HOW-TO: 2018 Leaf ZE1 OEM headunit replacement (7" -> 8")

[CeladonCityNPC]

I'm going to give this another try will keep you posted on how I get on!

Nice! Are you going with the CAN filter (https://zelemar.eu/nissan-can-filter-installation/) or VIN coding at the dealer?

 

[Danep82]

ordered the CAN decoder, my local dealership is useless thats why i gave up last time!

 

[CeladonCityNPC]

ordered the CAN decoder, my local dealership is useless thats why i gave up last time!

Agreed; glad you're able to take the matter into your own hands.

Not really a fault of the dealership but I now have a permanent X on top of all my 360° camera views (on the old headunit) and a persistent U1304 "Camera image calibration incomplete" DTC that cannot be cleared by LeafSpy and I just can't be arsed to pay the dealer another 80 euros to fix it.
Appeared after they tried to calibrate the new headunit to work with my cameras...

https://i.imgur.com/CA5lg53.jpg

Well, for what it's worth, it tells me the dealer was able to communicate with the camera control unit over CAN even though the picture did not appear on the new headunit.

Might get it cleared during my next annual service though.

 

[drienties]

Had some delay with work etc. Took an hour of work to solder the filter in between and give it a go.

Good news, everything works including camera's.!

I dont have the red x on my camera's.

Only thing not working is the "power meter"? On the radio. i.e. how much power is the car using. But i'm not to fussed about that.

I'll do a better write up later but so far i'm very happy with it.

 

[Danep82]

Hi same I also managed to do the retrofit, only problem I’m having is the beeps not working for parking sensors

 

[CeladonCityNPC]

Had some delay with work etc. Took an hour of work to solder the filter in between and give it a go.

Good news, everything works including camera's.!

I dont have the red x on my camera's.

Only thing not working is the "power meter"? On the radio. i.e. how much power is the car using. But i'm not to fussed about that.

I'll do a better write up later but so far i'm very happy with it.

Amazing. Do you happen to have any photos or did you happen to write down the exact part number of your display? I am wondering if mine was too new, as it was from a 2021 car (p/n: 25915-5SR0C)

Or maybe my failure with the 360 cameras was caused by the missing ignition cable after all.

Congratulations - and thank you so much for posting an update.

I also found the power meter was not working. By the way, if you go to the "source menu" on the IC display and click OK, does it show the source menu to you? That was another thing I noticed was not working for me. And when I was using Android Auto, on the IC display it showed I was listening to CD.
None of those bothered me one bit though, so I think I am going to start looking for another display, after all I have the CAN filter already from the current display I broke, maybe I can re-use it.

 

[CeladonCityNPC]

Hi same I also managed to do the retrofit, only problem I’m having is the beeps not working for parking sensors

Does it give out a different kind of beep, one that shatters your ears? Or none at all? If it's ear-shattering, it means your display is from a different trim level. If there's nothing, does the P button LED under your steering wheel light up?

 

[Danep82]

Hi I’ve got it working now it’s ear shattering as are the speakers, the breaker said the unit was from a Tekna but I’m guessing it doesn’t know it has Bose sound system.

Only other things I notice are if I try to select a source from the instrument cluster the list is blank and I’m also not getting navigation on the cluster either for some reason.

Dan

 

[drienties]

Volume is a bit on the loud side as well for mine i must admit. I have set the volume for the parking sensors to low in the dash menu. not sure is it made any big difference though. It's not ear shattering but it is much louder then on the old unit.

i might tinker in the service menu later today to see if there are any options.

I haven't checked the source list from the instrument cluster, i'll give it go later tonight. it does show CD when using android auto i think.

as for the part-number. it said: 259155SR0B on the invoice from partan, don't have a picture at the moment.

 

[CeladonCityNPC]

Hi I’ve got it working now it’s ear shattering as are the speakers, the breaker said the unit was from a Tekna but I’m guessing it doesn’t know it has Bose sound system.

Only other things I notice are if I try to select a source from the instrument cluster the list is blank and I’m also not getting navigation on the cluster either for some reason.

