leaf totally dead

[nananaLeafman]

I've been away a week, left my leaf with 45% charge unplugged, wth the plan that my brother at the office would plug the car in today before i get back.

The car is totally unresponsive and he could only get in with the manual key.

I've asked if they can find a multimeter at the office to check the 12V battery, but isnt that suposed to get recharged automatically?

He tried touching the fob to the start button as described in the manual but nothing happened.

Ideas? I'm really not too excited about a red-eye followed by calling a tow truck...

 

[EVDRIVER]

See if someone can put a trickle charger on the 12V battery for a while. You only need a small amount of power to trip the contactor and then you can charge.

 

[nananaLeafman]

so it is a 12V issue, 4V was measured.

It was my understanding that leaving the car unplugged would allow it to automatically top up the 12v battery. Is this not the case? would it be better to plug it in for the whole week?

 

[garsh]

Most likely the 12v battery.
It's supposed to charge when the car is sitting like that: Nissan Leaf Wiki > Battery > 12v Battery

Try EVDRIVER's suggestion. Or if you don't have a trickle-charger, just "jump-start" it: someone else who had this problem

 

[nananaLeafman]

So they are now looking for a way to charge or jump the car, meanwhile i contacted no-gas-ev and boy was i disappointed.

they start by blaming me leaving the car 'on' and then tell me they can only tow me to the mississauga nissan, further from my home by another 20km.

I guess I'll get caa to tow me home, just a bit pissed that they cant even tow me in the right direction, the maple nissan is about hte same distance and half way home.

 

[surfingslovak]

So they are now looking for a way to charge or jump the car, meanwhile i contacted no-gas-ev and boy was i disappointed.

they start by blaming me leaving the car 'on' and then tell me they can only tow me to the mississauga nissan, further from my home by another 20km.

I guess I'll get caa to tow me home, just a bit pissed that they cant even tow me in the right direction, the maple nissan is about hte same distance and half way home.

Sorry to hear! Please ask to speak to the supervisor next time and explain the situation. If the hotline staff is with TeleTech, they are given a rigid script, which they follow to the letter. I had a similar experience and was able to get it resolved to my satisfaction.

 

[Nubo]

You don't need a tow, just a jump-start. Once you get the car turned on, the car will supply 12V to the battery. Should get you home even if the 12V battery is toast. If it was brought down to 4 volts it is probably become weak and I'd consider getting it replaced.

 

[nananaLeafman]

You don't need a tow, just a jump-start. Once you get the car turned on, the car will supply 12V to the battery. Should get you home even if the 12V battery is toast. If it was brought down to 4 volts it is probably become weak and I'd consider getting it replaced.

i needed a tow because i have far less than the amount of charge i'll need to get home, they successfully jumped the car and it was able to drive to the charging station, so I guess I'll see in morning what it does.

 

[mwalsh]

Does the car throw codes when this happens? The reason I ask is that they were able to tell the one guy a few similar posts back the specific reason he came back to a dead car (left it turned on WITH the climate running, IIRC).

 

[91040]

Point of information- Here in Los Angeles, the tow company was willing to take the car to my home. It was approximately equadistant from home and the nearest dealership. Didn't ask the Nissan call center.

 

[DarkStar]

so it is a 12V issue, 4V was measured.

I'm not even sure how one would get the voltage that low. Maybe by leaving the hazard lights on all night?

 

[SanDust]

Unfortunate this happened. I can imagine that dealing with this after a long red eye is not pleasant. The good thing is that it was discovered before you got home so it wasn't as inconvenient as it might have been.

A dead 12v is pretty common in all cars. It's one of life's annoyances. You might have left something on or it just might have failed. Personally I think Nissan could beef up the 12v a little bit. Wouldn't cost much and might help on occasion.