Gen 1 Leaf Blows Cold Air. Leaf Spy Test

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goz83

Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2017
Messages
9
Hi everyone. First time poster, based in Ireland.

I have a 2012 Acenta (mid spec) and a 2014 Tekna (top spec), so we are a 2 EV house. Purchased the 2014 in March and loved it so much that in May, we purchased a bargain 2012 with 11 bars in great condition for €5,000 (about 2k less than the next cheapest car). No regrets, but the 2012 Leaf is blowing cold air only and in the damp, rainy weather, the windows are getting pretty misty. We never used the heat, so probably bought it this way (private sale). I noticed when turning on the heat to clear the windscreen yesterday and I turned the dial up to 30 degrees C, but nothing. Tried a few minutes later and again near the end of the trip.....nothing.

So far, I have done some research and common problems point to

1) The PTC heater
2) The thermostat
3) The DC to DC junction box

I downloaded Leaf Spy Pro and ran a DTC test. The car was powered up with the heat A/C at max temp, with medium fan speed. Car was not plugged in. I got the following:

IMG_3119.png



The one that jumps out is >PB1B4 00C1 EV/HEV CAN Error EVC-279

As far as I can find, this says that there is an error signal from AV control unit via CAN communication, but I don't know what that actually means. Can anyone understand the read-out, or point me in the right direction? Would love to get this sorted, as the OH is expecting next year and she prefers the 2012 Leaf (because it's blue :D )
 
Anyone?

I've been trying to diagnose the problem and I can't be 100% sure of anything because of conflicting info online.

I took a look at the power consumption last night when I had the heat turned up to max. When I turn it off and back on, I get a slpit second consumption of 0.2 Kw.

When looking at my 2014 Leaf, I can see the consumption climb gradually, which is supposed to happen.

My best guess is that the PTC heater needs replacing. When I search the part number, it also seems to show as a "heat exchanger" and is the same unit used in the renault fluence.

Maybe I would be better off installing a 12V heater from ebay???
 
The first version of the cabin heater uses a PTC heater to heat water (coolant, actually) which is then pumped through a loop that includes a fluid to air heat exchanger. It seems that the heater and water pump are showing errors. I'm not an expert, but I think the heat exchanger should be OK if there are no leaks. Hopefully others with more experience will confirm this.
 
LeftieBiker said:
The first version of the cabin heater uses a PTC heater to heat water (coolant, actually) which is then pumped through a loop that includes a fluid to air heat exchanger. It seems that the heater and water pump are showing errors. I'm not an expert, but I think the heat exchanger should be OK if there are no leaks. Hopefully others with more experience will confirm this.

Thanks for response. I will hold off on ordering any parts until I know what I need to get.

Hoping that someone knows the error codes more accurately.
 
it's a long shot but have you charged the 12v battery overnight? if not, do that one night this week for as long as you can. Then go into leaf spy the next day and reset or clear all the codes and switch the car off and back again and see if anything improves. if not, no harm.

Just a free bone thrown your way that might not have any meat on it. How is gold old England? I've not been home for 17 years. I miss the place, sometimes.
 
DuncanCunningham said:
it's a long shot but have you charged the 12v battery overnight? if not, do that one night this week for as long as you can. Then go into leaf spy the next day and reset or clear all the codes and switch the car off and back again and see if anything improves. if not, no harm.

Just a free bone thrown your way that might not have any meat on it. How is gold old England? I've not been home for 17 years. I miss the place, sometimes.

I haven't tried 12V battery. I don't have a battery charger, so can't try that unfortunately.

I live in Dublin, so not sure how good old England is :)
 
goz83 said:
I haven't tried 12V battery. I don't have a battery charger, so can't try that unfortunately.

I live in Dublin, so not sure how good old England is :)

oh you're in Dublin? then you have friends? Friends are great for borrowing things from that you don't have.

Isn't there a halfords or some other car type shop around?

