Brake Issue on 2015 LEAF

[m4ch1n4t10n5]

Hi all,

I started my LEAF today and when I put it in reverse and pressed the brake it didn't stop until I pushed it down pretty far when it made crunching noises and stopped suddenly.

I pulled the codes with LEAF Spy and noted the following:

>U1000-01 09  ABS  CAN Comm Circuit

 >U110D-01 09  ABS  E-Driven Intelligent Brake Comm BRC-130

  B142A-16 08  AIR BAG 

  B00A0-00 08  AIR BAG 

  B2195-00 08  BCM  Anti-Scanning SEC-63

  B2562-00 08  BCM  Low Voltage BCS-69

  C1704-00 08  BCM  Low Pressure FL WT-26

  C1705-00 08  BCM  Low Pressure FR WT-26

  C1706-00 08  BCM  Low Pressure RR WT-26

  C1707-00 08  BCM  Low Pressure RL WT-26

I thought maybe it was an issue with the 12v battery given its age, so I put in a new one, but the issue still persists.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what would cause this?

 

[Drew21]

I don't know what all the codes you presented mean, but being a simple man I would start by:

1) Checking the fluid level in the brake reservoir and
2) Pulling off your wheels and inspecting your brakes.

How old is your Leaf? How many miles? When were the brakes/brake fluid last serviced?

 

[m4ch1n4t10n5]

Fluid was fine and a healthy color.

It has approximately 92k miles.

I didn’t check the brakes behind the wheels because this seems more like a central system failure.

Not sure when brakes were last serviced, but it can’t have been too long ago since the fluid is fairly fresh looking.

I bought this car earlier this year and they had just had the car serviced by Nissan before I bought it and Nissan marked everything “green.”

 

[MikeinPA]

More like a clunking/clanking noise with noticeable vibration, happening as you stopped the reverse motion? The right rear parking brake on our 2013 white Leaf has done this on and off since new. Even after I replaced all of the parking brake hardware inside the drum and also the cable going to it. Make sure the 12 volt battery is healthy and charged, clear the codes, and see if it happens again.

 

[m4ch1n4t10n5]

More like a clunking/clanking noise with noticeable vibration, happening as you stopped the reverse motion? The right rear parking brake on our 2013 white Leaf has done this on and off since new. Even after I replaced all of the parking brake hardware inside the drum and also the cable going to it. Make sure the 12 volt battery is healthy and charged, clear the codes, and see if it happens again.

As noted in the OP, I put in a new battery. The parking brake works normally. It did the same noise even if I was in park and pushed the brake pedal.

I'm pretty sure the noise I was hearing is the pump for the power brakes, and the errors related to low pressure indicate that it was not building enough pressure.


*Update for today*

I drove it again today, because I needed to move it, and now all the errors are clear and it is driving normally <shrug>.

So I have 2 theories:

1. The pump for the power brakes is going bad and stopped working intermittently and will do this again

2. The 7 year old battery that I replaced was going bad and didn't have enough amps to drive the pump

The problem with #2 is that it didn't start working correctly immediately after replacing the battery, so maybe the pump needed some time with the proper amps available to build pressure again? It seems odd, but I am not an expert, so I can't think of a better explanation.

My plan at this point is to call into my local Nissan service center and see if they have a logical explanation.

 

[MikeinPA]

Even new batteries off the shelf can be partially discharged and/or in poor condition from sitting partially discharged for weeks or months. Healthy and fully charged--best to check that first with new DTCs.

The problem with #2 is that it didn't start working correctly immediately after replacing the battery

Perhaps the new battery was really low and needed to charge from the Leaf?

There are a lot of search hits for U110D-01 09 ABS E-Driven Intelligent Brake Comm BRC-130 . I would read those before talking with Nissan unless you have a lot of confidence in their service department.

 

[m4ch1n4t10n5]

Even new batteries off the shelf can be partially discharged and/or in poor condition from sitting partially discharged for weeks or months. Healthy and fully charged--best to check that first with new DTCs.

