Leaf Battery ran out of charge & 12 volt battery dead

[smkettner]

Gives those LED running lights some additional value.

 

[dhanson865]

Gives those LED running lights some additional value.

Meaning more dead 12v batteries when the low trim option for 2013 hits the market?

I guess the mid trim 2013 will be worth the price difference for many reasons.

 

[smkettner]

No, I meant to change the running lights to LED has value to give longer emergency flasher run time.

 

[69800]

Since you do not know the history of the battery, I would guess it was run dead at some point for a while and the plates got sulphated. Replace it. This is a computerized car and you have to have a good battery. I use sealed AGM batteries in all of my rigs because the are bullet proof with the plates covered. They discharge when sitting at 1/4 the rate of standard led acid batteries and usually last for 7 to 10 years.

 

[garygid]

Did anybody disconnect the 12v Battery and try to open
the door with the "mechanical" key?

Merry Christmas, Gary

 

[garygid]

Probably best to charge the 12v Battery with its ground
Lead disconnected from the car?

Then, the car's electronics will not be totally confused
by some parts of the car "coming alive" before other
parts are ready to participate properly.

Merry Christmas, Gary

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

i think I am going to investigate rigging a secret manual hood latch instead. obviously dont want people to know about it so it would be small and insignificant. it is still one of the few mechanical things on the LEAF

 

[silentguy]

Probably best to charge the 12v Battery with its ground
Lead disconnected from the car?

Then, the car's electronics will not be totally confused
by some parts of the car "coming alive" before other
parts are ready to participate properly.

Merry Christmas, Gary

Thanks for this tip.
The confusion of the car computer, made charging difficult.

If there is a next time I'll try that.

 

[silentguy]

i think I am going to investigate rigging a secret manual hood latch instead. obviously dont want people to know about it so it would be small and insignificant. it is still one of the few mechanical things on the LEAF

This is a good idea, or you could invest in the air bladder thing, and the long lock pick.
It seems its very easy to break into any car...
This thing worked better than a Slim Jim, and absolutely no damage to door locks.
Now I wonder if they sell these tools to the general public.

 

[silentguy]

Update:

Car is almost fully charged. I was able to drive it a bit, to turn around in my driveway,
and use 240 Volt charge.

I will look into getting a new battery from Nissan if covered, or buy a new one myself.

 

[silentguy]

Key update.

Mechanical key doesnt work even now with 12 volt battery fully charged.
But the key fob works.

So I am thinking that the dealer gave me wrong set of mechanical keys ?

Key does fit in the lock properly, but just doesnt rotate the lock fully or do anything.
I tried this both with the security system enabled and disabled.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

oh that is a relief! although the lock/unlock process is powered i was always under the impression that if no power was available, it would just require slightly more effort to turn the key. that is how the Prius works

 

[ebill3]

I will look into getting a new battery from Nissan if covered, or buy a new one myself.

Good plan. Once a lead acid battery is fully discharged, it's further reliability is very suspect.

 

[EVDRIVER]

I think the battery is the same form factor as the Pruis and there are deep cycle options like:

http://www.amazon.com/Optima-Batteries-8171-767-Yellow-S46b24r/dp/B006VY4DYI/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[silentguy]

Car charged to 111 miles at 100% charge
This is the most I have ever gotten

I drove the car 21 miles today so all seems ok for now

 

[derkraut]

Car charged to 111 miles at 100% charge
This is the most I have ever gotten

I drove the car 21 miles today so all seems ok for now

That 111 mile reading is from your "Guess-o-meter". It is notoriously inaccurate in predicting your range; I always go by the "bars" and use Tony Williams' chart.

 

[ebill3]

That 111 mile reading is from your "Guess-o-meter". It is notoriously inaccurate in predicting your range; I always go by the "bars" and use Tony Williams' chart.

Yes.

Also, since your car was dead dead, no telling what the GOM is basing it's prediction on. Normally, it uses the last several miles to predict the future - now it is probably using some optimistic default value.

 

[BudRaymond]

Lead acid battery is toast and needs to be replaced. Whether Nissan pays for it or not, you absolutely need a new one. A reading of 4V means the cell(s) are no longer capable of holding a charge.
Yellow top Optima's are the best choice. Will give you many years of trouble free use and are not damaged by deep cycling.

 

[mkjayakumar]

Perhaps the title of this thread can be changed to, "12V battery dead" instead of the more provocative title we have now, considering how these titles show up easily when FUD makers search

 

[cwerdna]

I think the battery is the same form factor as the Pruis and there are deep cycle options like:

http://www.amazon.com/Optima-Batteries-8171-767-Yellow-S46b24r/dp/B006VY4DYI/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have no Leaf but be careful about ordering that as the terminals may/may not be the right size.

Prior to Optima putting out a version in the US that had the smaller pencil posts used by the Prius, people (including me) bought http://www.elearnaid.com/12vo1topraub.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; which includes a new positive terminal and a new negative cable.

Later, a direct fit version came out w/pencil posts: http://priuschat.com/threads/new-optima-12v-yellow-top-d51-battery-with-pencil-posts.98146/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://www.elearnaid.com/opdsopbadifi.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

I don't know what the Leaf uses.