Catastrophic Failure of 2012 Leaf

[SageBrush]

brake sensor
gear shifter
wiring to the ECU that takes the inputs
the ECU
12v battery

I think that pretty much sums up the pathways involved.
I've said already that the involved dealership seem like money sucking idiots;
and clearly NIssan is taking a blind, deaf and dumb approach to customer support

But the customer is not helping himself here. He should have swapped out the 12v battery; and gear shifter, and if that did not help, the brake sensor, with used parts at home before getting anywhere near a dealership. Walking into a dealership with a blank check is not a good gambit. Without a doubt, OP should collect the DTC data after the 12v battery swap and report them here.

Customers may not like it, but here is reality: either learn to work in concert with online community expertise or bend over for corporate apathy and dealership incompetence and greed.

 

[JimSouCal]

I asked once... Gentle request a second time... What is the dealer's name?

 

[JimSouCal]

I asked once... Gentle request a second time... What is the dealer's name?

bump

 

[keydiver]

He should have swapped out the 12v battery

OP should collect the DTC data after the 12v battery swap and report them here.

That's exactly what I would have done. Read the DTC's, swap the battery out myself, then reset the DTC's, and see which ones reappear. As someone else said, when there are a bunch of DTC's just one or two of them are the root cause and really matter, and the rest can be ignored. List the DTC's here, and we'll diagnose it for free.
I think that is the most ridiculous part of this story: that the dealership proposes to spend 9-11 hours to diagnose a problem! :shock: I think they could install a whole new drivetrain in less time. Or, is it something like: connect charger, charge for 5 hours, read DTC's, try to start, charge another 5 hours, for a total of 11 hours? :?

 

[JimSouCal]

To quote the old Chinese Farmer proverb, we'll see....

 

[aarond12]

My wife called me the other day with a similar issue: The car would go into Park and Neutral, but not Drive or Reverse.

I asked her if the green car with the arrows above it (the "run" light) was lit on the dashboard. It was not. Sure enough, she pushed the Start/Run button without pressing the brake (or timed it wrong, as I've done in the past).

This relates to this thread if the LEAF doesn't detect the brake being pressed and the run light isn't illuminated. Thoughts?

 

[Durandal]

brake sensor
gear shifter
wiring to the ECU that takes the inputs
the ECU
12v battery

I think that pretty much sums up the pathways involved.
I've said already that the involved dealership seem like money sucking idiots;
and clearly NIssan is taking a blind, deaf and dumb approach to customer support

But the customer is not helping himself here. He should have swapped out the 12v battery; and gear shifter, and if that did not help, the brake sensor, with used parts at home before getting anywhere near a dealership. Walking into a dealership with a blank check is not a good gambit. Without a doubt, OP should collect the DTC data after the 12v battery swap and report them here.

Customers may not like it, but here is reality: either learn to work in concert with online community expertise or bend over for corporate apathy and dealership incompetence and greed.

I couldn't agree more. The 12v battery being a quick easy fix to test. $5 multimeter from Harbor Freight tools or Wal-mart applied to the 12v battery, long before going to a dealership.

 

[Oils4AsphaultOnly]

My wife called me the other day with a similar issue: The car would go into Park and Neutral, but not Drive or Reverse.

I asked her if the green car with the arrows above it (the "run" light) was lit on the dashboard. It was not. Sure enough, she pushed the Start/Run button without pressing the brake (or timed it wrong, as I've done in the past).

This relates to this thread if the LEAF doesn't detect the brake being pressed and the run light isn't illuminated. Thoughts?

This sounds like a good suggestion! Maybe the brake sensors aren't working?

 

[JimSouCal]

I have a 2011. Kind of wondered what happened with the original poster? We all might be able to learn from this...

 

[tomw]

You said the car has 55,000 miles, it's also less than 60 months?

That is correct, just barely.

The dealership has made no claims the diagnostics charges will be applied towards the repair and I don't expect that it will. I am however hoping and expecting that it will be covered under warranty and it won't matter to me.

Did you get your car fixed?

 

[JimSouCal]

Did you get your car fixed?

Perhaps NOGASHOLE entered into litigation and is being silent? Odd. I had asked for the dealer name as well...?

 

[co2112]

If this was Toyota, they would have a REAL qualified tech out to the site figuring out the problem, free of charge to the customer.
This just sounds like an incompetent dealership.

Not always true, I recently had my Rav4 EV towed into the same dealership three times after getting an EV system error 7 times since 2/22/17.

The first thing I thought of was low 12v. The car wouldn't shift to drive or reverse. Right before I hooked it up for a jump it started without issue. I did get the 12v tested same day after 60 mile trip and it tested fine.

