Visit Dealer showing while parking brake light flashes

[LEAFfan]

If there is an emergency situation, I would feel much better knowing I can yank the $hit out of something to stop the car.

I don't know if you saw this in the manual, but it says if you pull it twice, it will give you a tighter hold which may help in an emergency situation.

 

[aqn]

On a related note, I was disappointed that the parking brake is not a manual hand-brake. [...] Hopefully it runs on separate electronics than most of the other car, just in case there is an electrical failure and I need to stop the car.

There is a big super capacitor to provide electrical power for the brake system in the event of total electrical failure.

It's not quite definitive, but the service manual indicates that the capacitor is for the service brake in case of power failure, not for the parking brake.

I don't know if you saw this in the manual, but it says if you pull it twice, it will give you a tighter hold which may help in an emergency situation.

That's only when you're stationary: a second pull will "apply maximum parking brake force". When you're moving, pull up and keep the switch pulled up to apply the parking brake. A chime will sound. When you release the switch, the parking brake is released.

 

[aqn]

What would it take to put one cable to the front (over the Battery Pack) and add a Lever, by passing the electric parking brake motor and the awkward cable "loop" in the rear?

I dunno, but I sometimes wonder if the reason Nissan went with the Rube Goldberg electric actuation for the parking brake is because its reduction gear can generate a lot more torque at the drum brakes' arm than a hand-pulled brake lever. It would be consistent with "needing more braking force in absence of engine braking".

 

[erdalc]

I left my leaf at the airport for two days. When I returned from my trip it said visit dealer warning. I cleared by pressing the top left button to the left of steering whelel and drove home. Did I do something wrong?

 

[GerryAZ]

I suspect the main reason for the electric actuator is because the battery pack is in the way of routing a cable from the rear wheels to the center console. A long cable with several tight bends to get around the battery would probably make a conventional parking brake lever very difficult to operate.

Gerry

 

[planet4ever]

I dunno, but I sometimes wonder if the reason Nissan went with the Rube Goldberg electric actuation for the parking brake is because its reduction gear can generate a lot more torque at the drum brakes' arm than a hand-pulled brake lever. It would be consistent with "needing more braking force in absence of engine braking".

I suspect the main reason for the electric actuator is because the battery pack is in the way of routing a cable from the rear wheels to the center console. A long cable with several tight bends to get around the battery would probably make a conventional parking brake lever very difficult to operate.

Most cars I have driven have had the parking brake lever at the far left, close to the driver's door. So run the cable from there down the left side of the battery pack to a lever at the back which transmits the action to the center of the car. No bends, and all the torque you could ask for. Yes, it would have to be reversed for right-hand drive.

This would also get rid of a pet peeve of mine. Three times, already, a passenger in the front seat has pulled the brake lever while I was driving, thinking it was supposed to open the console box.

Ray