Odd brake system failure

[Ren116214]

This just happened, and after checking through the forum, I haven't seen this type of failure posted yet.

I was coming down a hill that was about 2 miles long at about 45 mph, with the LEAF in "D" to limit the amount of regen braking so I could just coast. As I approached the bottom of the hill, I noticed that the light was red. I shifted to ECO mode, and the regen showed 2 dots (as usual - I make this trip every day). But then, the regen started pulsing on and off by itself. As I approached the light, the car felt like it didn't want to stop - I had to really mash on the brakes. When I did this, the ABS system kicked in, even though I wasn't anywhere near locking up the wheels. And as I finally got the car stopped, I got several warning lights, and a box on the dash said "Visit Dealer" (You THINK?).
The lights were:
Red BRAKE warning
Yellow Regen system warning
Yellow Traction control warning
Red and yellow master warning
The car was taken to the dealer on a flatbed this morning. When I find out what happened, I'll post here. Has anybody else had anything like this happen?

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

Good on you for taking it straight to the dealer, definitely not normal Leaf behavior!

 

[Ren116214]

Yeah, the owner's manual says not to drive the car if the red BRAKE light is on - and when I told the dealer what happened, he dispatched the flatbed to come and get it.
After the initial incident, though, I was able to drive the car home - another 2 miles or so - with no further weirdness. But I'll admit, I was really on edge for that part of the trip.
While I'm waiting for my LEAF to return, I'm driving my '88 300ZX - a car I once thought was way too complicated - but now seems like the picture of simplicity. Thankfully it isn't holding a grudge for being parked in the corner of the driveway for the last 6 weeks. ;-)

 

[Ren116214]

Problem diagnosed: According to the dealer, there were a couple of loose pins on a connector to the ABS. Connector serviced, problem solved. Sort of a non-failure failure.

 

[davewill]

Problem diagnosed: According to the dealer, there were a couple of loose pins on a connector to the ABS. Connector serviced, problem solved. Sort of a non-failure failure.

Seems real enough to me...Push the brake and you don't stop properly? That's as serious as a failure gets. I'm actually a little flabbergasted that the system doesn't fail in the direction of no ABS rather than premature ABS.

 

[cwerdna]

If you haven't already, file a safety complaint at http://www.safercar.gov/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Ren116214]

False alarm. It's still screwed up. I picked up the car last night, and after driving about 200 yards, I went over a little bump in the road and "Ding!" ABS light, Regen light, Traction control light, master warning light. Obviously, something is still loose.
Did a U-turn and went right back. They put it on the computer and found it had thrown the same codes again. So now they've gone from "We're Absolutely Sure That's What Was Wrong" to "Uh-oh, Now We Have To Get The Engineers Involved".
In defense of Harte Nissan, I have to say that they've been treating me like royalty - the Service manager could not have been more apologetic. Of course, I was offered a loaner while the LEAF is in the shop...but I turned them down...I'd rather drive my Z. I'll let you all know how this all plays out.

 

[Boomer23]

False alarm. It's still screwed up. I picked up the car last night, and after driving about 200 yards, I went over a little bump in the road and "Ding!" ABS light, Regen light, Traction control light, master warning light. Obviously, something is still loose.
Did a U-turn and went right back. They put it on the computer and found it had thrown the same codes again. So now they've gone from "We're Absolutely Sure That's What Was Wrong" to "Uh-oh, Now We Have To Get The Engineers Involved".
In defense of Harte Nissan, I have to say that they've been treating me like royalty - the Service manager could not have been more apologetic. Of course, I was offered a loaner while the LEAF is in the shop...but I turned them down...I'd rather drive my Z. I'll let you all know how this all plays out.

If they are treating you that royally, hold out for a GTR loaner! :lol:

 

[tps]

If they are treating you that royally, hold out for a GTR loaner! :lol:

Or another LEAF!

 

[Ren116214]

OK, the car is fixed now. I just picked it up.
It turned out, that the right rear wheel speed sensor was acting up - failing intermittently. They cannibalized their own demo LEAF and used its sensor to confirm this. Then they ordered a new sensor, replaced it, and test drove it. Problem solved.

 

[jwatte]

I think this just happened to me. On the freeway the cruise control stopped working and I got abs, traction, and brake warnings (all yellow) and the visit dealer notice. It's Sunday so service is closed and I gotta call my wife to pick me up. More later.

 

[jwatte]

I left the car at Sunnyvale Nissan Sunday (key drop.)
Monday, they call me, and see there are codes for a wheel sensor, but can't reproduce the problem.
Nissan tells them to call it good and send it home, so I picked it up Monday afternoon.
On my way to work Tuesday morning, same problem again:
Cruise control disengages.
Yellow alert triangle light.
Yellow ABS warning light.
Yellow brakes warning light.
Yellow traction control warning light.
"Visit Dealer" message on the center display.
This time, they take it back in and are waiting for Nissan to tell them what to do. Apparently, individual dealers don't have a lot of latitude in what actions they take on service.
Meanwhile, I'm driving a gas-powered loaner, in the non-commuter lane, with a stock Nissan driver's seat that is a terrible fit for my back and neck :-(

 

[jwatte]

At the suggestion of Nissan, the dealer swapped the speed sensors between two locations, to isolate wiring problems vs sensor problems.
The dealer kept the vehicle for a week, trying to drive it 30 minutes each day to reproduce the problem, and could not reproduce it.
I got the vehicle back last Friday (although they had forgotten to charge it.) Driving it since then, the problem hasn't come back, so a loose connection seems like a likely culprit.
If there's more than one owner who has seen this problem, maybe there's some design or implementation flaw that allows these connections to shake loose on pot-holed California freeways?

Also, I've been unable to charge a few times lately because the charging locations have been taken by plug-in hybrids.
While I think a plug-in hybrid is better than a gas car, I think that using the public charging infrastructure for that use is poor utilization from an overall perspective. If they don't charge, the worst that happens is they use gas like any other vehicle. If a pure-electric doesn't charge, the worst that happens is we get stranded! But that's another post entirely...