NissanConnect EV / Telematics Hardware Update, for the post-2G world

[VitaminJ]

Well, I can only speak for myself but the 3 times my Carwings stopped working I pulled the battery terminal and it worked again within 10 minutes. The first time it went out I contacted Nissan support and they told me to wait 48 hours and told me they'd call me in 2 days but I haven't heard from them since, luckily I fixed it myself 2 days later after I got tired of waiting and started pulling things. I am installing a LifePO tonight we'll see if it fixes it or not.

 

[triflic]

Is NISSANCONNECT currently down at the server level? I was able to pre-heat the cabin of my car at 7am EST, but since 11am EST there has been no communication with the server. My car cannot connect either, so it's not just the typically flakey app.

 

[VitaminJ]

Just updated for me in the normal amount of time.

 

[oak]

My car is suddenly working today after not working at all from the moment I got the 3G upgrade.

The entire flow from web/app to car works now. Wonder if Nissan fixed it in the latest downtime...

I did have a battery tender on the car all night, but it wasn't working this morning when I tried it early.

 

[maini]

So Have a question.. if I do this upgrade will the service stop when I cross 3 years of my warranty period??
OR this is a lifetime service and I do not have to pay for anything ever after this $199 upgrade??

 

[Stanton]

So Have a question.. if I do this upgrade will the service stop when I cross 3 years of my warranty period??
OR this is a lifetime service and I do not have to pay for anything ever after this $199 upgrade??

No: this is a lifetime service, and Nissan has confirmed this.
Also, I'm sure everyone noticed that the service was "back up" this morning. Like I've said before, it goes down from time to time and there's no conspiracy: Nissan is not trying to sc*w everyone!

 

[WetEV]

Still not working.

 

[maini]

So Have a question.. if I do this upgrade will the service stop when I cross 3 years of my warranty period??
OR this is a lifetime service and I do not have to pay for anything ever after this $199 upgrade??

No: this is a lifetime service, and Nissan has confirmed this.
Also, I'm sure everyone noticed that the service was "back up" this morning. Like I've said before, it goes down from time to time and there's no conspiracy: Nissan is not trying to sc*w everyone!

Thanks for the confirmation... Can I send addresses directly to the GPS through this?? I think I did it once.. but it is very convoluted.. not amazingly simple like my BMW. Does this functionality get any better??

 

[VitaminJ]

Still not working.

Did it ever work for you with 3G? If so pull your negative battery terminal for 5 mins and report back if it works after that. The only settings that you will lose is the 12/24hr format of the clock and the startup chime will go to default.

 

[larrycookjr]

I had my TCU replaced on 1/10 and it was working until the outage on 1/20. Since then I could login from my car and update charging stations but I could not connect to the car from the website or the Android app and I wasn't getting notifications from the car when charging completed. I had multiple chats with NissanConnect EV support and their tech team said everything was fine with the servers and I need to take the car to a dealer.

Today I disconnected the negative 12v battery cable as recommended here and now it appears everything is working. The loss of power affected the dashboard clock time and hour format, reset the A and B trip odometers, and oddly it affected my charging timers. The timers still have their values but they were not enabled. I had to make a change in each one and save it to get them enabled, just re-saving them without making a change did not enable them.

The only thing that was not working after the TCU replacement was that at work I was not getting notifications that charging was complete. On Monday I will find out if that is now working.

Another odd thing that started happening after the 1/20 outage was that at home I was getting the EV System warning light on in the morning after charging. If I turned the car off and then back on it would go out. This was not happening at work, so I suspected it had to do with sending the notification which had not been working at work. I noticed that only home was in the Saved Charger Locations. I deleted home and then I stopped getting the EV System warning light after charging. I added work to the Saved Charger Locations but never got the light after charging at work. So maybe being in the Saved Charger Locations isn't related to getting the EV System warning light.

It's possible I am hitting the low battery voltage problem some have mentioned here. With the car off I have seen the voltage as low as 12.15v. With the car on I've seen it as high as 14.5v but it appears to eventually settle to 13.0v.

Does anyone have a theory on why disconnecting power solves the problem? It seems odd that some outbound stuff works while the notifications do not.

 

[lorenfb]

Does anyone have a theory on why disconnecting power solves the problem?

That's the typical approach used when all else fails, e.g. using automotive diagnostic equipment when troubleshooting
automotive systems. Since the TCU has constant power applied, it's an electronic control unit (ECU) that has its
microcontroller running in a low power state waiting for an input, e.g. a CarWings request, at which point it becomes
active and services that request which may then request that the NAV ECU "wake up", e.g. for data or a mode
modification. If for some reason, the remote request causes the TCU firmware to "hang" (complete the request),
the TCU could remain at that point in the firmware waiting for some specific data which may never arrive.
Since the TCU is constantly powered, the only way to reset the TCU's microcontroller from that point in the firmware,
is to remove the TCU's power allowing the TCU to re-boot itself. Well designed ECU firmware should avoid system
hangs by using internal timer interrupts. Hopefully, the 3G TCU doesn't have a marginally designed firmware resulting
in future ongoing problems the result of Nissan server problems, i.e. requiring a firmware re-flash or worse yet
a TCU replacement.

