Leaf appears totally dead - red key flashing on dash

[LeafPowerIsIxE]

Drove my 2011-Leaf last night - no issues.

Plugged in the charger this morning and nothing happened - no clicking - no response from Blink. Put the 12VDC battery under charge - showed completely charged in 2 hours.

Inside, the start button lights up, and I can see the flashing red key on the dashboard. Nothing happens when I try to start. In addition, no interior lights work, and nothing happens on the dash when I press start. The key fob will not activate the locking/unlocking system.

I changed the fob batteries. No effect.

Anyone able to point me to the next troubleshooting step?

 

[Stanton]

I know you said you charged the 12v battery...but everything you describe points to a dead 12v battery.
How old is your 12v battery? If it's 4 years old (you have a 2011), you definitely need a new one.

 

[EVDRIVER]

What is the voltage of your 12V battery?

 

[Evoforce]

How do you know the battery was good that you put in your fob? Did you put your fob up next to your start button to then see if it would start? I have to wonder if it is the 12v battery as others have stated. Especially since you did not hear the contactor open when you put the car on the charger. Battery load testers are fairly cheap. If you have any Harbor Freight stores they carry them for around $15. Most newer smart chargers will also tell you when a battery is no good with a fault activation showing up.

 

[jpadc]

I know you said you charged the 12v battery...but everything you describe points to a dead 12v battery.
How old is your 12v battery? If it's 4 years old (you have a 2011), you definitely need a new one.

+1 Stanton is giving you the best advise. Before messing with much else, go get a new 12 volt battery and put it in the car. Given the age of the car and assuming its never been replaced... Just buy a new one

Likely your car will function without problems as soon as you do

 

[Evoforce]

I know you said you charged the 12v battery...but everything you describe points to a dead 12v battery.
How old is your 12v battery? If it's 4 years old (you have a 2011), you definitely need a new one.

+1 Stanton is giving you the best advise. Before messing with much else, go get a new 12 volt battery and put it in the car. Given the age of the car and assuming its never been replaced... Just buy a new one

Likely your car will function without problems as soon as you do

Sorry, but it is easy to test a 12 volt battery. No sense in spending upwards of $130 for something you may not need. I could make a lot of money as a mechanic if my customers had a (just replace it attitude without troubleshooting). You might as well replace everything that you think that it could be without troubleshooting because eventually you MAY fix the problem. Easy for me to spend your money, right?

A hydrometer is also a handy cheap tool that you can pick up at any auto parts place as well as Walmart. If you don't know how to use a load tester ($15-25) or hydrometer ($1-5) there must be plenty of examples on U-tube. A voltmeter also can be had for ($3-5) and can help you see surface voltage but it cannot apply load to let you see loaded voltage.

All of the tools that I mentioned are cheep, easy to find, and easy to use with the voltmeter being the most complicated. You can do without a voltmeter if you have a 12 volt load tester. In fact, you could do without the hydrometer if you used your load tester and the battery tested well. The hydrometer comes into play if your battery doesn't load test well and you may want to determine what cell(s) are bad. But if it doesn't load test well, you will just have to scrap the battery anyway as long as you know that it was fully charged when performing the test. The voltmeter and hydrometer and load tester can also help you to absolutely know if the battery is fully charged.

So bottom line... load tester is probably all you really need to get you by, as it displays surface voltage and a color coded scale to show you ranges when battery is put to load, that can easily be interpreted relating to the condition of your battery. Make sure your battery is fully charged. Cheers to a speedy recovery!

 

[jpadc]

No sense in spending upwards of $130 for something you may not need. !

All the testing equipment you mention I have and work great, but in my view, 4-year-old car batteries should ALWAYS be replaced. Because maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but an old 12 volt car battery will leave you stranded. Now maybe that's less likely in CA or AZ, but here in the Midwest where it turns cold. Neither my Prius nor my LEAF need a 12 volt battery to crank an engine, but neither car likes to start with a weak 12 volt either. So I replace every car battery at least every 4 years. You may think I waste my money. To each his/her own.

