2011 Leaf SL : Heater not heating (shows zero energy usage)

Dang.
I just started using the "climate control timer" to warm the car each morning by 7:50am. Now the heater does not work at all. As others have reported, the car thinks it's heating, but no heat comes out.

This is a 2011 Leaf SL.
I do have a heater disable switch, but I triple checked that.
Nothing of interest appears in the OBD error log.

No heat comes out, not even in defrost.
The energy monitor shows zero energy used.

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What might I expect with a third party repair (is it even possible)?
Or a dealer repair?
Was there ever a service bulletin on this topic from Nissan: I hear the 2011's had early failures of this component.

Correction 27 Dec: 2011 SL not SV

Did they even make a SV until '12 :?
How long have you had your Leaf, have you used it for some time and fully understand how the heat works?
My '12 SL's heater is best described as "quirky" some times it requires the A/C to be on to heat, other times it seems content heating without A/C being pushed but note when heating while plugged it it seems to ALWAYS require A/C to be ON, go figure :?
I also monitor amp draw by looking at the energy usage screen, seems to be the only way to know if the heat is actually on or not, I guess other than the lack of heat which isn't all that much to begin with

I would take it to the diagnostics at least to determine what's the deal

jjeff said:

Did they even make a SV until '12 :?
How long have you had your Leaf, have you used it for some time and fully understand how the heat works?

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Corrected SV/SL. Yes, the heat is quirky, but I'm sure it's not working now. I have a heater disable switch, but that's not the problem.

My sister-in-law's 2011 had the heater fail - they replaced it for free. I think it is a design defect.

NeilBlanchard said:

My sister-in-law's 2011 had the heater fail - they replaced it for free. I think it is a design defect.

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Replaced it for free when? Under warranty?
I did try the Nissan dealer and they said 'no service bulletin exists for this'.

Here's a photo of a Nissan Leaf PTC heater:







I'd love to get details on the fuse that might go out at the same time?

I see Renault logo on it... No wonder why it has problems with reliability and poor engineering

Kristis said:

I see Renault logo on it... No wonder why it has problems with reliability and poor engineering

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Well, there is the https://group.renault.com/en/our-company/a-group-an-alliance-and-partnerships/our-alliance-with-nissan/. And, the part's made in Germany.

That's a replacement, and the replacement does not work. I've heard there is also a fuse somewhere that blows if the PTC fails?

You have described the conditions and steps when you are trying to turn on the heater.

Are you trying to heat while plugged in to an EVSE? Or while driving?

If you are trying to preheat while plugged in you have to be charging for the heater to turn on manually (unless you could remotely command climate control, but the AT&T 2g wireless has probably been turned off).

If you are driving, best to leave in D, not Eco, to get heating working faster.

What is your ambient temperature and what temperature do you set your heater to??

For a while, I had a climate control timer set to 8am, my departure time. But the car stopped actually warming up some months ago.

The there is zero heat from climate timer, while driving, and when using the defrost button. A/C works fine. D vs. ECO is not the issue.

Exterior temperatures are in the 40's to 50's, and internal temperature is set to anything the entire range (I think 90 F is the max). Cold air in all cases. Dealer price for repair seems nearly $4000. The local third party garage wants to try a fix, but does not really have the parts or knowledge: http://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=23190&hilit=PTC

do you have the heater switch mod?

I had an issue with my A/C not switching on last year. I removed the mod cable. Ran leafspy and cleared all the DTC codes and the A/C came back. I told LOR about it and he thinks that just disconnecting the battery for 30 secs would have achieved the same thing.

it's worth a try, right?

Getting my 2012 SL to do what i want with regard to heating cooling, using heat or A/C and not both is a frustration to say the least. My Wife has a 2015 S and it has the heater off button and the car does what we want it to do generally.

brycenesbitt said:

NeilBlanchard said:

My sister-in-law's 2011 had the heater fail - they replaced it for free. I think it is a design defect.

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Replaced it for free when? Under warranty?
I did try the Nissan dealer and they said 'no service bulletin exists for this'.

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Yes, under warranty. It would have cost a lot, if they have had to pay for it.

Car is at the dealer now. They spent days looking for the cause, finally settling on the DC DC Junction box, and some fuses burried inside.
See also:
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?231521-2012-Nissan-Leaf-No-Heat

Has anyone taken out a DC DC converter block?

Just had the same problem with my 2011 Leaf. The PTC heater has a high voltage (400V) control circuit on one side, and coolant on the other side. The seal had failed, so coolant got into the control circuit and short circuited the 400V connection. That blew a fuse in the DC/DC junction box (which distributes 400V from the battery to A/C compressor, heater, motor and charge port). Unfortunately, the fuse is not serviceable (not a standard type, not available from Nissan). So I bought a new heater and junction box from Nissan for $2350 and replaced them myself. Nissan quoted me $4300 for the job, which is not unreasonable. It's a big job, which should only be attempted by a fairly experienced home mechanic, who UNDERSTANDS THE SAFETY RISKS INVOLVED WITH HIGH VOLTAGE CIRCUITS.

So yes, if your heater doesn't work, you most likely need a new heater and DC/DC junction box, and it will be expensive

Just missed brycenesbitt's post. If you are up for the job, get Nissan's technical manual online. You need to remove the inverter, and some cowl extension stuff (wipers etc) to get the junction box out. It's tricky to get out, and it's a bit heavy, so a helper is recommended. One tricky part is a metal coolant pipe assembly bolted to the back of the junction box- need to feel your way to a 10mm bolt. You also need to disconnect 2 brake lines so remember to flush brake fluid afterwards!!! And disconnect both the HV (high voltage) safety plug (floor between rear seats) and the connector in front of the battery before starting!! 400V is no joke.

I posted photos of my job online somewhere. The only part I had to buy was the $30 fuse block, and some washers I used to adapt. The fuse was easy, getting there was.... deep surgery. If you've still got the entire module, I can show you how to take it apart and replace just the fuse. You can probably resell it for $1000 or more. Should take under a hour to replace the fuse.

Nice!!

I was thinking about jerry-rigging a fuse, but I'm too cautious to take the risk of what could happen if the connection came loose. Also I'd hate to do the job over if it failed.

Now I have a couple of compatible fuses, should the heater fail again (which I'm sure it will, given enough time :? )

I found the 30A DC fuse model Nissan used based on some Internet pictures. I had a choice: buy the exact fuse in quantity 240, or a close match of different lead style. I chose the later, I was super nervous trying it out the first time: there was no way to test anything prior to basically reassembling everything,.

But it's been good through an entire winter.
What a pain to just change a fuse.

dagbja said:

Nice!!
I was thinking about jerry-rigging a fuse, but I'm too cautious to take the risk of what could happen if the connection came loose. Also I'd hate to do the job over if it failed.

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