Perhaps the new battery was really low and needed to charge from the Leaf?

There are a lot of search hits for U110D-01 09 ABS E-Driven Intelligent Brake Comm BRC-130 . I would read those before talking with Nissan unless you have a lot of confidence in their service department.

That is a good point... if the battery had been on a shelf for a long time and needed to be charged back up it might have taken a bit for the LEAF to do so.

 

[bsk]

Is your car still braking normally with the new battery? I had this exact issue today - put car in reverse, didn't stop until I pushed it down pretty far and it made crunching noises and stopped. I limped home with that happening every time I stopped.

 

[bsk]

Moved the car a couple hours after I got home and it was fine.

 

[aqn]

It wouldn't hurt to try "recalibrating" the brakes' travel:

1. Come to stop. Put into Park. Turn traction control off.
2. Press really hard on brake pedal: pedal will go all the way to the floor, albeit with resistance. There will be a click at the bottom of travel.
3. Release brake pedal.

More info: https://www.reddit.com/r/leaf/search/?q=brake+recalibration

 

[bsk]

It wouldn't hurt to try "recalibrating" the brakes' travel:

1. Come to stop. Put into Park. Turn traction control off.
2. Press really hard on brake pedal: pedal will go all the way to the floor, albeit with resistance. There will be a click at the bottom of travel.
3. Release brake pedal.

More info: https://www.reddit.com/r/leaf/search/?q=brake+recalibration

This really seemed to help. Brakes feel better and reverse does too. Prior to doing this it felt like the brake was on when I put the car into reverse. Thanks.
How often should recalibrating be done?

 

[bsk]

That is a good point... if the battery had been on a shelf for a long time and needed to be charged back up it might have taken a bit for the LEAF to do so.

Is your car still braking normally with the new battery? I had this exact issue today - put car in reverse, didn't stop until I pushed it down pretty far and it made crunching noises and stopped. I limped home with that happening every time I stopped.

 

[aqn]

This really seemed to help. Brakes feel better and reverse does too. Prior to doing this it felt like the brake was on when I put the car into reverse. Thanks.
How often should recalibrating be done?

Glad to hear it helped!

I imagine brake calibration is rarely required. I would do it again if/when my LEAF starts having the symptoms of 1. abrupt transitions between regen and hydraulic braking, and 2. not showing full regen on the "Energy Economy" display.

 

[nlspace]

Calibration makes a lot of sense.

The so-called "Intelligent" brake booster is an electric-motor-driven actuator that gets powered by the 12V battery supply.

Due to the large current needed in a very short time period there is a big black capacitor box (behind the rear seat for 2012) that can energize the motor quicker than the battery.

But when the 12V battery gets worn and can't recharge the capacitor bank, then the actuator gets slow or stalls, and can't do the job, so your foot has to press further to engage the master cylinder.

And the motor may not fully retract due to low voltage and current. So it is not back in the home position. Recalibration sets the motor position back to home.

Another factor that can cause stalling and noise issues is rust in the actuator springs and bearings.

 

[nlspace]

delete duplicate

 

[woeful]

Due to the large current needed in a very short time period there is a big black capacitor box (behind the rear seat for 2012) that can energize the motor quicker than the battery.

...and provides emergency power to operate the brakes for long enough to bring the car to an emergency stop even if some disaster causes every other part of the electrical system to fail. It's the equivalent of the reserve in a vacuum booster for a gasoline/petrol engine car.

 

[tripper1000]

I am not an expert in brakes. I have had multiple expereiences of brake pedal suddenly going down much further than usual, but not with the noises you speak of. My trouble turned out to be from using OBD2 dongles whilst moving and since I quit doing that, I haven't had any reoccurances.

The ABS diagnostic messages suggest the brake module is having difficuilty communicating with the rest of the car. This could be because there are shorted/broken/loose wires, because you have left something plugged into the OBD2 when driving, or an actual failure with the ABS module. (It can also be from low battery voltage eg 10v or lower, but once you get the car started, it charges the 12v battery and this problem should quickly resolve, so not likely to be your problem).

