Mine doesn't have the electronic parking brake, so I simply release the pedal as far as that's concerned.
Wow! it's amazing how difficult it can be sometimes to defeat the safety features they add to accomplish something simple like manually pushing a car :D
Kind of like how it's tricky to lock the car while running for example to have it warm-up while unattended. BTW the trick in this case is to use the manual key to lock the doors, it won't let you use the door buttons or FOB in this case, well at least with the first-gen Leafs.
 
For precision parking I hang a tennis-ball from the ceiling, which I aim to contact a specific spot on the windshield. I find it very accurate.
 
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