Whatever you end up doing.. you need a 12v battery charger for the car. The battery isn't charged properly by the system.. plugging it in for charging the larger traction battery doesn't do the trick, if anything it burns through the 12volter faster leaving it plugged in but not charging. This is the case in the US, maybe the models you have are better.. but lots of issue with codes and things not working are fixed with a healthy 12v battery. Get a charger for it, would be my advice.. and England is about the same in terms of weather.. just full a less friendly people than Ireland but I can't talk about Dublin.. isn't it full for outsiders?

so charge it and reset the codes and restart the car.. see if it helps. if not you now have a charger to keep is healthy, you will benefit from a charger, no doubt and hopefully less issues with the car.
 
DuncanCunningham said:
goz83 said:
I haven't tried 12V battery. I don't have a battery charger, so can't try that unfortunately.

I live in Dublin, so not sure how good old England is :)

oh you're in Dublin? then you have friends? Friends are great for borrowing things from that you don't have.

Isn't there a halfords or some other car type shop around?

Whatever you end up doing.. you need a 12v battery charger for the car. The battery isn't charged properly by the system.. plugging it in for charging the larger traction battery doesn't do the trick, if anything it burns through the 12volter faster leaving it plugged in but not charging. This is the case in the US, maybe the models you have are better.. but lots of issue with codes and things not working are fixed with a healthy 12v battery. Get a charger for it, would be my advice.. and England is about the same in terms of weather.. just full a less friendly people than Ireland but I can't talk about Dublin.. isn't it full for outsiders?

so charge it and reset the codes and restart the car.. see if it helps. if not you now have a charger to keep is healthy, you will benefit from a charger, no doubt and hopefully less issues with the car.


I was in Manhattan for a few days, so have been offline. That terror attack happened when I was in the Public Library getting a tour with my wife. Terrible thing to have happened and to have been so close to it.

Anyway, back on topic. The guy I bought the car from did mention something about the 12V battery, so I might replace it and also pick up a battery charger for future use and see what happens.

I have noticed that when I hit the windscreen demister button, the AC lights up and so does the demister button, but nothing else happens. The fan speed stays the same, but it should increase....usually to full.
 
For the 2011-2012 Leafs, there was no method provided to disable the heater from turning on in mild weather, which I believe describes Dublin pretty much year-round. This severely reduces the car's range. There's a good chance that the original owner implemented one of the methods described in this thread to disable the heater:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=11412

I suggest taking a look at the various parts of the Leaf described in that thread, and see if you can find signs that one of them has been done. Might want to just start looking for a random switch somewhere on or underneath the dashboard, in case they implemented method #2 (which is what I did). If that's the case, then all you need to do is flip that switch for heat.

Also, someone sells a ready-made kit to accomplish disabling the heater. Might want to look for that having been installed too:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=20446
 
So there is no sign that anything has been messed with. The front windows were going up and down pretty slowly...so slow that I was afraid they would stop....taking circa 10 seconds to go up. So I took a chance and replaced the 12V battery. The battery was old and needed replacing but it hasn't resolved the problem. I am still getting cold air only.

I have deleted and pulled the latest DTC codes. The P error codes are gone, but the B codes are still present.

The lack of heat is becoming a real problem, especially in the mornings.

IMG_3277.png
 
The heater disable methods noted in links posted by Garsh are not the source of error codes. Those methods fool the HVAC controls so they think the hot water tank is up to temperature and do not turn on the heating elements. I installed a temporary resistor at the water temperature sensor connector near the water tank (which is near the 12-volt battery) and it kept the heating elements off without setting error codes in my 2011. I would have purchased the plug-and-play kit for a neat permanent installation if the car had not been totaled.

Replacing the 12-volt battery has eliminated the communication errors associated with the HVAC system so you are left with the PTC heater element and supply voltage errors. I will try to look at the service manual this weekend, although going from memory of what the circuit looks like, I suspect the heating elements failed and then blew the supply circuit fuses in the DC junction box. If so, you would need a new heater assembly (hot water tank) and either a new DC junction box or new fuses if you can open the junction box and replace the fuses. You should also carefully inspect the high-voltage DC wiring between the junction box and water tank. Be very careful when working with the HVDC circuits. You should also check the 12-volt pump that circulates the hot coolant because lack of coolant flow might cause overheating and failure of the heating elements.
 
Hello
Bought a 2013 leaf and the heater gave out 2 weeks later.

Did you resolve your issue with this car? I read about the 12v needing charged and system reset so perhaps this is what I need to do next
 
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