2012 Leaf wont charge

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EdG

Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2024
Messages
15
Location
austin, tx
got a 2012 leaf with 70k miles. Been great up until a few days ago. 68 mile range. Plug in the 220v charger and lights flash a few times and then turns off. Tried with the 120v and got the same issue. 12v battery is only few months old and new. I measured 4.5 volts on right proximity plug wire to bottom GND terminal. On left pilot I measured 1.6M ohms with the plus side of the multimeter on the pilot and neg on the gnd. When I swapped these two I get infinity ohms. I have a second 2012 leaf and these values are comparable between the two. Got leafspy and have a bunch of DTC (see attached). Seems like a lot of errors? Where to start?

Is it worth trying the diode inline with the pilot wire?

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you !! Ed
 

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try deleting all the era codes and go for a short drive then plug in the charger again see if the lights do the same, you have a lot of era's codes too many. If they all return after deleting them then you have a major problem. Any returning era code represents a fault.
 
You have quite a few low voltage power supply DTCs across many subsystems.

Based upon that i would suspect your 12V battery is low and needs a good charge with an external charger. The 1st step in the FSM for troubleshooting every DTC calls out to check the 12V battery.

A weak 12V can cause a multitude of DTCs such as you have experienced. Check and verify that the 12V is good and strong, then clear the codes and try again. Notice the sequence of relays clacking, the blue charging lights and the time until the charging quits, and check the EVSE leds for any fault indication.
 
thanks for the feedback. I swapped the 12v battery with a known good battery and same issue. I cleared all DTC codes and took it for a short 2 mile drive (battery range is ~10 miles) and checked for DTC's and no errors were showing. Tried to charge the car and same issue. The left light blinks 5 time then it shuts off. No errors on the 220v charger (I know this charger is good). I then checked for DTC's and got a few about the charger (B2840-01 6C) and 1 error on USB Comm (U1A05-00 00). I ordered the diode and will try inserting that for my next step? Any further guidance would be appreciated ... Thanks !!
 

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That list is shorter and looking better.

The P3173 is just a top-level supervisory DTC from the VCM that is a notification that the OBC has detected a fault. It will go away when the OBC quits squawking.

The details of the fault are found in the VC section of the FSM for P2840, which gets into some of the possible causes (but offers no solutions other than to replace the OBC). Based upon 5 blinks (seconds), i suspect that no AC is getting to the power board.

Did you happen to hear if the contactors in the traction pack clacked ON at the beginning of the blue lights, and clacked OFF after the 5 blinks?

Did you hear any relay sound inside your EVSE unit that would have slightly preceded the blue lights?

The OBC is behind the rear seat, it is fairly easy to access but tedious to remove. But the cover can be easily removed while in the car for visual inspection for fuses and looking for signs of thermal distress. The boards can be removed for repair without removing the OBC.

There are lots of checks that can be made using a DMM if you know how to read voltage, measure resistance, check continuity, check diode voltage drops, etc.

Here is the power board that would be a good place to inspect:
g2N30PI.jpg


Here is the control board, and the over-hyped "diode" D547 circled in red on the bottom side of it:

PhPamHP.jpg


E74yt2P.png
 
I tried the diode test. The problem is the same. Looks like I'll be looking at the OBC now. The good news for me is that I have 2 identical 2012 leafs. Guess I can start swapping out the boards of the OBC without removing it?

>> Did you happen to hear if the contactors in the traction pack clacked ON at the beginning of the blue lights, and clacked OFF after the 5 blinks?
yes ... Shuts off after 5 blinks of the blue light

>> Did you hear any relay sound inside your EVSE unit that would have slightly preceded the blue lights?
yes .. I believe that I did hear the relays clicking away. I know the charger is good as it will charge the other leaf that I have

Thank you for your help !!!!
 
Ok sounds like you have nailed it down, lucky to have 2 of the same Leafs to play with. Do let us know if you get it sorted, I have changed these OBC's before many times back in the day.
 
I took out the OBC today. I found a cap on the power board fried as well as the board itself looks a bit crispy. Any idea what my options are right now. I see a service on Ebay that will rebuild these boards (Nichicon PA4062RP220). Its cost $5 to look at the board to tell you its bad. Not sure of total cost to replace or fix this? Has a 2 year warranty. Anyone ever use this service?

thanks again for all the help ... Ed

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3135656360...HYNlb7svVIHPeXguynDXLctg==|tkp:Bk9SR9SC-OSFZA
 

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Hi, Yes seen this before, I have always replaced with new, however you say there is a repair service with 2 year warranty....I would give it a go 5 bucks is not a lot for the techie to determine that the board is toast it also gives them the opportunity to quote you the repair cost. I would guess not much to repair as obvious what parts are troublesome. Looked at the link posted I have never herd of them but worth getting in contact. A complete new charge controller ain't cheap.
Rgds.
 
