2011 Heater Core $1240 - Part B714300Q0A PTC - Alternatives?

[arnis]

Buy a part from EBay or scrapyard.
Find somebody who will work at reasonable hourly fee. Be it 10 or 30$ per hour.
Half day job if you know what you do.

[powersurge]

+1 Vincam......

[Dooglas]

Find somebody who will work at reasonable hourly fee. Be it 10 or 30$ per hour.

Something of a shortage in the US of auto mechanics who know what they are doing AND will work for $10/hour. Usually, you can find one or the other.

[arnis]

Young mechanics who have their own shop. They do not need to know what the do. The need
repair manual which is available on the internet. Instructions for assembly/disassembly.
Nothing wrong with 20 per hour. It is still a fraction of the price.

[FalconFour]

I figure I'd throw my hat in here as well...

I remember the 2011 heater system. Hilariously complex, but efficient.

It consists of a completely separate coolant loop, but the "coolant" is rather used as "heatant" instead here. I think they just jimmied a standard Nissan HVAC system in there, one typically used for ICE engine cars.

In that coolant loop, there's:
- its own reservoir
- a heating element
- its own pump
- a heater core (goes to the vents) - and pretty much is immune to failure (it's just a dumb copper block!)
- a valve to regulate flow through the heater core
- a few sensors

Right now, the diagnosis is focused on the heating element (I assume - though the title says "heater core", "PTC" and the part number refers to the element). That may or may not be the right one to look at.

To know for sure, you should probably check that the coolant is actually flowing (pump; valve). It flows at all times the car is running, in my experience. So, you should be able to pop the cap off of either reservoir, and see coolant flowing in both. Don't worry, it's a closed system - popping the cap while the car is running won't leak anything out at you, and you should be able to observe turbulence in the liquid inside. No flow? Check your pump.

Next, check if either reservoir gets warm when you've got the heater running - kind of unlikely at this point. Turn car on, set to 90, foot, no A/C, fan on 2. It ought to get warm within 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Next, check the "energy monitor" screen and see if you have any AC/Heating power consumption on the screen. Yes? Then something is heating up (and the heating element is OK) - as that screen monitors actual load. But through those other tests, that ought to have been eliminated...

Then, you can take the diagnosis to eBay, pick up the right part, and quite possibly fix it yourself if you know how to Google the service manual for the 2011 Leaf.

[brycenesbitt]

The energy monitor screen shows no energy used.
If I turn on A/C I see some energy used.

[brycenesbitt]

Buy a part from EBay or scrapyard.
Find somebody who will work at reasonable hourly fee. Be it 10 or 30$ per hour.
Half day job if you know what you do.

Update: purchased new used PTC core. Swapped it. No heat.

[JimSouCal]

[Four letter word of one's choosing] As a fellow 2011 owner, real life scenarios like your concern me... Sorry for the nightmare on your part... Many of us appreciate sharing your eventual solution... I have noticed a trend that mechanics don't really have a handle on the subsystems, and many minds here do... Best luck toward getting heat...

[arnis]

Buy a part from EBay or scrapyard.
Find somebody who will work at reasonable hourly fee. Be it 10 or 30$ per hour.
Half day job if you know what you do.

Update: purchased new used PTC core. Swapped it. No heat.

"new used" - so actually old and used.
Who said that it was functional before installation?
Also I would assume clearing codes with LeafSpy might explain at least something.
Maybe it has a different problem now. Also some devices lock out of they malfunction.
Maybe clearing codes helps. For Leaf I doubt it, but still.

[edatoakrun]

If my electric heater in a 2011-12 required expensive repair, and the rest of the heating system (pump, controls, heatant loop) was operational (not sure if that's your case) I'd consider just replacing the heat source. A few old threads discussed this option.

...The Webatso concept of connecting to the heatant loop is a good one, IMO, which I hadn't considered last Winter.

It occurs to me that their is ample room under the LEAFs hood, for this installation, as well as for a small fuel tank.

Putting the heater there would allow it to vent safely, outside the passenger compartment.

For the US, I'd say propane is the obvious fuel choice. Widely available, cheap, and none of the problems that liquid fuels have with degrading over time.

This would likely be the lowest cost “range extender” for cold climates, but not worth the trouble unless you have months of sub-freezing temps in your area.

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Actually, it looks like room under the hood is the major problem, with all the portable propane water heaters I'm familiar with.