Dan

Thanks for the response Dan! Can you check in the sound menu in the settings, is there an option for "sound boost"? Or "loudness"?
I can't remember which one it's called, but it should be the bottom option in the sound menu. If it is there, it tells you that your headunit is not from a Tekna, since that option is not available on Teknas as the Bose amp handles it.

If so, you just need the dealer to configure it for you, they basically just install the correct firmware on it.

But your 360 cameras still work??
What is your part number on the headunit please? I'm trying to find a new one that will work, but I need the right part number...thanks!!!
And where did you buy it?

 

[Danep82]

Purchased off eBay from EV breakers yeah my 360 cameras work fine

Will get you the exact model number later on

Dan

 

[Danep82]

Update:

I have only been messing with this again today as was waiting for some parts to arrive, i made a harness with the CAN filter inline and the wires going to the new loactaions:

Here are some photos of everything working, The nav on cluster began working after a short drive.

So the only issues i have is the Source list does not show up as below:

Which i find strange as the sources all show up if you change them on the display the cluster shows the correct source, and i just need to tell the Stereo i have a bose sound system as everything is very loud.

Edit here is the Model info:

Dan

 

[CeladonCityNPC]

Update:

I have only been messing with this again today as was waiting for some parts to arrive, i made a harness with the CAN filter inline and the wires going to the new loactaions:

Here are some photos of everything working, The nav on cluster began working after a short drive.

So the only issues i have is the Source list does not show up as below:


Which i find strange as the sources all show up if you change them on the display the cluster shows the correct source, and i just need to tell the Stereo i have a bose sound system as everything is very loud.

Edit here is the Model info:


Dan

Your adapter cable with the inline CAN filter looks top notch.

So, now we can confidently say that at least with the headunit part number 259155SR0B (25915-5SR0B) this upgrade is possible. Mine was 25915-5SR0C so pretty much the same p/n but just one revision later. So it's possible mine would have worked just as well, although it could be Nissan updated the camera control ECU. If not, maybe a faulty cable in my adapter was the cause for the 360 cameras not working.

Hopefully drienties shares the p/n of his headunit as well so we can see if more revisions are possible to use for this upgrade. Most likely all of them are compatible, at least up to 2020 (when yours was manufactured.)

I'll order some more parts myself now. I gotta re-do my cabling and get another headunit from the scrap yard. Hopefully I don't fry it this time.

By the way, where did you order the 20-pin and 40-pin male/female connectors from? Wondering if there's a place closer than AliExpress so that I'd get them before next year...

 

[Danep82]

All the connectors were ali express im afraid! how much do head units go for over there ? uk ebay has them for around £200!

Dan

 

[CeladonCityNPC]

All the connectors were ali express im afraid! how much do head units go for over there ? uk ebay has them for around £200!

Dan

That's a good deal. I'm in Finland, so the cheapest ones I can find come from Lithuania and are around 400 EUR (£350). Oh how I wish you guys were still in the EU so I could order from there and didn't have to pay VAT on top of the sale price

The one I fried earlier that made me start this whole thread I got for £230 from a local guy, but that was after a couple of months of haggling (he was asking £600 originally.)

I actually just found a pair of male/female 40-pin connectors in my parts bin, but the 20-pin one I found on AliExpress is called this:
FEELDO Car 20Pin Audio Stereo Wiring Harness Adapter For Nissan/Subaru/Infiniti and I'm wondering if it's indeed the correct one for a Leaf - which one did you purchase?

 

[Danep82]

Im happy to ship one to you from the UK if you purchased one?

just looked at the one above, that 20 pin is the correct one obviously need the male side too

Dan

 

[CeladonCityNPC]

Im happy to ship one to you from the UK if you purchased one?

just looked at the one above, that 20 pin is the correct one obviously need the male side too

Dan

Thanks a lot, I might just pm you once my adapters and everything else is in order and try to take you up on that. Unless one of the Lithuanian scrapyards accepts my lowball offers anytime soon
I did find one unit in Spain for roughly 180 pounds, although it's from a flood vehicle and the condition looks pretty rough especially around the screen...might be a huge risk, although I do have my fried unit as well so with a bit of work I might be able to cobble together a working one. Or I might end up with two broken ones haha.