Can you check if there is a short (continuity check) between the junctions labelled "L" and "N" on the waffle plate solder joints? That would be an indication that the cap was shorted internally when it blew.

That cap can be replaced, but good idea to inspect and check the rest of the circuit components too while you are in there,
laef blown cap OBC schema.png
 

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First thanks for the schematic. That helps a lot. The continuity between pins M and N are open. No shorts. In order to get access to the backside of the cap do I need to unsolder all of the waffle pins? Looks like someone along the way did unsolder this. I can check all the components around this cap to make sure all is ok. Thank you !!!
 
Check if you can get to the cap solder joints from the side between the board and the waffle plate (long thin soldering iron) or crush the cap from above and solder to the stubs that are left.

Removing the waffle plate is 72 solder joints, some with heavy copper traces and it is not a trivial task, it is easy to damage the vias and the tiny traces.

The waffle plate diode drops can be checked in place (if you release the Faston plugs [pull up gently on plastic while holding the wire steady, then pull up both together] with leads to the magnetics), see this link for coulomb's diagram and lots of technical information: https://myimiev.com/threads/the-tro...r-on-board-charger-obc-thread.4079/post-48195

This might help, relabel the wire colors as necessary to match your car, there may be some slight differences for the laef.
bf3af3d3bf1ddb93ed4c4124ff218faf.png
 
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awesome .. thanks !

I dont seem to find the cap Okaya LE335 ? anyone have a source for these or a replacement here in the US ?

I can buy (40) of the KE335K 400v version for $100 but looks like they might be to tall ?

thanks !!
 
got a 2012 leaf with 70k miles. Been great up until a few days ago. 68 mile range. Plug in the 220v charger and lights flash a few times and then turns off. Tried with the 120v and got the same issue. 12v battery is only few months old and new. I measured 4.5 volts on right proximity plug wire to bottom GND terminal. On left pilot I measured 1.6M ohms with the plus side of the multimeter on the pilot and neg on the gnd. When I swapped these two I get infinity ohms. I have a second 2012 leaf and these values are comparable between the two. Got leafspy and have a bunch of DTC (see attached). Seems like a lot of errors? Where to start?

Is it worth trying the diode inline with the pilot wire?

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you !! Ed
 
Had the same issue with my 2012 Leaf and I had to replace the Pre Start resistor that are in the battery containment. The traction Battery had to be removed to install this. I have 3 spares if you need one. They will tell you that they cannot get this part but we ordered online and the old leads off the burnt out resistor were soldered onto the new one.
 
I dont seem to find the cap Okaya LE335
That is a "X2" Safety Cap used for noise suppression. Any 3.3uF with the same voltage rating and X2 marking that will fit is okay.

Check the input fuse over on the far right side, the spark arrestor, and the ZNR suppressors (black lollipops) to ensure that you don't have an open circuit from the AC input thru to the L and N solder joints.

There should be a resistance reading, ~14.1 Ohms, on one leg that goes thru the precharge resistors, the white ceramic tombstones. The first one closest to the top edge of the board has an internal thermal fuse that can blow and that will prevent charging.
 
That cap can be replaced, but good idea to inspect and check the rest of the circuit components too while you are in there,
Yes, that capacitor goo might be corrosive, and/or it might be conductive.

Presumably the resistor just to the left of the marked capacitor should read 220k, not 220. 220 ohms would cause over 10 amps from 240 V, so well over 220 W of dissipation. It's almost certainly that 220 kΩ 2W resistor inside the dog house, so it may be a convenient place to measure whether the capacitor is shorted. N and L on the Waffle Plate™ might give a "false OK" due to the conformal coating on the PCB. Mind you, that coating may be on the resistor and its leads too.
 
Presumably the resistor just to the left of the marked capacitor should read 220k,
Yes you are right--good catch on that, and i have redlined the diagram for that typo. Those figures were taken from a national labs report for one of their teardowns.
 
I was able to get an X2 3.3uf cap (ECQUA335) and soldered it in from the top. I check all related components and they all seem to be ok. Put it all back together and something is wrong .. ARGGG I don't get any charging lights and when I try and drive the car the wont shift out of N (I have 13 miles left on my charge). I put the bottom orange battery plug in, the carpet fuse, 2 orange plugs into the OBC, 3 black plugs on the OBC, and attached the 12v battery. What the heck did I possibly do? Thanks Ed
 

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