On 2/27/17 it didn't start and I couldn't clear the errors. I did buy a new battery after getting readings of 11.9-12.5v. I figure previous good battery test was due to long commute. New 12v didn't make a difference.

Towed car in 3/1 to Toyota: Was told loose HV wire connection. They cleared errors and I drove 90 miles home on 3/2.

On 3/3 drove to work and plugged in. Drove to lunch and car wouldn't start, ev system error, after grabbing food. I was stranded and had car towed in again 3/3. They again cleared errors but said they swapped the HV plug and made sure it was secure. Drove home plugged in and didn't touch it until Monday morning.

3/6 wouldn't start EV system error again. Towed in again. My understanding same error codes and they finally had a chance to check with both Tesla and offsite Toyota tech. Each previous visit was after 5 pm and the regular Toyota tech was out and Tesla was unavailable. Today it sounds like a bad cell pack and they are now replacing the entire pack. Its covered under warranty but I will be without the car for two to three weeks.

I did get charged for the initial diagnostic $237 (2 hours). They also gave me a courtesy car which I think I paid for. All additional hours are going to warranty claim. I was fine with the payment and happy with the courtesy car but I also paid for the additional mileage my road side assistance didn't cover because I have to take it to a certified EV dealer. This was $76 each trip (x2). The battery cost $168 and I am not sure if it was needed. I also paid for a rental car for $110 for two days waiting on initial Toyota diagnostic. $667 for a new battery is acceptable to me as long as this means I'll get another 70k miles from this car. I average 2000 miles per month. The reason I went Ev is the cost of ownership and lower transportation costs (fuel/electricity).

From all the stories of Leafs still under warranty it has always been a no-brainer. I can't believe they seem to be so inflexible. The car gets whatever replaced and they move on. For me the only thing covered is the battery due to mileage and it seemed as though although they got it wrong they wanted to make it right.

 

[powersurge]

Do you really think "catastrophic" is the most appropriate adjective given the facts you've described so far?

I expected that the wheels fell off or the battery caught fire and demolished the car. So far, we have a Leaf that can't be driven, which is only catastrophic if there is a nuclear test planned for the region and you don't have another way out of town.

I LOVE YOUR THINKING!! You have my kind of sense of humor.... +2

 

[Leaftogo1]

I just had my 2012 with 47k miles fail as described, would not go into drive or reverse, had multiple warning lights, not working I-Key warning. Had towed to Dealer in Ft Myers and was told need Gear box replaced and not covered under warranty cause my 5 years ended Nov 25th 2016. Only issue I have had with the vehicle other than the Battery Replaced back in October after squeaking in on the recall.
They quote me $960 to replace it.

 

[91040]

Of course they checked the 12V battery and found it fully charged?

 

[Leaftogo1]

I called them this morning and told them to pull it out, replace it and see if there is any change in the issue.
Haven't heard back as of yet.

 

[Levenkay]

I called them this morning and told them to pull it out, replace it and see if there is any change in the issue.
Haven't heard back as of yet.

Which "IT" are you talking about? The 12V battery, we hope, because it is extremely unlikely to be anything to do with "the gearbox". A LEAF's "shifting" is entirely a function of the drive electronics, and for the dealer to suggest replacing the transmission doesn't reflect well on them.

 

[Leaftogo1]

I called them this morning and told them to pull it out, replace it and see if there is any change in the issue.
Haven't heard back as of yet.

Which "IT" are you talking about? The 12V battery, we hope, because it is extremely unlikely to be anything to do with "the gearbox". A LEAF's "shifting" is entirely a function of the drive electronics, and for the dealer to suggest replacing the transmission doesn't reflect well on them.

The 12v Battery, I request test and replace anyway and then see if it boots up with no issue. They didn't call back yesterday so, I'll nbe calling them back on Monday.

 

[Leaftogo1]

So, it turns out the 12V Aux battery was fine and it was in fact the shifter module located in the center console. FB# 31038-3NA1B Part cost $621.99 + $270 in labor plus tax came to $956.95. Car has 47,614 miles and this, besides a new set of tires, has been my only expenses out side of monthly charging it.

 

[sub3marathonman]

So, it turns out the 12V Aux battery was fine and it was in fact the shifter module located in the center console. FB# 31038-3NA1B Part cost $621.99 + $270 in labor plus tax came to $956.95. Car has 47,614 miles and this, besides a new set of tires, has been my only expenses out side of monthly charging it.

By any chance did you get the old part back? I'm wondering if one of the electronic experts would want to see what failed, as I'm thinking this shouldn't have happened. Did somebody spill coffee on it?

I'm also thinking $621.99 is a pretty outrageous price for just the part. And even if $1000 in 5 years was the only extra expense, that adds $200/year, which is much more than the oil changes on the Prius.