2011 Motor power is limited

[Knulen]

I see a Nissan Leaf for sale for cheap. Of course it has an issue, the car is limited to 20km/h with Motor power is limited error on display. See photo below.
No diagnostic has been done so far.
What could be the problem? Is this probably one or more dead cells? Or can it be something else?
Main question is, can it be fixed?
Should I go to the seller and check it with LeafSpy? (I do have to travel to get to this car)

 

[nlspace]

The green car symbol says that it is in READY mode and able to drive, but the turtle is the indication of limited and reduced motor power available; then the High Voltage System error symbol (!) indicates some HV fault. A scan tool would be needed to read the DTCs for these faults.

The turtle is usually caused by weak or mis-balanced cell(s) or module(s) in the battery pack where the voltage has dropped below some level. The "fuel" gauge is showing over half full so you have to wonder how bad it is to trigger turtle mode.

If the temperature gauge was showing higher temps, then that might also be a cause for turtle, but that doesn't seem likely here.

The HV error could be $erious but since it is in READY, then it must be a fault with a fail/safe mode to allow you to limp home. Some HV errors will shut down the car immediately and not allow Start (Brick Mode).

Sometimes an old, weak or worn out 12V battery can cause a multitude of (false) faults in an EV. So investigate the age and condition of that also.

 

[Knulen]

The green car symbol says that it is in READY mode and able to drive, but the turtle is the indication of limited and reduced motor power available; then the High Voltage System error symbol (!) indicates some HV fault. A scan tool would be needed to read the DTCs for these faults.

The turtle is usually caused by weak or mis-balanced cell(s) or module(s) in the battery pack where the voltage has dropped below some level. The "fuel" gauge is showing over half full so you have to wonder how bad it is to trigger turtle mode.

If the temperature gauge was showing higher temps, then that might also be a cause for turtle, but that doesn't seem likely here.

The HV error could be $erious but since it is in READY, then it must be a fault with a fail/safe mode to allow you to limp home. Some HV errors will shut down the car immediately and not allow Start (Brick Mode).

Sometimes an old, weak or worn out 12V battery can cause a multitude of (false) faults in an EV. So investigate the age and condition of that also.

Is there an overview what all the dtc codes mean?

Can LeafSpy give me a good indication what the problem might be, e.g., bad/weak or misbalanced cells? Even if the hv battery is half charged?

Can I see with LeafSpy if the 12V battery is the cause or do I need to replace it for a good one? (Don't know if the seller will allow me to do that)

And can I save some kind of report with LeafSpy to share here with you all?

 

[nlspace]

Yes to all of those questions.

There is a free version that would be adequate to evaluate the condition of the battery pack, known as LeafSpy Lite. You will need an OBDII dongle that can make a blueteeth connection to your android device, Then it will show you the voltage of every cell in a bar graph that you can take a screenshot and post up here. Same with reading the DTCs. It has a screen that shows the 12V battery voltage.

 

[cornbinder89]

If I were considering buying I would move on, unless you are willing to do or have done a lot of work. It may be something simple, but it may also be something expensive like a HV leak in the battery pack.
If you know you can make an informed choice, if you don't know for sure what is wrong you should base your choice and price on the worse case, which is either a battery or PDM, AC or other HV part replacement.

 

[mux]

With this set of symptoms, it's definitely a dead main battery, plus potentially more HV system issues. Only if you can get it dirt cheap and have a cheap replacement battery ready.