Day 3 - I had to have my Leaf towed to the dealership

What a bummer of a day. I took my new Leaf for its first full day of commuting. I drove to work and it worked great. I got in the car at lunch to zip downtown for lunch. I pulled into a parking garage and plugged it into the EVSE at the garage. It wouldn't charge for some reason. I used the timer override button and it still didn't work. Anyway, no biggie I thought, I will just leave it parked here (there are a couple of other EV spots as well, so I wasn't hogging the only spot) and I'll start the charging from my phone while at lunch. So, I started the charge remotely via the iPhone app. I came back from lunch and it still wasn't charging. Oh well, no biggie I thought. I put the J1772 back in the holster and hopped into the car. I put my foot on the break and pushed start and I get the "amber light of death" on the dashboard (the amber light of a car with an exclamation point). No matter what I did, the car would not go into D or R, just N. So, I called the Nissan Roadside Assistance and the guy asked me what symbols I was seeing on the dash and I explained that the "amber light of death" was on and he said "uh oh, that's not good". Anyway, they called me a tow truck and I had it towed to the dealer.

They said they would probably keep it for a few days and they gave me a loaner ICE car.

1. Has anyone else had a similar problem?
2. What was the cause? Solution?
3. How do I prevent this from happening again? Did I do something in the wrong order while plugging it in?
4. Should I be scared that there are more problems to come? (I doubt it)

Thanks for your help!

Lots of different experiences on here with issues that result in a tow.

If you're sure you have ample pack charge, the only suggestion seems to be to disconnect the 12v (positive) cable for a minute and then reconnect and see if you end up being able to start yourself (and then head right to the dealer!). Think might clear some of the codes thought, so the diagnostics may be a bit more troublesome.

Apparently some HV Battery related error that kept it from charging,
resulting in an Error Code in the "Do Not Drive" category.

Please keep us posted.

Thanks guys, I will keep you posted. I'm glad it was me today and not my wife. We carpool and take turns who has the car during the day. Anyway, I hope I get the car back sooner than later. He told me it could take up to five days. I hope not. :shock:

Occaaionally it takes some extra time for the LEAF Task Force experts
to get there, find the problem, and (usually quickly) fix it.

Sorry you had a problem. The few people who have reported similar experiences generally report back that their Leaf got fixed and all was well after that. So don't be too concerned. Haven't heard of anyone having recurrent problems once the original problem is fixed. My Leaf has 2,000 trouble free miles and has never failed to charge in the 2.5 months I have owned it. You should expect the same once this glitch is fixed.

Do you have the old firmware? DId you use the AC? AC HV fault will fault the charger as well, all HV devices. Mine just did it over the weekend because I was in a hot area and have the old firmware. Quick detach of the neg cable and I was on my way.

EVDRIVER said:

Do you have the old firmware? DId you use the AC? AC HV fault will fault the charger as well, all HV devices.

Click to expand...

I don't know which firmware I have, but my vehicle just got delivered to the dealer last week from the factory, so I presume it must have the most up-to-date firmware, but you never know. :?

I used the AC for about 2-3 minutes when I left my parking lot at work, but by the time I got to the parking garage, I had climate control in the off position, so I suspect it isn't the common AC HV fault. I will keep the 12V battery trick in mind in case this happens again. At least I won't be stranded.

pasowino said:

EVDRIVER said:

Do you have the old firmware? DId you use the AC? AC HV fault will fault the charger as well, all HV devices.

Click to expand...

I don't know which firmware I have, but my vehicle just got delivered to the dealer last week from the factory, so I presume it must have the most up-to-date firmware, but you never know. :?

I used the AC for about 2-3 minutes when I left my parking lot at work, but by the time I got to the parking garage, I had climate control in the off position, so I suspect it isn't the common AC HV fault. I will keep the 12V battery trick in mind in case this happens again. At least I won't be stranded.

Click to expand...

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Your car should have the newer firmware as you took delivery recently. It's good to carry a wrench for the neg cable for such issues.

I replaced the nut NEAR, not AT, the battery's negative terminal
with a wing-nut, for fast, easy, tool-free removal.

garygid said:

I replaced the nut NEAR, not AT, the battery's negative terminal
with a wing-nut, for fast, easy, tool-free removal.

Click to expand...

See over here for details: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=3231" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Although after the (not-so-) new firmware I've brazenly put mine back to the stock nut.

Being the eternal pessimist, my wingnut is still in place...

GeekEV said:

garygid said:

I replaced the nut NEAR, not AT, the battery's negative terminal
with a wing-nut, for fast, easy, tool-free removal.

Click to expand...

See over here for details: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=3231" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Although after the (not-so-) new firmware I've brazenly put mine back to the stock nut.

Click to expand...

i have nothing to say. just posting because its easier to follow the thread.

Have had the same problem. This is the second time that I have had to have the Leaf towed.
The first was 2 days after I had gotten it prior to the software upgrade. Was driving on a hot day with AC, turned AC off after we got warning lights-- drove home -- turned off the car and it would not restart.

Last Thursday - about 1,600 miles later with the new software upgrade--- driving on a very hot day, turned AC off and on -- no warning lights-- got home and fully charged the leaf--- went to start it 7 hours later and no signs of the battery.

So the Engineers have the car and are trying to determine the problem. They are questioning the new upgraded Blink software or the charger control module.

I will let you all know what I learn. Other than that I love the car. It is really great. And I do have a wrench in the car to disconnect the battery if I need to. But I want Nissan to learn about this problem and fix it so I had the car towed to them.
The engineer team is really great and they want to find out what is going on. So that is great.

When you do take your car to the dealer make sure the service persons know how to turn the car off. They left mine on and ran down the 12 volt battery.

DaveinOlyWA said:

i have nothing to say. just posting because its easier to follow the thread.

Click to expand...

Click on "subscribe topic" near the upper left hand corner of the window.

Bertaf said:

When you do take your car to the dealer make sure the service persons know how to turn the car off. They left mine on and ran down the 12 volt battery.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip! I got a call from the dealership today and they're going to keep it another couple days. I guess the Nissan Engineering Department wanted the local service tech to setup a live video feed to corporate office so they could all trouble shoot together. The service manager was trying to figure out how to do this. I should have offered to help in exchange for another $1000 off the price of the car I can't drive.

I will you keep you guys posted as to the outcome.

pasowino said:

I should have offered to help in exchange for another $1000 off the price of the car I can't drive.

Click to expand...

At least try to squeeze a few free oil changes out of them. :lol:

Oh, I mean for your other ICE car, of course.

Well, I got a call from the dealership and my car is ready to be picked up. The service manager didn't really seem to know what the problem was, but he said it was similar to the AC issue that has been reported. He said I could talk to the Leaf Tech if I wanted to, but my wife is picking up the car, so I will have to catch up with him later. Anyway, at least I get my car back, but I'm not fully convinced that this problem won't happen again.

One of the reasons why the wing nut is still in place on my 12 volt battery terminal...

pasowino said:

Anyway, at least I get my car back, but I'm not fully convinced that this problem won't happen again.

Click to expand...

Re: see my earlier post regarding the inability to start the car after being charged up on previous page.

Got my Leaf back Had the engineering team look at it. They drove it to our home from the dealer to check its interaction with the Blink charger.

They were speculating about the cause being:
-----the on board charger
-----the ac compressor
-----the new 1.7 software version for the Blink charger.

So at this point the charger has been replaced and they have ordered a new ac compressor. They are in meetings with Ecotality about the software for the Blink charger.

I have the feeling that it will happen again. Not sure that anyone knows what the problem is. But I am taking it out tonight.