Besides, given the symptoms OP described, you really think its likely that 12 volt battery will test good? And if it did (unlikely) you think something else caused the symptoms he described? Possibly loose or corroded cables which you would fix when you got that new 12 volt you likely need anyway after 4 years. But... YMMV

 

[LeafPowerIsIxE]

Thanks to all for the input. I replaced the 12VDC battery in Jun-2015. I again tried to recharge overnight and the battery showed "ready" on the battery charger. I put a multimeter across the terminals and it showed 4.6VDC. Something is off with the battery. I will take the battery back to Autozone today and see what they say.

 

[Evoforce]

No sense in spending upwards of $130 for something you may not need. !

All the testing equipment you mention I have and work great, but in my view, 4-year-old car batteries should ALWAYS be replaced. Because maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but an old 12 volt car battery will leave you stranded. Now maybe that's less likely in CA or AZ, but here in the Midwest where it turns cold. Neither my Prius nor my LEAF need a 12 volt battery to crank an engine, but neither car likes to start with a weak 12 volt either. So I replace every car battery at least every 4 years. You may think I waste my money. To each his/her own.

Besides, given the symptoms OP described, you really think its likely that 12 volt battery will test good? And if it did (unlikely) you think something else caused the symptoms he described? Possibly loose or corroded cables which you would fix when you got that new 12 volt you likely need anyway after 4 years. But... YMMV

Well, I'm originally from Michigan. But as you have probably already heard on this forum, all types of batteries have trouble in hot climates. Lead acid is no exception. In fact, because of the heat here is even more impact on the batteries. We really don't know the habits of the OP to know if they somehow put more stress than average on their 12 volt system. However I have to say, there is less heat under the hood of our leafs than an ICE. Anyway... It sounds as if it has been judged as a dead battery and it was new less than a year ago. Now it needs to be troubleshot to see if it is a bad battery or some other cause. It sounds like AutoZone will help him do that. They normally will have to put it on a charger to try to charge it up first in order to perform complete testing. More than likely it is a dead shorted battery but... Let's hope it is not some other drain or short causing the battery to go dead.

 

[jpadc]

Let's hope it is not some other drain or short causing the battery to go dead.

Agreed.

Thanks for the update OP and please do let us know what happens

 

[Phatcat73]

I think people replace batteries too soon without attempting proper conditioning every few months. Between a battery tender and a load tester batteries can last for many years. I'm still using the original battery in my '09 car.

Great testing tool: http://www.amazon.com/BA5-100-1200-Cranking-Electronic-Battery/dp/B0017R5EQK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1453373013&sr=8-2&keywords=Battery+tester+car

 

[dhanson865]

No sense in spending upwards of $130 for something you may not need. !

All the testing equipment you mention I have and work great, but in my view, 4-year-old car batteries should ALWAYS be replaced. Because maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but an old 12 volt car battery will leave you stranded. Now maybe that's less likely in CA or AZ, but here in the Midwest where it turns cold. Neither my Prius nor my LEAF need a 12 volt battery to crank an engine, but neither car likes to start with a weak 12 volt either. So I replace every car battery at least every 4 years. You may think I waste my money. To each his/her own.

Besides, given the symptoms OP described, you really think its likely that 12 volt battery will test good? And if it did (unlikely) you think something else caused the symptoms he described? Possibly loose or corroded cables which you would fix when you got that new 12 volt you likely need anyway after 4 years. But... YMMV

It's more likely in AZ, lead acid batteries don't like heat.

Now here in TN I've used a lead acid battery for 10+ years but I wouldn't try that in the desert southwest or anywhere rural north of the 40th parallel.

 

[dhanson865]

Thanks to all for the input. I replaced the 12VDC battery in Jun-2015. I again tried to recharge overnight and the battery showed "ready" on the battery charger. I put a multimeter across the terminals and it showed 4.6VDC. Something is off with the battery. I will take the battery back to Autozone today and see what they say.

wow 4.6V sounds like multiple cells failed.

