Mysterious Random Chimes

Hi, I am having a strange issue with my 2011 Leaf recently. While driving, I will hear the pleasant "Chime" sound go off randomly, with no apparent pattern, rhyme or reason. No visual indication on the display as to what might be going on - it looks perfectly normal. I've verified the following:

Key Fob Battery Good
Tire Pressure Good
Fluid Levels good
Doors shut correctly
Driving in Temperature that is not extreme
Turned off audio to verify it is not my phone or bluetooth

I have absolutely no idea what could be causing this, and searching the forums I can't find anything like this. I've keyword searched the Leaf manual for each instance of "chime" to no avail. Would anyone have any idea?

Thanks,

Jeff

Which chime noise is it?

Being a 2011, I suspect many people will tell you to get your 12V battery checked if you haven't recently. A bad or fading 12V battery can do all sorts of weird things with the electronics.

rt84vhf said:

Which chime noise is it?

Being a 2011, I suspect many people will tell you to get your 12V battery checked if you haven't recently. A bad or fading 12V battery can do all sorts of weird things with the electronics.

Click to expand...

Thanks,

I actually went out and recorded the sound it is making. I've uploaded it to SoundCloud, you can hear it here: https://soundcloud.com/user-315134179/leaf-chime. Not sure how to test a Nissan Leaf 12v Battery. Is there anything special I should know about the 12v battery in the Leaf vs an internal combustion (IE regular car) battery?

jeffleaf said:

rt84vhf said:

Which chime noise is it?

Being a 2011, I suspect many people will tell you to get your 12V battery checked if you haven't recently. A bad or fading 12V battery can do all sorts of weird things with the electronics.

Click to expand...

Thanks,

I actually went out and recorded the sound it is making. I've uploaded it to SoundCloud, you can hear it here: https://soundcloud.com/user-315134179/leaf-chime. Not sure how to test a Nissan Leaf 12v Battery. Is there anything special I should know about the 12v battery in the Leaf vs an internal combustion (IE regular car) battery?

Click to expand...

How old is the 12v battery? If it is the original, just replace it.

Open the cell caps on the top of the battery and check the fluid levels. If they are low, top them off with distilled water, and then charge it with an external charger. Connect the positive cable to the battery and the negative cable to the ground block on the motor, or disconnect the battery from the car while using an external charger.

When testing the voltage level of the 12v battery, open the hood and let is sit for a minimum of 15 minutes (60+ or overnight is better) with all doors closed and everything turned off, to get a accurate reading. It takes a while for all the internal systems to shut down, after the power button is pressed and the doors are closed. If the reading is above 12.5 volts, the battery is probably okay, if below, get it tested.

Most auto parts places have a battery tester that will tell you the condition, and usually will do the test for free. Turn the car off for the test, but it is not necessary for it to sit idle and wait for shutdown when using one of load testers on the battery.

Thanks much for the battery advice! Battery is 7 months old. Popped tops off 12v battery and water level is over plates. Volt meter reads exactly 12.5 volts.

I actually went out and recorded the sound it is making. I've uploaded it to SoundCloud, you can hear it here: https://soundcloud.com/user-315134179/leaf-chime.

Click to expand...

I'd be even more concerned about having Stuart Brand (?) haunting your Leaf.

jeffleaf said:

Thanks much for the battery advice! Battery is 7 months old. Popped tops off 12v battery and water level is over plates. Volt meter reads exactly 12.5 volts.

Click to expand...

I would put a charger on it to make sure it is fully charged, and then go get the battery tested (where you bought it would probably be the best place). If it tests bad, have them replace it under warranty and see if the problem goes away. If it comes out good, you'll just have to investigate more and try to figure out where the chimes are coming from. Look for a pattern or condition that is consistent when the chimes happen.

12.5 volts isn't seriously low for a Leaf.

My guess is that it's coming from the nav system.

Do you have a route that's still going? Try Menu button > Cancel (?) Route.

Also, the nav system can play a chime when nearing a stored address/home. See page 3-61 of your '11 nav manual.

Thanks everyone for you help, the problem is solved! It was the Nav System just as cwerdna had guessed. When he mentioned the "nav manual", a light bulb went off since I didn't even realize or think there was a separate Nav Manual. I had bought the car used and for manuals I just downloaded the PDF thinking there was just one main manual. In any case I largely ignored the old carwings and nav settings.

What surprised me I guess is that the navigation being "on" seems to have persisted between drives until you turn it off, which was the case. I don't know how I must have accidentally activated the navigation but I guess I did. So thanks for the info and also the info about the the battery. I'm considering one of those load-testers at Harbor Freight which can better gauge the health of the battery. Thanks again! Jeff

No prob.

If you haven't already, you can still d/l the '11 nav manual from https://owners.nissanusa.com/content/techpub/ManualsAndGuides/LEAF/2011/2011-LEAF-navigation-manual.pdf even though it's no longer a choice at https://owners.nissanusa.com/nowners/navigation/manualsGuide.

Thank you so much for this help and guidance!
Recently took ownership of a "new to us" 12 Leaf and the same behavior was observed (chimes/bings) with no negative indicators whatsoever.

What easily could have been hours or days of checks and trial/error was resolved in less than 2 minutes...

Thanks again!