Car turns partly on, but won't go into drive

[earlyadopter]

I went to start my charged to 80% Leaf today, and it came up in an odd mode where the warning lights were on (brake, park, EV…) but no green car. Also there were no bars, and the miles left had dashes. Unlike the intermittent "sort of on" mode where you can hit on again, or turn it off and on, I could turn it off, but it always returned to this non driving mode. I would attach a photo of the panel, but I have to upload it to some stupid website first.
What did work was plugging it back into the charger for a minute, unplugging, and then it started up like normal.
I understand some people have tried detaching the 12V power lead to get the system to reset in odd cases, but I didn't try it this time. If you are on the road and away from a charger, that might be your only option to try…
Anyone else had this problem?

(It's in the software, I'm sure. No one can write correct code.)

 

[davewill]

I think I would have the dealer check it for error codes, particularly if it happens again. I find it more likely there was an error that caused the car to fail to go "ready" not a software bug.

 

[LeftieBiker]

You can also try charging the 12 volt battery for 15 minutes, then trying it again. A weak accessory battery can produce odd symptoms.

 

[adric22]

Sounds like it was in accessory mode.. I've done this a few times under various circumstances, such as not having my foot on the brake hard enough, or not unplugging the car. Not saying that's what you did, but maybe there is an issue with one of those sensors.

 

[derkraut]

You can also try charging the 12 volt battery for 15 minutes, then trying it again. A weak accessory battery can produce odd symptoms.

+1---the 12V battery is the first thing I'd check.

 

[Wennfred]

2013 came with a batch of 12v batteries that were dying practically over night, take it back and have the battery checked or replaced.

 

[tomcujax]

This has happened to me 3 times this week, resulting in car being towed back to dealer 3 times. After being toling is wrong with the car, I am frustrated. Went to postof a couple of years ago and thehe same software problem was occuring. Any suggestions from someone who has had problem

 

[chris2012leaf]

Nissan recommended I change the 12v battery before bringing it in for more extensive diagnostics.

As the original battery was 7 years old with 65k miles on it I figured it was probably past due for replacement anyway.

Picked up a new battery, went home, spent 10 minutes swapping it out — and problem COMPLETELY SOLVED!

Thank you to all earlier posters who suggested this problem was 12v battery-related!

(Relatively) cheap and easy fix...

 

[lpwtig]

I went to start my charged to 80% Leaf today, and it came up in an odd mode where the warning lights were on (brake, park, EV…) but no green car. Also there were no bars, and the miles left had dashes. Unlike the intermittent "sort of on" mode where you can hit on again, or turn it off and on, I could turn it off, but it always returned to this non driving mode. I would attach a photo of the panel, but I have to upload it to some stupid website first.
What did work was plugging it back into the charger for a minute, unplugging, and then it started up like normal.
I understand some people have tried detaching the 12V power lead to get the system to reset in odd cases, but I didn't try it this time. If you are on the road and away from a charger, that might be your only option to try…
Anyone else had this problem?

(It's in the software, I'm sure. No one can write correct code.)

Thank you for this.Disconnecting 12v battery worked.

 

[cornbinder89]

It may come back. It really depends on what the cause of the original problem is.
Be prepared for it to show again.

 

[Kevin Michael]

I went to start my charged to 80% Leaf today, and it came up in an odd mode where the warning lights were on (brake, park, EV…) but no green car. Also there were no bars, and the miles left had dashes. Unlike the intermittent "sort of on" mode where you can hit on again, or turn it off and on, I could turn it off, but it always returned to this non driving mode. I would attach a photo of the panel, but I have to upload it to some stupid website first.
What did work was plugging it back into the charger for a minute, unplugging, and then it started up like normal.
I understand some people have tried detaching the 12V power lead to get the system to reset in odd cases, but I didn't try it this time. If you are on the road and away from a charger, that might be your only option to try…
Anyone else had this problem?

(It's in the software, I'm sure. No one can write correct code.)

I jumped the 12v, car turn on okay, so the 12v battery is going bad.