2011 Upgrade TCU?

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Supersleeper

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 7, 2017
Messages
124
Location
SF Bay Area
Hi Folks,

I'm looking to upgrade my TCU when I take my car in for the new battery. Anyone know of where I can find the features it has and how it compares to the latest models, i.e. 2017?

Also, the new models looks like none of the console navigation hardware hasn't changed, just that the software is updated. Is that true? Is it possible to get the app integrations, such as Pandora, iheart, etc? Has anyone tried to update it?
 
If you have a choice of dealers, ask enough questions to determine which one has the most technical experience performing each of these tasks. I would even consider having the TCU done separately, not at the same time, unless you have complete confidence in their experience.
 
Supersleeper said:
I'm looking to upgrade my TCU when I take my car in for the new battery. Anyone know of where I can find the features it has and how it compares to the latest models, i.e. 2017?
As mentioned, one of the main features of this "upgrade" is that it drains the 12V battery on a frequent basis.

I'm very glad that my dealer dropped the ball *twice* when I have asked them to order the new TCU for our LEAF. They "forgot" both times and never followed up.

Frankly, we used to use Carwings when it worked, but we don't really miss it. Good riddance.
 
Supersleeper said:
Hi Folks,

I'm looking to upgrade my TCU when I take my car in for the new battery. Anyone know of where I can find the features it has and how it compares to the latest models, i.e. 2017?

Also, the new models looks like none of the console navigation hardware hasn't changed, just that the software is updated. Is that true? Is it possible to get the app integrations, such as Pandora, iheart, etc? Has anyone tried to update it?

OK: here's an objective answer to your question.
If you want to "talk" to your car, you have to perform the TCU upgrade; if you don't, no car metrics, charger location updates, status, etc.
There have been no (significant) software updates to the head unit, which also means you can still charge to 80% (in addition to 100%).
I have had no issues with my 3G TCU other than the occasional "fuse pull" (well documented in the referenced thread).
 
My dealer stated that they've done roughly 100 installs and 2 had battery issues that were reported and supposedly resolved. I did find a photo of a TCU and it does appear to have a DB9 serial port attached. I wonder if there's been any attempt to communicate with the car through this? I do have quite a bit of experience with Arduino / Raspberry Pi to be dangerous. I did this for my BMW to communicate with the iBus. If easy enough, I can write a new interface for us to use.
 
Stanton said:
OK: here's an objective answer to your question.
...
I have had no issues with my 3G TCU other than the occasional "fuse pull" (well documented in the referenced thread).
Your anecdotal data about how great it works except when it doesn't is not overly encouraging.

Posted YESTERDAY:
JRoque said:
Leafboy said:
Curious.........how was this procedure figured out???

Cursing was used, tears were shed, blood was spilled, nightmares ensued, heads went bald, marriages were broken... then someone pulled up the schematics and followed the lines to the 3G radio.

For me it came when I figured something was up with the radio because my 12V battery would die the days after the Carwings website/app was down. My radio would get stuck, I thought. Rather than pulling fuses, declining data being sent to Nissan and removing any other option that would cause it to up/download data worked around the problem. If I just reset the modem it would work for a few days and my 12V battery would die again.

I wouldn't have to be pushed too hard to be a willing participant in a class-action suit against Nissan to get them to fix this fiasco once and for all.

JR
So it sounds like it works great for some as long as you don't use it to send/receive data to/from Nissan. (cwerdna also claims he cannot update stations.)

Sounds like all sunshine and rainbows. :roll:
 
Hi,

That's right, it's very broken. When I said "workaround" I meant to avoid my 12V being drained dead. As far as I know, Nissan has no solution for what it's clearly a widespread issue with the newly upgraded 3G TCUs. I read somewhere in this forum that Nissan engineers had confirmed the issue and took their findings back to come up with a solution but nothing has come out of that yet.

Nissan charged me $200 back in January for the "upgrade" that has never worked right. Starting around April, my battery also started draining at least once a week to the point where I thought it was the battery and purchased a new one. That's $200 for the TCU + $100 for a new battery.

I would strongly suggest anyone looking into this upgrade to hold off until Nissan has a fix for the issue.

JR
 
JRoque said:
Starting around April, my battery also started draining at least once a week to the point where I thought it was the battery and purchased a new one.

How often do you drive it?

I'm considering upgrading my solar panel to something more substantial. At least 20w.
 
Hi. I drive the car every day with relatively short distances Mon-Fri and longer on weekends. This has been the pattern for >2 years now.

A solar panel that can supply ~12V/100mA (1.2W) will likely be enough to counter the TCU bleeding issue. If I remember correctly, I measured the drain on the battery during the TCU lock-up issue to be about 50mA.

JR
 
JRoque said:
That's right, it's very broken. When I said "workaround" I meant to avoid my 12V being drained dead. As far as I know, Nissan has no solution for what it's clearly a widespread issue with the newly upgraded 3G TCUs. I read somewhere in this forum that Nissan engineers had confirmed the issue and took their findings back to come up with a solution but nothing has come out of that yet.
...