As I understand it with my case, whilst plugged in some Bluetooth OBD2 modules can corrupt traffic on the CANBus causing abnormal brake pedal feel. This occurs two different ways. The first is that some modules have an un-necessary CAN terminating resistor, pulling the bus signalling voltage too low, so important messages don't get to their desination (like the brake module). The other way is from using Leafspy while driving. Ideally speaking, you should only use it when stationary, since it puts the car into a diagnostic mode (to fetch detailed battery information) which was only even intended for stationary/workshop use.

 

[m4ch1n4t10n5]

Hi all,

So we have had an intermittent re-occurrence of this issue lately, and I am wondering if there is something wrong with the brake booster. Normally I would expect it to be an all or nothing thing, but it would come back and work for a while then fail again.

I have noticed this article:

https://www.greencarreports.com/new...ll-brake-software-update-for-cold-weather-use

Apparently there is a relay that gets cold and causes the brake booster to stop working. Has anyone had the issue related to this recall, and did it work to resolve it?

I'm tempted to use a hair drier on the brake booster to see if that makes the issue go away to confirm.

 

[m4ch1n4t10n5]

So today is relatively warm ~60 f, and the system still seems to have some issues.

Here are the current codes:

B2195-00 08 BCM Anti-Scanning SEC-63
B2562-00 08 BCM Low Voltage BCS-69
C1704-00 08 BCM Low Pressure FL WT-26
C1705-00 08 BCM Low Pressure FR WT-26
C1706-00 08 BCM Low Pressure RR WT-26
C1707-00 08 BCM Low Pressure RL WT-26
Ok None ---> CHARGER
Ok None ---> EPS
>P3195-00 0B EV/HEV CAN Error EVC-272
>U1000-00 0B EV/HEV CAN Comm Circuit
Ok None ---> HVAC
U1000-00 48 HV BATTERY CAN Comm Circuit
Ok None ---> IPDM E/R
Ok None ---> METER
Ok None ---> MOTOR CONTROL
P189D-00 08 SHIFT
Ok None ---> VSP

The fluid level is up, and relatively fresh. The car does stop albeit with a lot of pedal travel and noise.

The battery is relatively new (see previous post) and does show normal voltage.

I am probably going to take it in to Nissan and let them look. I have a feeling something was failing intermittently and has now given up.

 

[LanguidSphinx]

So today is relatively warm ~60 f, and the system still seems to have some issues.

Here are the current codes:

B2195-00 08 BCM Anti-Scanning SEC-63
B2562-00 08 BCM Low Voltage BCS-69
C1704-00 08 BCM Low Pressure FL WT-26
C1705-00 08 BCM Low Pressure FR WT-26
C1706-00 08 BCM Low Pressure RR WT-26
C1707-00 08 BCM Low Pressure RL WT-26
Ok None ---> CHARGER
Ok None ---> EPS
>P3195-00 0B EV/HEV CAN Error EVC-272
>U1000-00 0B EV/HEV CAN Comm Circuit
Ok None ---> HVAC
U1000-00 48 HV BATTERY CAN Comm Circuit
Ok None ---> IPDM E/R
Ok None ---> METER
Ok None ---> MOTOR CONTROL
P189D-00 08 SHIFT
Ok None ---> VSP

The fluid level is up, and relatively fresh. The car does stop albeit with a lot of pedal travel and noise.

The battery is relatively new (see previous post) and does show normal voltage.

I am probably going to take it in to Nissan and let them look. I have a feeling something was failing intermittently and has now given up.

That variety of codes is suspicious - you have a security one, low voltage, CAN bus errors.... I like the direction of tripper1000's thinking that maybe the brake module is failing and messing with lots of other systems electrically. If you were interested in troubleshooting further I'd unplug it (electrically only) and rescan...obviously you will get brake system errors but do all the other systems report normal again?