2017 Leaf won’t go into Drive after Accident

[gillisk976]

Hello All, I am seeking help. I bought a crash damaged 2017 Nissan Leaf S from a friend and cannot get the car to go into drive or reverse.

Key Information:
The car will not go into drive or reverse.
The dash says “I-Key System Fault”.
When I connect to the OBD port, the OBD reader says “Link Error”.
The HV battery will not charge with the J1772 plug with 110. I haven't tried the DC fast charge port yet.
The car was hit on the front right and so the front and right side airbags went off.
Car used to go into Neutral, now it does not since I disconnected and reconnected the 12V battery.

I have read that there may be self protection systems that disable the high voltage battery when the airbags go off. I haven’t been able to find any information on where to look or what to do. I’m guessing I need a specialist to come look at the car. I doubt a dealer would reset the car since there is crash damage. From reading, it doesn’t seem like the Leaf has a pyro fuse like the Teslas. I did try disconnecting the battery today for 30 minutes and reconnecting. Now the car will not even go into Neutral like it was before I disconnected the battery. My friend said that the I-Key System Fault has always been there since the driver side door handle was replaced.

 

[nlspace]

What is the age and condition of the 12V battery--has it set in the car ever since the accident? Try giving it a full charge with an external charger, then see what happens. It should go into Neutral after a wreck in order to load it up on a flatbed trailer; i doubt it will go to READY and drive or charge with airbag deployment. Probably need the consult tool to reset those DTCs.

It is showing the HV System Error (car with ! ) plus numerous other yellow and red warnings, just have to work thru the list to get them out.

Front end--no coolant radiator anymore?

 

[Daklein]

My salvage 22 had most of the airbags deployed. I charged the 12v fully, then checked and cleared codes with lead spy. Obviously not all the codes would clear, but then it would go into ready mode and drives fine for a crashed car. The key fob battery is low, so I need to hold the key at the start button.

 

[MikeinPA]

Do you really want to start this car? Chances are very good a coolant line is busted, and the electronics are not being cooled any longer...

 

[gillisk976]

Hi All, wow, thank you for the replies.

@nlspace - I did give the 12V battery a good charge after I received it, but it may need another boost. I'll try that. What is the consult tool? Is that something different than a obd port diagnostic tool. I have used a pretty nice Bosch unit and that was unable to connect to the ecu. I do have LeafSpy and have not tried that that yet. I will try that tomorrow. The radiator was damaged in the accident. I removed it to see if I could find any damaged wiring behind. My goal in getting the car into drive is just to prove that the major components work before trying to use them for a project.

@Daklein - This gives me hope that LeafSpy will be able to connect when the other OBD readers would not.

@MikeinPA - I really just want to see if it will drive to prove the major components work to use for an EV swap project.

Another friend suggested I check to see if the 12V battery goes to 14V when the car is on. He said this will help me know is the DC-DC converter is working, which if it is, means that the high voltage interlock (HVIL) is not active.

Thank you for the good ideas! I'm feeling hopeful with some new things to try.

 

[cornbinder89]

The diagnostic port is not OBD 2 compliant. The shape of the port is the only thing that is OBD2. Because the car doesn't emit any "emissions" it doesn't have to comply with the OBD2 protocol.
Some scanners are set up to read EV's and some are not. Often a non EV scanner will give nonsense or will report nothing.
Either use "leafspy" or another scanner that says it can work on Nissan Leaf.

 

[gillisk976]

@cornbinder89 Thank you, that makes sense.

I was able to connect with LeafSpy yesterday so that is a win. I also got the car to go back into Neutral when the battery charger was connected. I tested the voltage of the battery with the car off and on and it stayed at 12V so this means that the DC-DC converter may not be working and the HVIC (high voltage interlock) may be active. I just now figured out how to enable the Service Menu screen in LeafSpy so I hope to get the DTC codes this afternoon.

 

[gillisk976]

Hello, I was able to get the car to go into drive and reverse today! I was able to read DTC codes and clear some of them with LeafSpy. Many of them would not clear. My friend also had a suspicion about the fob battery being low so I started the car by touching the fob to the power/ on button. Anyway, it rolls. Next will be to see if it charges (forgot to bring charging cable with me today). Also, it still seems as though the 12V battery voltage stays at 12V and doesn't jump up to 14V when the car is on. Thank you all for your help getting me to this point!

 

[nlspace]

The purpose of reading DTCs-- is not to just clear them; but to get some idea of what the car thinks is the problem, and address/repair those issues.

Without the codes how can you know where to investigate and troubleshoot the problems?

If the car doesn't go into READY mode, then the DCDC converter is not getting HV.

 

[cornbinder89]

The purpose of reading DTCs-- is not to just clear them; but to get some idea of what the car thinks is the problem, and address/repair those issues.

Without the codes how can you know where to investigate and troubleshoot the problems?

If the car doesn't go into READY mode, then the DCDC converter is not getting HV.

In his case, he is planning on a transplant into another vehicle. Trouble codes at this point are fairly moot. It matters little if a air bag code is set if the drivetrain ends up in a car without air bags.
However, as a general rule, it is a good idea to record DTC's before erasing them. But even then, old codes that live on in memory can lead you to chase your tail. Active DTC will re appear if the problem still exists.
Clearing code to get the car movable was the correct call.