Humming/whirring noise while charging at Level II

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solarchargeddriver

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 29, 2010
Messages
49
Location
Colorado
I just got my charging unit upgraded to 240v via EVSE.com. Prior to this, I'd been trickling charging at 120 v all the time. I just noticed that my 2014 SV is making a whirring/humming while charging at 240v with the EVSE.Com upgraded unit.

I never heard any humming/whirring at all while charging at 120 v for the first year.

1) Is this humming/whirring normal for 240 volt/level II charging?

2) Why didn't I hear it at all charging it at 120v/Level I?

I could post my own video, but this YouTube Video records exactly the same noises that my 2014 SV is making while charging via the upgraded EVSE.Com 240v unit.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/OKGXzWLNmqs[/youtube]
 
That should be the water pump keeping the charger cool. My Leaf always makes that noise charging at level 2.
 
I haven't watched the whole video and can't tell their intensity. To me, the noises are normal. For me, they sound no different when charging at 120 volts vs. 208 volts (@ work on our L2 EVSEs, my Leaf pulls ~5.7 to 6.0 kW on them).

The noises are quite soft w/the hood closed and not incredibly loud w/the hood open. You should be able to feel coolant going thru hoses in/out of the PDM stack. Coolant pumps need to run.

The entire stack will be warm after charging for a few hours, even at 120 volts.
 
That doesn't sound like the normal pump sound. Sounds almost like it's running dry. Have you checked your coolant level?
 
Nubo said:
That doesn't sound like the normal pump sound. Sounds almost like it's running dry. Have you checked your coolant level?
Agreed, that noise doesn't sound normal to me at all and definitely makes me think of a pump running really fast with no fluid.
 
Take that thing in ASAP! Looks like the inverter is overheating/no fluid in the system is circulating..

I wouldn't charge anymore :shock:
 
Ours went from a normal whine to a loud high pitched whine. Code P31E9 returned. $120 diagnostic fee plus $1170 to replace the electric water pump after taxes. I have asked the service representative if the water pump runs while the vehicle is charging. He stated no; however, after the warning EV light turned on, the whine was higher both under operation and charging. The same high pitched whine was heard after the car warned us while running and charging. That said, more seriously is that our dealer stated that 2 cars have had their master brake cylinders replaced costing $3000 plus which gives me pause. Is Nissan aware of brake cylinder failures? When probed what was the cause, normal wear and tear by means of brake fluid leakage. Is this a potential class action lawsuit? This is a worrisome situation whereupon statistics of Ford Pinto replacement part versus letting people be killed in accidents was deliberated and decided upon that the latter was the cost accounting method chosen.
 
Yes there isn't a fuel pump, frigging auto correct... But thank you for taking the time to point out an EV has no fuel lol... That was pointless. I am looking to dump this car if the statistics show that the master brake cylinder is a typical faulty item. I'm not having my family killed by some lousy part.
 
It is called humour. Thanks for pointing out the lack there of!

One breaking issue I was told about at the dealer was within the traction controll modual and break control module (1 of them more so then the other)

The mechanic at the dealer ship replaced it just out of cuation on the guy who had the issue.

With mine I have had 0% issues other then the heater dying at 16,500Km (The ptc heater) So long as it was above -12c I had the heat pump.

Heater now fixed and all runing great aside from the 12battery seems to be leacking from the top caps.
 
Sold the Leaf today. I'll be emailing the federal government safety commission and consumer reports. Good luck with your Leafs. Begs the question... Isthis why they went to a manual foot pedal brake from my electronic button?
 
Niteowl302002 said:
Sold the Leaf today. I'll be emailing the federal government safety commission and consumer reports. Good luck with your Leafs. Begs the question... Isthis why they went to a manual foot pedal brake from my electronic button?

No. They did that because it was cheaper.
 
Wow, that seems like an over reaction to anecdotal evidence of reported master cylinder failure. The reason for replacement was unlikely to even be a catastrophic failure. Almost every part on a vehicle incurs wear. Unfortunately you will not be able to replace the Leaf with any another car, as I'm sure anyone could find a dealer/mechanic who had replaced a master cylinder in every make/model of car ever made.
 
Niteowl302002 said:
Yes there isn't a fuel pump, frigging auto correct... But thank you for taking the time to point out an EV has no fuel lol... That was pointless. I am looking to dump this car if the statistics show that the master brake cylinder is a typical faulty item. I'm not having my family killed by some lousy part.

FWIW I don't recall reading much in the way of master cylinder failures on this forum, and I've perused it fairly regularly since 2010.
 
Nubo said:
FWIW I don't recall reading much in the way of master cylinder failures on this forum, and I've perused it fairly regularly since 2010.

