Bad Power Distribution Module? Check In Here

[flakeyblakee]

Going on day 10 here waiting for the part to come in...


They gave us a Yaris to drive while it is in the shop, which I took back to enterprise and asked them to try harder.

 

[flakeyblakee]

Same problem here. 2013 S with 4600 miles.
Car been in the dealer for 5 days. They just called and said it's the PDM; need to order part. promise to have the car fixed by friday. We'll see if that promise holds up...

Friday came and went without any update from dealer. I called them today and...no parts...not even an estimate on when they'll get the part. I'll call 1800-nissan1 on Monday to file a claim. The car has been in the dealer for 10 days now. It's not looking good.....sigh.....

The Nissan LEAF line is 877-664-2738

 

[bigt]

Well don't bring your leaf in for service with more than 2 bars As i did . Unless you want the tech driving your car around until it is so . They have a procedure to follow from corporate that seems idiotic. Wish i would have known that the 2013 is a new design on such critical parts. I guess they didn't do proper tests to insure it's function. Pdm broke at 3 k miles whats next . they should do a recall to save us the headaches of learning first hand what its like to baby sit our chargers.

 

[locman]

Same problem here. 2013 S with 4600 miles.
Car been in the dealer for 5 days. They just called and said it's the PDM; need to order part. promise to have the car fixed by friday. We'll see if that promise holds up...

Friday came and went without any update from dealer. I called them today and...no parts...not even an estimate on when they'll get the part. I'll call 1800-nissan1 on Monday to file a claim. The car has been in the dealer for 10 days now. It's not looking good.....sigh.....

The Nissan LEAF line is 877-664-2738

Thanks for the number. I called 800nissan1 (before seeing flakeyblakee message), and they xfer me to the right place.
I opened a case. They said they'll get on it. Gave me a direct contact. I also asked them to pay for gas on my gas loaner. They agreed.

 

[LasPaled]

I just realized this can get ugly. A quote from this link: http://insideevs.com/detailing-the-...-leaf-battery-pack-and-electric-drive-system/

Miyamoto explains how the 2013 LEAF’s electric powertrain joins the inverter, motor, power delivery module and reduction gear into a single unit, which reduces the size and weight by 30% and 10%, respectively.

So, if I understand this correctly, our problem is that essentially then entire "engine" has to be replaced and not just the PDM. YIKES!!!

 

[apvbguy]

my LEAF was delivered around the same time as the ones on this thread, I am at about 1900 miles is there a mileage threshold that is common for this failure?

 

[LasPaled]

my LEAF was delivered around the same time as the ones on this thread, I am at about 1900 miles is there a mileage threshold that is common for this failure?

It looks like we are all under 5k. Maybe we should compare manufacturing dates.

 

[bigt]

here is the pdm unit with the cover off.

was told by the leaf tech that the 220 goes in at the lower right corner and the 6.6 \kw charger is in the upper left.
this is from a bad 2013 s model that was awaiting its new parts for over ten days

i'll try to get a picture of the updated part with cover removed prior to installation.

 

[LEAFfan]

here is the pdm unit with the cover off.

was told by the leaf tech that the 220 goes in at the lower right corner and the 6.6 \kw charger is in the upper left.
this is from a bad 2013 s model that was awaiting its new parts for over ten days

i'll try to get a picture of the updated part prior to installation.

Thanks for the pic! So what makes the PDM go bad?

 

[bigt]

No problem,
From what the tech and i gathered is something is getting to hot and is triggering and is resetting a inline breaker so to speak .. The pdm in the picture didn't have quick charge but mine does and it isn't effected. So if we had to trace the 220 line into and to the charge unit somewhere inline has to be a breaker . On the top of the 220 area near that choke there is a glass fuse .. But thats not our issue .. On the updated part im sure the copper is thicker and it has more heat dissipation into the cooler below.

 

[lion]

So I'm wondering if this is only affecting people in areas with warmer temperatures all year? Would love to figure out the pattern here.

 

[flakeyblakee]

So I'm wondering if this is only affecting people in areas with warmer temperatures all year? Would love to figure out the pattern here.

I'm wondering that as well. It didn't happen to us until it started hitting the high 90's here.

 

[davewill]

I just realized this can get ugly. ... So, if I understand this correctly, our problem is that essentially then entire "engine" has to be replaced and not just the PDM. YIKES!!!

No. It's a stacked design. All of those end up being bolted together into one unit, but they can be unbolted and replaced separately. I think it's three separate pieces: reduction gear, engine, and PDM (inverter and charger), but it could be four.

 

[LEAFfan]

I don't believe it is caused by high ambient heat, but by a bad crimp in the J plug that makes it overheat and melts a part of the PDM. It's been well over 100 degrees F here for over a month and no one here has reported a PDM problem.

 

[locman]

I don't believe it is caused by high ambient heat, but by a bad crimp in the J plug that makes it overheat and melts a part of the PDM. It's been well over 100 degrees F here for over a month and no one here has reported a PDM problem.

I agree. I hit the problem, and where i'm at, it rarely hits 80F in the last 3 months.
But one thing I have observed with my car, that I have not seen it mentioned, is that the problem occurs with L2 charging, not with L1. which makes sense if it's an issue of marginal part(pdm).

 

[bigt]

When the part failed it caused my battery cooling fan to stay on while completely off and unplugged.
I'm sure something in the new updated parts will have better thermal displacement and or thicker circuit's.

Whatever that did fail didnt do so completely.

My 6.6 av charger made my car stop charging about twice as fast as the dealers old 3.3.. they had it plugged in and charging for over an hour before it cut out ..

 

[LasPaled]

I don't believe it is caused by high ambient heat, but by a bad crimp in the J plug that makes it overheat and melts a part of the PDM. It's been well over 100 degrees F here for over a month and no one here has reported a PDM problem.

I agree. I hit the problem, and where i'm at, it rarely hits 80F in the last 3 months.
But one thing I have observed with my car, that I have not seen it mentioned, is that the problem occurs with L2 charging, not with L1. which makes sense if it's an issue of marginal part(pdm).

I experienced the problem as an L1 user. It had been a month since I had used an L2.

 

[LasPaled]

I just realized this can get ugly. ... So, if I understand this correctly, our problem is that essentially then entire "engine" has to be replaced and not just the PDM. YIKES!!!

No. It's a stacked design. All of those end up being bolted together into one unit, but they can be unbolted and replaced separately. I think it's three separate pieces: reduction gear, engine, and PDM (inverter and charger), but it could be four.

Thank you for the clarification.

 

[bigt]

I received a call today from my dealers head leaf tech and asked me to bring in my 110 volt evse.
So I did and I asked why? He said he believes that a software update may fix my pdm issues.
He had 3 leafs there and one of them wouldn't fail while on 110.
Im glad I didn't do the 220 mod for this reason alone.. I could hear the mob now... so ill drop it... lol

Either way im not sure what my cars pdm issues are.

ill post back when i know more

 

[lion]

It would be interesting to find out if the EVSE was the source of the problem, but can't imagine the mod being the source of the problem (unless something changed in the 2013s, which would explain why only a small percentage of people are reporting it). Still thinking it is temperature related tho.