I would strongly suggest anyone looking into this upgrade to hold off until Nissan has a fix for the issue.
For the benefit of others, http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=12448&p=497352&hilit=singapore+engineers#p497352 is being referred to.
RegGuheert said:
(cwerdna also claims he cannot update stations.)

Sounds like all sunshine and rainbows. :roll:
Not quite. Updating of stations works.

As I mentioned at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=502854#p502854, I went over 1 month w/o any yellow ! car light and DTC P3131 by disabling a ton of stuff. Despite turning off transmission of data to Nissan, I still sometimes received Carwings notifications. I turned it back on in an attempt to trigger P3131 and be stored by the time I went to the dealer for the annual battery check. Unfortunately, my timing was off. :( http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=503385#p503385

I can definitely still update stations (did it tonight and recall it mention 12 stations updated (something to that effect)) and have cleared that DTC but now I'm experimenting w/leaving data transmission on but cleared saved locations for unplugged messaging, turning off send unplugged status to Data Center, and turning off all types under Autosave New Charging Station. I've left Auto-Update Stations, Send Charging Status to Data Center, and Service Reminders on.

I really hope Nissan fixes this. I'll try to bring it up at the 2018 Leaf preview EVent on 9/14/17 in Sunnyvale, CA. Still waiting for a TSB or service campaign.

These yellow ! car lights accompanied by such DTCs weren't an issue w/the old 2G TCU when AT&T's 2G service was still active on my current Leaf nor my previous leased '13 SV. I didn't start getting the yellow ! car and P3131 until around 4/28/17 when the EV support folks did a "master reset" (on my account?). I posted about that at http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=493278#p493278.
 
JRoque said:
A solar panel that can supply ~12V/100mA (1.2W) will likely be enough to counter the TCU bleeding issue. If I remember correctly, I measured the drain on the battery during the TCU lock-up issue to be about 50mA.

JR

Isn’t that about what the power of the existing solar panel is in the spoiler? Does your not have the solar panel?
 
Supersleeper said:
JRoque said:
A solar panel that can supply ~12V/100mA (1.2W) will likely be enough to counter the TCU bleeding issue. If I remember correctly, I measured the drain on the battery during the TCU lock-up issue to be about 50mA.

JR

Isn’t that about what the power of the existing solar panel is in the spoiler? Does your not have the solar panel?
Only the SL trim of the Leaf has the solar panel on the spoiler. All other trims don't have it.
 
Supersleeper said:
Isn’t that about what the power of the existing solar panel is in the spoiler? Does your not have the solar panel?
Truly, the solar panel on the spoiler is a worthless gimmick. Our 2011 LEAF SL has a solar panel, but we have a garage, so it does very little. On days when the car is outside the garage, the panel begins to charge the 12V battery as the sun comes up, but then it heats up the thin-film panel and the voltage collapses below what is needed to maintain a charging voltage with the result being that the best case is that the battery is in float all day. Since it does not actually charge the battery during the daytime, the nighttime losses accumulate with nothing to replace them.
 
Hello,
I had our TCU replaced and it works exactly as before. We drive the car almost daily and have had no battery issues. The charging stations update themselves just as before. Carwings works unless the system is down which happens about as often as before. So nothing unusual to report.

Don
 
bowthom said:
I had our TCU replaced and it works exactly as before. We drive the car almost daily and have had no battery issues. The charging stations update themselves just as before. Carwings works unless the system is down which happens about as often as before. So nothing unusual to report.
Out of curiosity, do you have at least 1 type selected under Autosave New Charging Station? Do you have at least 1 location for unplugged messages? Do you have Send Charging Status to Data Center on?

From your sig, it looks like you have an '11. If so, I'd imagine you have to either agree/decline on every power up.

TSB NTB17-015 indicates 2 different part numbers depending on build month.

Built from 11/01/2010 to 09/19/2011 should receive 283B0-3NA1A. <-- probably yours
Built from 09/20/2011 to 11/30/2012 should receive 283B0-3NA2A.
Built from 12/1/2012 to 09/30/2015 should also receive 283B0-3NF2A. -- Not sure why this was separated out. Mine obviously should have this one.
 
So had to jump my car again today. Loaded a spare 12v battery and jumpers in the trunk, then drove to work, and powered off. Unfortunately, the time it was on, didn't charge the 12v battery enough, even though it dropped down from 14v to 13v while driving. So I jumped the car again and left the car on as I locked the doors and walked away. Drove home for lunch, and powered off. After lunch, powered on without issue and drove back to work, this time powering off at work. Seems if I leave the car on for 3-4hrs, it charges enough.

I really wish the charger system kept the amperage/voltage on longer at initial power on. It drops down from 14v to 13v very quickly and doesn't charge it fast enough.
 
Back
Top