Thanks for checking the adapter, I ordered that one along with the male end as well.

 

[drienties]

Another update on my side:

as per my earlier post the model number for mine and Danep82's radio are the same.

I'm having the same minor issues as him:
- empty source list in the dash(maybe the 2020+ leafs have a different dash/software).
+ probably a never fix

- loud audio(bass boost is present in the menu), so most likely the radio is not setup for bose. shifted my fade a bit to the back and disabled the bass boost. audio is fine now except for the extra loud parking sensors
+ might be fixable by the dealer.

- power meter on radio non functional, non issue for me. it seems like this radio was from a 62kW car.
+ might be fixable by dealer.

- no nav instructions on dash when using built in navigation
+ probably a never fix. i think it's the same issue as the first point. different dash/dash software

- TCU connection for the head unit is not functional at the moment, it shows up fine in all the menu's but does not seem to connect (works fine for remote start of AC and i still get notifications that charging is done, just no remote battery readout and traffic/weather updates)
+ might be fixable by dealer, the app says i should register my headunit-id now. but as far as i can see this is not something i can do.

All in all minor issues for me, i might visit the dealer anyway to ask about it. But i'm pretty happy with the current state anyway since i came from a completly broken radio.

 

[CeladonCityNPC]

Wonderful to hear it's working for you as well, especially coming from an empty hole in your dash
Maybe next month I'll join the club. Now we definitely know that the B revision works.

I'm having the same minor issues as him:
- empty source list in the dash(maybe the 2020+ leafs have a different dash/software).
+ probably a never fix

In my experience this doesn't seem fixable; after mine was configured to be a Tekna, the issue remained.

- loud audio(bass boost is present in the menu), so most likely the radio is not setup for bose. shifted my fade a bit to the back and disabled the bass boost. audio is fine now except for the extra loud parking sensors
+ might be fixable by the dealer.

This is definitely fixable by the dealer, after config to Tekna the audio went to sounding just as good if not better as with the old headunit. Parking sensors also got back the normal loudness, but with the new kind of beeping. I suspect it's because the headunits from Acenta/N-Connecta trims send the audio directly to speakers, while Teknas send out a line-level sound to a separate amp in between it and the speakers.
So that's why everything is so loud for you right now and you can't increase volume above level 3-5 without destroying your ears. After config it will be normal and you can increase volume to normal levels.

- power meter on radio non functional, non issue for me. it seems like this radio was from a 62kW car.
+ might be fixable by dealer.

If I recall correctly this was still broken for me after the config, I think something has changed between model years and it still showed "--" for everything after the config in the power menu.

- no nav instructions on dash when using built in navigation
+ probably a never fix. i think it's the same issue as the first point. different dash/dash software

This was the same for me. I suppose whatever ECU controls the instrument cluster display has changed or has a new firmware or something - causes the nav instructions to not work and like you said, the source menu to be empty.

- TCU connection for the head unit is not functional at the moment, it shows up fine in all the menu's but does not seem to connect (works fine for remote start of AC and i still get notifications that charging is done, just no remote battery readout and traffic/weather updates)
+ might be fixable by dealer, the app says i should register my headunit-id now. but as far as i can see this is not something i can do.

Ah, the remote battery readout missing is a bit of a shame. Although I wonder what ECU (the TCU itself?) controls the remote app, since the 2019 cars have the newer kind of Nissan EV app than the 2018 cars. Maybe related to that change. Maybe worth a shot to try that app as well?
Good to hear the AC start function still works, I tried it on mine with the new HU but it didn't start after waiting a minute or so, I guess I just didn't have enough patience

 

[drienties]

tried the new app as well regarding the App/battery readout.
But i have to add my Leaf by VIN number, which it says is wrong when i try to add it.

Once i get my unit reprogrammed for the Bose setup i'll inquire about this as well.