LEAF completely unresponsive

[gbarry42]

I will volunteer to say it: Without proper 12V present, you can't charge the car. This also suggests the solution to your other problem. To get the charging hatch open, raise the hood, get 12V from somewhere, and once that's established, just push the button to open the charging hatch. Which is to say, you needed the 12V anyway, so charging is immaterial until that's taken care of.

Another vehicle is the most common or convenient place to get 12V, but the LEAF doesn't require near that much current, so other 12V sources may work. Including trickle charging for a while and then trying to kick off a charge session. The timer override button is ideal (don't know if 2013's still have this) because it will start charging without having to go through the whole startup-the-car dance-and-dashboard show. The moment the traction battery comes on line, the inverter starts making its own 12V, and you're good to go.

 

[KillaWhat]

I will volunteer to say it: Without proper 12V present, you can't charge the car. This also suggests the solution to your other problem. To get the charging hatch open, raise the hood, get 12V from somewhere, and once that's established, just push the button to open the charging hatch. Which is to say, you needed the 12V anyway, so charging is immaterial until that's taken care of.

.

Can you backfeed the cigarette lighter and pop the charging door?
Use a 12VDC charger and a Cig plug cable and see if that works.
Worst case is you overdraw, and pop the Cig fuse.

 

[TomT]

That won't work because the cigarette lighter (like on most Japanese cars) is not active when the car is off. (I've always hated that design, by the way, and rewired it to be always on on most of the cars I've owned, including my present Leaf...)

Can you backfeed the cigarette lighter and pop the charging door?
Use a 12VDC charger and a Cig plug cable and see if that works.

 

[Stanton]

I know you guys don't want to hear it, but replacing the 12v LEAD ACID battery with a LITHIUM battery (LiFePO4) gets rid of the "dead 12v battery" syndrome; yes, it's expensive, but it could be years before I have to replace it again. Just so happens my rear hatch was open last night (had a box in there), AND the weather got cold, but I had no problems starting this morning. Plus, I never have to worry when I park at the airport, no matter how many times I check my charge level (which shouldn't take that much juice anyway)!

BTW, I don't like the fact that you have to have power to release the charging door on new Leafs; I think they should have left it manual (like on mine).

 

[neunsechszwo]

I will volunteer to say it: Without proper 12V present, you can't charge the car. This also suggests the solution to your other problem. To get the charging hatch open, raise the hood, get 12V from somewhere, and once that's established, just push the button to open the charging hatch. Which is to say, you needed the 12V anyway, so charging is immaterial until that's taken care of.

Yep—as I found out experimentally today!

Another vehicle is the most common or convenient place to get 12V, but the LEAF doesn't require near that much current, so other 12V sources may work. Including trickle charging for a while and then trying to kick off a charge session. The timer override button is ideal (don't know if 2013's still have this) because it will start charging without having to go through the whole startup-the-car dance-and-dashboard show. The moment the traction battery comes on line, the inverter starts making its own 12V, and you're good to go.

In our hubris we thought disconnecting the battery for ten seconds had gotten rid of the parasitic drain for awhile, and blocked the other car in—unable to move it to jump.

I biked off to buy a charger. Came back with 1.5- and 6A chargers... 1.5 didn't immediately enable starting so switched to 6A, and that still took about 40 min of charging.

Calling the dealer later... But at least I have a line of defense now.

Leaving the 12V charging, standalone, so I don't have to worry about reaching 80% charge on the traction battery and having 12V drain again, and so I can see how long it takes for the 6A charger to finish.

 

[neunsechszwo]

I know you guys don't want to hear it, but replacing the 12v LEAD ACID battery with a LITHIUM battery (LiFePO4) gets rid of the "dead 12v battery" syndrome; yes, it's expensive, but it could be years before I have to replace it again. Just so happens my rear hatch was open last night (had a box in there), AND the weather got cold, but I had no problems starting this morning. Plus, I never have to worry when I park at the airport, no matter how many times I check my charge level (which shouldn't take that much juice anyway)!

BTW, I don't like the fact that you have to have power to release the charging door on new Leafs; I think they should have left it manual (like on mine).

Standard answer: I would be totally up for spending a few hundred on a LiPo battery if it weren't a lease suppose the battery can just be swapped back and used in another car or sold after the lease ends, of course.

 

[neunsechszwo]

Update: dealer diagnosed and applied software update in a few hrs. Went on a 10 day vacation and car was fine.

As an aside I think the low 12V did something to the airbag computer, which after the jumps started flashing its warning light even after reset. The dealer replaced that as well on a subsequent visit...