Extremely Sensitive BRAKES

I've had my 2013 SV for 5 months and 8000 miles now. It has been nothing short of amazing.

But I have been having a problem with the brakes lately. It seems to have gotten much worse in the last month. When I come to a stop, it is almost impossible to ease to a final stop without the brakes grabbing suddenly. If you want to creep forward, you better be ready for a bucking bronco!

It only seems to happen with REGEN braking. By that I mean it doesnt happen until I get down to 97% charge, which I am assuming is the point the car will accept current from the REGEN brakes and they become active. So, essecially every stop takes extreme car so you dont give yourself whiplash.

I called the service dept and they said that is the way they are. I haven't taken it in yet since I hate to part with it for any length of time. The thought of driving the ICE in the garage does not appeal to me. The salesman I bought the car from also says that the way they are, but come on.

I am awaiting a call from Nissan who is investigating to see if anything can be done.

Has anyone else had this problem and was it fixed? I am wondering if they can turn down or adjust the "gain" on the brakes....

Many people have complained and there has been lots of discussion of this. Try typing "grabby brakes" in the Google search bar on the forum search page.

Ray

Interestingly, I have the opposite problem. My '13 will be very grabby when on friction brakes (high battery SoC), but regen works normally. My '12 did not do this -- the brakes were normal in either case.

My brakes are grabby, too. Some times more than others. It is more a nuisance than a problem. I usually forget about it by the time the light turns green.

Are you driving in Eco or normal mode? Maybe you accidentally switched to Eco or vise versa and didn't realize it.

Mine has been like this since I picked it up... I've been worried how it will perform in the snow. maybe it won't grab as much with eco off?

My 2013s is pretty sensitive too, much more so in ECO mode. I still prefer ECO for the increased range and more regen. A deer ran in front of me once and I nailed the brakes instinctively. Wow! Good thing I had my seat belt on, and abs! If you are in stop & go traffic at low speeds selecting D without ECO may be a bit less touchy.

My 2012SL was HORRIBLE like this! I used some of my free car rental days in last spring for vacation & when I picked it up, they were fine!?!

My car would slow down fine & then when you out a little extra pressure on the pedal to stop the car at the traffic light, they would just about lock. I got in the habit of letting off on the pedal before I applied the last stopping pressure. I figured it was the actual brakes taking over where it was just regen until that point.


There was a grabby brake software update available at that time & just assumed they installed it for when while they had my car.

Glad it isn't just me.
I am still waiting for Nissan to call but after searching Grabby Brakes as suggested, I called the dealer. They said I have no outstanding bulletins, but he is gonna get with Nissan and then have me bring the car in.

I drive in Eco mostly. I use B mode to slow down at times. I will try without Eco in traffic more and see how it does. But then again I shouldn't have to! I should be able to use Eco mode all the time. Or any mode for that matter.

A good way to determine if it's regen is to shift to neutral before you stop. That is the only way to turn off regen.

(I'm sure I'll be corrected if I'm wrong )

another way to turn off the regen is to charge it to 100 percent. Mine brakes just fine until i get to 99 percent and the regen comes back on again!

2011 and '12 had to have the brakes updated. I have a feeling the history is repeating itself.

I used to hate the grabby brakes - jerk just before you come to complete stop. The update on my '11 fixed it. Nissan has not gotten rid of the problem after all. It's the 2013s turn :mrgreen:

Originally our 2011 had brakes which would grab at about 10 MPH. That was very disconcerting. After they reprogrammed our brakes, it seems to have shifted the speed at which they grab from about 10 MPH down to about 2 MPH. In other words, it now tends to happen when you are trying to creep along, as OP says. It sounds as if the 2013s still have the same issue. IMO, this is a improvement even though the problem is not fully eliminated.

I will say that this doesn't happen all the time and it is not even a frequent occurrence. Some have surmised that the problem may only crop up when there is a certain amount of rust on the brake discs. Perhaps, but it's hard to be sure.

I find that weather plays a big part in this. Not that any one specific weather type causes it but rather changes in the weather. It went from stupid hot to cool and wet in 24 hours here and brakes went screwy for a couple of rides and then went back to normal.

I have a 2011 Leaf that I purchased new and noticed this same touchy brakes by the time it was about 6 months old. At first it seemed intermittent, but now is a routine problem. I have taken it to 3 dealers over the past 6 years, and all say they can not replicate the problem, much less fix it. I called Nissan and they refused to deal with it--said the only way they can help is through their dealers.
Everyone who drives the car notices it as well (except the mechanics at the dealerships) .
I would agree that there is a lot of denial from Nissan that there is a problem with this car, but there REALLY is.

There is a temporary 'brake desensitizing procedure' that works on the 2013+ models, and may work with yours. Turn off the the traction control, and with the car stopped, forcefully hold the pedal down near the floor for 30 seconds or so. That should reset the brake boost to a less touchy level. There was a TSB that cured this, though...

Also, don't keep a foot on the brake as you drive. Put your foot on the pedal only when needed. Having frequent, light pressure on the pedal can make the Leaf do unfortunate things.