 

[Stanton]

Another odd thing that started happening after the 1/20 outage was that at home I was getting the EV System warning light on in the morning after charging. If I turned the car off and then back on it would go out.

This is typically an EVSE issue/failure. If it isn't consistent, then it's probably a "fluke" power interruption; if you get it all the time, then check/replace the EVSE.

It's possible I am hitting the low battery voltage problem some have mentioned here. With the car off I have seen the voltage as low as 12.15v. With the car on I've seen it as high as 14.5v but it appears to eventually settle to 13.0v.

Don't go down the "low voltage" rabbit hole unless your 12v battery is dead (e.g. car won't start, dash freaking out, etc.). Once the car is configured properly, the problems are simply:
1) Nissan's network/servers are down (nothing we can do)
2) The TCU "hangs" which a power cycle/reset will clear (and I haven't even had to do that)

Usually patience is the best answer.

 

[Plugg]

Does anyone have a theory on why disconnecting power solves the problem?

That's the typical approach used when all else fails, e.g. using automotive diagnostic equipment when troubleshooting
automotive systems. Since the TCU has constant power applied, it's an electronic control unit (ECU) that has its
microcontroller running in a low power state waiting for an input, e.g. a CarWings request, at which point it becomes
active and services that request which may then request that the NAV ECU "wake up", e.g. for data or a mode
modification. If for some reason, the remote request causes the TCU firmware to "hang" (complete the request),
the TCU could remain at that point in the firmware waiting for some specific data which may never arrive.
Since the TCU is constantly powered, the only way to reset the TCU's microcontroller from that point in the firmware,
is to remove the TCU's power allowing the TCU to re-boot itself. Well designed ECU firmware should avoid system
hangs by using internal timer interrupts. Hopefully, the 3G TCU doesn't have a marginally designed firmware resulting
in future ongoing problems the result of Nissan server problems, i.e. requiring a firmware re-flash or worse yet
a TCU replacement.

Tried connecting several times to the car (2013 SV) with the mobile app on Friday, it would try to connect for a long time and then populate zeros for state of charge. Decided to give up and play the waiting game. Went to drive on Saturday afternoon and discovered a completely dead 12v battery (first time ever). No, I did not accidentally leave a door ajar, I had not been on a long distance trip, nor was the car left overnight in "accessory mode". Could be coincidence that the ~4 year old battery is "done" or could it be that the TCU was suckling juice for 24+ hours trying to connect... Charged 12v battery on Saturday, successfully connected to the mobile app a few times during the day, 12v battery is now working fine today (Sunday). I suppose only time will tell...

 

[lorenfb]

Tried connecting several times to the car (2013 SV) with the mobile app on Friday, it would try to connect for a long time and then populate zeros for state of charge. Decided to give up and play the waiting game. Went to drive on Saturday afternoon and discovered a completely dead 12v battery (first time ever). No, I did not accidentally leave a door ajar, I had not been on a long distance trip, nor was the car left overnight in "accessory mode". Could be coincidence that the ~4 year old battery is "done" or could it be that the TCU was suckling juice for 24+ hours trying to connect... Charged 12v battery on Saturday, successfully connected to the mobile app a few times during the day, 12v battery is now working fine today (Sunday). I suppose only time will tell...

What you imply, i.e. the TCU fails to enter its sleep mode and reduce its active power consumption, could
possibly cause the 12V battery if it's weak to discharge to the point of not allowing the Leaf to power-on.
At this point there're too many unknowns to conclude that there's a problem with the 3G TCU. What we do
know is that most all Leaf owners rarely if ever had 2g TCU problems. Possibly some changes with the
Nissan network is most likely the cause, but you wouldn't expect that some owners would have to perform
a vehicle reset by disconnecting the battery. We'll just have to see what happens over the next few months.

 

[Stanton]

Could be coincidence that the ~4 year old battery is "done" or could it be that the TCU was suckling juice for 24+ hours trying to connect... Charged 12v battery on Saturday, successfully connected to the mobile app a few times during the day, 12v battery is now working fine today (Sunday). I suppose only time will tell...

I think you're lucky the 12v battery lasted this long, and I would replace it before you end up with bigger problems.

What we do know is that most all Leaf owners rarely if ever had 2g TCU problems.

What?! This forum is filled with threads where folks are b*tching about their 2G TCU (that's all we had until a month ago).
Same story, different chapter...

 

[lorenfb]

this long, and I would replace it before you end up with bigger problems.

What we do know is that most all Leaf owners rarely if ever had 2g TCU problems.

What?! This forum is filled with threads where folks are b*tching about their 2G TCU (that's all we had until a month ago).
Same story, different chapter...

