Door Handles/AC system shuts down

[Krflaguna]

I have a 2018 Nissan Leaf and it has been nothing but problems. Now the two front door handles are almost falling off and it is hard to open the doors. I am now out of warranty and the dealer wants almost $900 to replace them.

It is winter now so I am not having my recurring problem with the AC system shutting off when the battery overheats.

Anyone else having the same issues?

 

[A327]

I have a 2018 Nissan Leaf and it has been nothing but problems. Now the two front door handles are almost falling off and it is hard to open the doors. I am now out of warranty and the dealer wants almost $900 to replace them.

It is winter now so I am not having my recurring problem with the AC system shutting off when the battery overheats.

Anyone else having the same issues?

Not sure if you are still having the door handle problems, but I just posted instructions to fix them (if the problem is the same as mine.) Good luck with your car!

https://mynissanleaf.com/threads/driver-door-handle-problem.23465/post-645383

 

[aqn]

I have a 2018 Nissan Leaf ...
It is winter now so I am not having my recurring problem with the AC system shutting off when the battery overheats.

Anyone else having the same issues?

I'm in central Texas and on super hot days, my 2011's AC would shut down i.e. the "climate control" reading on the "Energy Economy" display would show zero kW being consumed and the AC would slowly get warmer.

I think the AC does that when it's so hot that the compressor is failing to condense gas-state refrigerant back to liquid state. It shuts down the compressor at that point since it's pointless for it to keep trying. When that happens, I would turn off the AC and wait a while until enough air has moved across the condenser coils to cool it down. The AC would work again (showing non-zero energy consumption) when I turn the AC back on. Until it overheats and stops again.

I have not paid attention to the traction battery's temperature so I don't know if the AC shutting down coincides with high traction battery temperatures. I will try to remember to observe for that the next time.

 

[DunanyDon]

I think many Leaf owners have had the outer shell of the driver's door handle come loose. It's not a show stopper, but it is very annoying. My original solution was a zip tie which was effective, but not very elegant. I tried epoxy, then cyano-acrylate (CA) glue but neither one lasted for very long.

I saw a post recently, which I can't seem to find, about drilling a hole and pressing in a metal post 1/4" from the inside edge and 5/8" from the rear edge of the shell. The poster drilled the hole from the bottom so it was not visible, but the way I open my door puts stress on the top edge of the shell, so I decided to drill from the top, which is a lot easier to do as well. Instead of a metal post, I used an M3 set screw (grub screw) 10 mm long, as was suggested by the poster. I used a 3/32" drill bit in a pin vise to have more control. Then I tapped the hole with an M3 tap and threaded in the set screw with a bit of Loctite on it. The set screw and tap are readily available on Amazon. So far, so good and the small hole on the top of the shell is barely noticeable.

 

[AlanD]

The outer shell of the driver's door handle come loose on my 2013. I fixed it using a piece of double-sided (adhesive on both sides) foam tape under the shell. Worked fine and that was perhaps a year ago.

 

[benjwhite9]

I have the loose door handle as well. I visited Stevens Creek Nissan last week for a different problem, and while I was there, I asked how much to fix it? Well, not surprisingly, their only option was to replace it, which would cost me $600 P&L (for a single door). So, I will be trying the zip-tie approach, and if that doesn't last, I'll try DunanyDon's solution. That's folks for your contributions to the forum!

My 2012 Leaf was flawless, but this is the second expensive repair I've had for a quality-related issue. And of course, the extended warranty has so many exclusions, neither of my issues were covered.

 

[css28]

I cut a strip of clear packaging tape and stick it to the rear surface of the shell, wrapping around the backside of the latch structure. This way I'm not putting the adhesive in tension--mostly in shear.
I have to replace it every two years or so. Not a big deal, and essentially free.

 

[Stanton]

I'm in central Texas and on super hot days, my 2011's AC would shut down i.e. the "climate control" reading on the "Energy Economy" display would show zero kW being consumed and the AC would slowly get warmer.

I lived in Texas for ~10 years and never had this happen to my 2011 Leaf. Sounds like you need an AC service.

 

[aqn]

I'm in central Texas and on super hot days, my 2011's AC would shut down i.e. the "climate control" reading on the "Energy Economy" display would show zero kW being consumed and the AC would slowly get warmer.

I think the AC does that when it's so hot that the compressor is failing to condense gas-state refrigerant back to liquid state.

I lived in Texas for ~10 years and never had this happen to my 2011 Leaf. Sounds like you need an AC service.

Yeah, something's not right and I suppose I could have the issue looked at by the stealer dealer.

IMO, probably nothing good will come out of that. Best case scenario is low refrigerant amount, needing a refill of refrigerant and possibly a flush if the refrigerant in the car is no longer produced or no longer legal. A refill would indicate a tiny leak in the system somewhere since refrigerant don't just "leak out". If so, the refrigerant will just eventually depletes again.

In ca$e of a leak, $ome AC part$ might need replacing. Given that 1. the car is 13+ years old and 2. the AC still works "well enough", Imma just gonna live with it.