You might want to grab a CTEK if you don't have a quality battery charger.

http://smile.amazon.com/CTEK-56-864-Automatic-Battery-Charger/dp/B006G14FK8

I have the 3.3 amp version but the 4.3 amp version is nicer and you are less likely to outgrow it if you get a Tesla or something else with a bigger vampire drain.

 

[LeafPowerIsIxE]

Quick update - Took the battery back to Autozone. They confirmed it tested bad. Free replacement - except out of stock. I pick up the replacement battery tomorrow.

I am still wary something else caused the battery to malfunction.

I ordered the CTEK (56-864) MUS 4.3 charger. Looks like an automated step up from the charger I was using (Schumacher SSC-1500A-CA Ship 'N' Shore 15 Amp). Thanks for the advice.

Update tomorrow once the new battery is installed.

 

[Evoforce]

Quick update - Took the battery back to Autozone. They confirmed it tested bad. Free replacement - except out of stock. I pick up the replacement battery tomorrow.

I am still wary something else caused the battery to malfunction.

I ordered the CTEK (56-864) MUS 4.3 charger. Looks like an automated step up from the charger I was using (Schumacher SSC-1500A-CA Ship 'N' Shore 15 Amp). Thanks for the advice.

Update tomorrow once the new battery is installed.

And it is a smart charger and will tell you if there is a fault in the battery.

 

[LeafPowerIsIxE]

Installed the new 12vdc battery - Leaf came to life and all seems online. I charged the drive batteries and test drove. Let's see if some other "Leaf" factor fries this battery.

Interestingly - I lost another battery bar. This makes two bars lost. My leaf has 15,700 pampered miles. I have put 2,000 miles on it since I bought out the lease in Feb-2014. I have a company car which takes on most of the household miles.

That means I have lost two bars in two years and 2,000 miles. My understanding is we have warranty coverage for a three bar loss, and this should be good through Feb-2019.

The lost bars in my case have to be due to time - and not usage degradation?

 

[cwerdna]

This makes two bars lost. My leaf has 15,700 pampered miles
...
That means I have lost two bars in two years and 2,000 miles. My understanding is we have warranty coverage for a three bar loss, and this should be good through Feb-2019.

You need to lose at least 4 capacity bars within 5 years/60K miles of 1st in service date.

 

[Evoforce]

Installed the new 12vdc battery - Leaf came to life and all seems online. I charged the drive batteries and test drove. Let's see if some other "Leaf" factor fries this battery.

Interestingly - I lost another battery bar. This makes two bars lost. My leaf has 15,700 pampered miles. I have put 2,000 miles on it since I bought out the lease in Feb-2014. I have a company car which takes on most of the household miles.

That means I have lost two bars in two years and 2,000 miles. My understanding is we have warranty coverage for a three bar loss, and this should be good through Feb-2019.

The lost bars in my case have to be due to time - and not usage degradation?

You have to lose 4 bars to qualify. You must be showing 8 bars remaining to qualify.

 

[dhanson865]

Installed the new 12vdc battery - Leaf came to life and all seems online. I charged the drive batteries and test drove. Let's see if some other "Leaf" factor fries this battery.

Interestingly - I lost another battery bar. This makes two bars lost. My leaf has 15,700 pampered miles. I have put 2,000 miles on it since I bought out the lease in Feb-2014. I have a company car which takes on most of the household miles.

That means I have lost two bars in two years and 2,000 miles. My understanding is we have warranty coverage for a three bar loss, and this should be good through Feb-2019.

The lost bars in my case have to be due to time - and not usage degradation?

keep in mind a new battery from the store or dealer won't be fully charged. It's a good idea to put the 12v on the CTEK for 24 hours the day you get it.

If you need to drive it just do the overnight charge 3 days in a row.

 

[EVforRobert]

I'm glad to hear that OP car is fully functional again. Thanks dhanson for that information on the battery charger. I read some of your other posts on the subject and I must admit I've never heard of doing that before. I may just do that so that I don't have to worry about my battery during my 3 year lease term.
Thanks.