?????? Link please! Sorry, but prior to the last two to three months, where are the 2G TCU problems posted?
My '13 Leaf has NEVER had a TCU problem prior to that since new! It's always been able to download updated
charging stations. A forum search on "TCU" indicates that the majority of the TCU problems occurred prior to
2013 and those subsequent ones were random BS issues until mid 2016 where posts were mainly about the
3G update.

 

[lorenfb]

Could be coincidence that the ~4 year old battery is "done" or could it be that the TCU was suckling juice for 24+ hours trying to connect... Charged 12v battery on Saturday, successfully connected to the mobile app a few times during the day, 12v battery is now working fine today (Sunday). I suppose only time will tell...

I think you're lucky the 12v battery lasted this long, and I would replace it before you end up with bigger problems.

And, let's not potentially suggest spending on unnecessary parts until the real problem is determined.
Not all forum posters can spend unnecessary money on Leaf necessities costing even less than$100, right?

 

[KK6PD]

Well, whomever thought about and figured out the low battery thing, if your in the Los Angeles area, I owe you some beers!
My TCU was replaced on 12/26, and all was well, well it did take 8 hours, blah blah... anyway I communicate with the car 3 to 6 times during the day, and the system always worked well for me. 2G, and 3G, well 3G for 3 weeks .... last week I too stopped "talking" to the EV Gods, crap!
Today I checked in, read, and well yes, my battery sits at 12.3 volts. H'mmmmm, I just happen to have a brand new battery just waiting for a reason to install it, so I installed the new battery, I also keep a power source on the battery leads as I swap battery's, I hate resetting stuff!
So new battery in, I then fired up laptop, went to Nissan Connect, logged in, retrieved my ID/Psswd, brought that to the car, logged the car out, erased stored password, typed my downloaded info, entered it and stood back!
No smoke, no connect, well, let's let the radio & electron gods figure it out.
Let's add music to my Ipod. Time goes by and lo & behold ....
At 4:20, I checked the NissanConnect site, hit refresh, and BAM, it's now working!

SWEET!!

Checked on multiple devices, all is good, damn, the battery tip worked..... thanks.....

YYYYaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!

 

[VitaminJ]

Well good to hear! Glad to hear that you got it working. Interesting that you didn't have to pull the power completely and you just signed in again? I tried that a bunch and I know other people did too. Report back if the new battery doesn't fix it. For the past 2 weeks my Carwings was going out at least once every 72 hours, I reset it a couple times. Saturday I replaced my 12v battery and my Carwings has been 100% every since no matter time of day, if I drove it that day, etc. Voltage has been holding at least 13.2v 24/7.

 

[jstoos]

Been reading this thread while dealing with same issue and thought I would post my experience and conclusions.

Dec. 21: Dealer installed the TCU upgrade (Hummel Nissan in Des Moines IA). Service mgr had me log in following the upgrade. Did not work. The radio connected icon was on indicating the TCU was communicating with something. He told me there was nothing more the dealer could do for me and I should call the Nissan "hotline". I called the owners support line, and the rep had me try a few things and nothing worked. He then "escalated" the issue and would keep me informed when he heard back from the "tech team." He would later call me back every few days only to report that he had heard nothing back from the techs.

In the meantime I would try to connect (from both app and web page) almost every day, and occasionally hit the "send user info" button in the car, to no effect. However, in the car the unit was always able to "update stations" and acted like it was connected to something, but I could not get any communication to/from the vehicle from the NissanConnect app. This continued until Saturday Jan. 14 when it suddenly started working. I called my Nissan cust service rep and left a message for him at his extension, telling him it works now and I guess that they must have fixed something on the server so he could close the issue.

The following Monday 1/16 he calls me and tells me he wants to update me by telling me he has heard NOTHING back from the techs!!! I say "didn't you get my message from Saturday?" he says no, so I tell him again it is working now and to close the issue.

Alas, it stopped working 4 days later. I learned from this thread that Nissan told someone they had a server outage about that time, so I just waited and kept trying. When it still did not work I called Nissan on Monday Jan. 23 and asked if the NissanConnect service was still down. She said no, not since Friday, so I said mine is not working. She "escalated" it and I waited. Three days later (1/26) she calls back and says she heard from the tech team (by email apparently), and they said I need to go back to the dealer and have them "run diagnostics" on the TCU. I said how can it be the problem when it shows a connection and can update stations? Of course she had no clue and could only echo what the tech said. I held off on calling the dealer and kept trying the app each day, and the lo and behold on Sunday 1/29 it magically starts working again!! It is still working fine now, 3 days later. Although I will keep my fingers crossed, I want to point out here the conclusions I have reached:

(1) Since I never pulled a fuse or a battery cable, I suspect that has nothing to do with this.

(2) Nissan customer service are clueless, and the invisible "tech team" that won't talk directly to us only communicates with them through emails, and is not very informative of what if anything they are doing behind the scenes.

(3) I suspect that the up and down nature of our NissanConnect experience usually has more to do with what is going on at their end, and that may not even be under Nissan's control but some third party company which would explain the poor communication.