None. However, we do have some evidence of a bad 12v system adversely affecting the braking system in 2011/2012 cars that I did not know about until today (I usually give up on the hysterical "LEAF is unsafe" threads before I'm done reading the first page).

Here RegGuheert indicates some advanced knowledge of the system and how it can be affected by a bad 12v battery:

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=10775&start=119

Now I've read this, I am willing to think that maybe the change from an electronic to mechanical parking brake might have been more than cost-cutting.
 
Niteowl302002 said:
Ours went from a normal whine to a loud high pitched whine. Code P31E9 returned. $120 diagnostic fee plus $1170 to replace the electric water pump after taxes. I have asked the service representative if the water pump runs while the vehicle is charging. He stated no; however, after the warning EV light turned on, the whine was higher both under operation and charging. The same high pitched whine was heard after the car warned us while running and charging. That said, more seriously is that our dealer stated that 2 cars have had their master brake cylinders replaced costing $3000 plus which gives me pause. Is Nissan aware of brake cylinder failures? When probed what was the cause, normal wear and tear by means of brake fluid leakage. Is this a potential class action lawsuit? This is a worrisome situation whereupon statistics of Ford Pinto replacement part versus letting people be killed in accidents was deliberated and decided upon that the latter was the cost accounting method chosen.

I've got the same code on my car right now. My wife has been driving the car and she recently noted that the light came on the dash. I pulled out the LeafSpy and looked at the code and I have the P31E9 showing. We never heard any noise when driving or charging at home, just straight to this code.

Anyhow, I'd like to do the work myself, but I cant seem to find a correct part number for the water pump.

I'm guessing this is the part.... 215813NA0A

https://www.nissanpartsdeal.com/parts/nissan-motor-assy-wate~21581-3na0a.html?Make=Nissan&Model=Leaf&Year=2011&Submodel=&Filter=()&Location=radiator-shroud-inverter-cooling,214_A002,21581M

Does anyone have a repair invoice showing the part number used in a replacement?
 
palmermd said:
I'm guessing this is the part.... 215813NA0A
I also think that looks like water pump 1, but can not confirm.
Since you say your pump does not make noise, and you did not
mention further diagnostics after viewing the DTC, thought I would
mention steps from the service manual:
1st it says make sure 12 volt battery reads above 11 volts with car off.
Make sure this is the only DTC seen
(it is the value seen by the VCM that causes this DTC).
check fuse 71, which is in the box behind the battery, middle column, bottom
fuse(next fuse up is for water pump 2).
Check the voltage at pin 1 of water pump for 12 volts.

Note: pin 4 is the control pwm in, and pin 3 the out pwm.
I believe that not matching is what causes the DTC.

Though there is a mistake in the service manual here, where
they describe what the pwm signal should look like. On the VCM
pins they describe both in, and out as in, and show the same signal
picture, so hard to tell if they should look alike.
 
cliff said:
palmermd said:
I'm guessing this is the part.... 215813NA0A
I also think that looks like water pump 1, but can not confirm.
Since you say your pump does not make noise, and you did not
mention further diagnostics after viewing the DTC, thought I would
mention steps from the service manual:
1st it says make sure 12 volt battery reads above 11 volts with car off.
Make sure this is the only DTC seen
(it is the value seen by the VCM that causes this DTC).
check fuse 71, which is in the box behind the battery, middle column, bottom
fuse(next fuse up is for water pump 2).
Check the voltage at pin 1 of water pump for 12 volts.

Note: pin 4 is the control pwm in, and pin 3 the out pwm.
I believe that not matching is what causes the DTC.

Though there is a mistake in the service manual here, where
they describe what the pwm signal should look like. On the VCM
pins they describe both in, and out as in, and show the same signal
picture, so hard to tell if they should look alike.


Awesome! I'll dig in this weekend and report back here what is discovered.
 
US is unimaginably bad place to service vehicles.

Code P31E9 returned. $120 diagnostic fee plus $1170 to replace the electric water pump after taxes. I have asked the service representative if the water pump runs while the vehicle is charging. He stated no;

They ask $120 for process that takes few minutes. They ask 1170€ to replace an electric water pump, that costs
less than $300 for them and takes less than 15 minutes to replace.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NISSAN-OEM-13-16-Leaf-Engine-Water-Pump-215813NF0A-/222430970882?fits=Make%3ANissan%7CModel%3ALeaf&hash=item33c9eb4402:g:pbkAAOSwXYtYvSWz&vxp=mtr

And water pump is activated if vehicles is AC-charging and it's not cold outside.
In addition to ripping people off, they are dump as f**ks.

NADA is just laughing their ass off while the whole nation is being ripped off, years and years. Nobody cares.
 
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