The Battery Replacement Thread

[danmeljeff]

Interesting. My full charge tops out at 204Gids with slightly less than 48Ahrs capacity and 71k miles. Probably close to losing the third capacity bar. Our climate is similar but I don't park in the sun much.

Around 204 for me with over 50AHr.

I charged to 100% later in the day yesterday, finishing around 4p, and topped out at 199 Gids. Ambient air temp was in the high 80's, and the battery temp was around 100F when I checked it at around 6p.

When I took the pics of my LEAFDD readout in the prior post, I was over-charging it, and got to 206Gids before I pulled the plug to leave.

 

[91040]

Nissan discourages charging when the battery is already at a high state of charge. Possibly that could also accelerate capacity loss.

Not stalking. I was driving the opposite way on Sunset Hills and saw you make the turn. Don't worry, I did not follow you. I have family in the area.

 

[danmeljeff]

Nissan discourages charging when the battery is already at a high state of charge. Possibly that could also accelerate capacity loss.

I very rarely overcharge, I just couldn't figure out how to get the LEAFDD screen to stay lit long enough for me to get a pic of it without having the L2 plugged in.

Not stalking. I was driving the opposite way on Sunset Hills and saw you make the turn. Don't worry, I did not follow you. I have family in the area.

I was just joking. If you were in your LEAF, I totally missed you (might have been a bit distracted by my LEAFDD at the time too ), otherwise I would have given you the LEAFer Nod.

 

[Stanton]

I very rarely overcharge, I just couldn't figure out how to get the LEAFDD screen to stay lit long enough for me to get a pic of it without having the L2 plugged in.

Super-secret LeafDD tip: if you want to check a screen when the car is NOT on, send a "check level" request to the car (either via web browser or mobile app) and the LeafDD will "wake up" when the car replies to the server. :ugeek:

 

[dgpcolorado]

Super-secret LeafDD tip: if you want to check a screen when the car is NOT on, send a "check level" request to the car (either via web browser or mobile app) and the LeafDD will "wake up" when the car replies to the server. :ugeek:

Pretty simple to just turn the car on to take a picture of the display. Doesn't have to be unplugged or in "Ready" mode.

 

[Soviet]

4BL here with 38,000 miles. Just hit that .7 miles ago. A quick question: is it recommended to call the NOGASEV hotline first before discussing anything with the dealership? Why is that? They're the ones who organize the battery replacements best?

 

[myleaf]

For those who have had their battery replaced, I was wondering if the number of charge cycles (that is read by our scan tools) is reset to 0 or does it just keep incrementing after the new battery is installed.

 

[danmeljeff]

I dropped off the LEAF this morning at the service center. They had Enterprise come pick me up, got me into a rental, and I was on my way. I'll have to pay for the gas (that'll be a strange thing to do again), but the warranty covers the all other costs.

Nissan service thinks it'll be tomorrow when I get my car back, as they stressed once again this is the first time they're doing a battery replacement.

 

[Nubo]

Lol @ Nissan when Tesla can swap a pack in 90 seconds.

Admittedly they don't have any swap stations going afaik, but still... a full day of shop time is ludicrous beyond belief.

Then again, they "never imagined" a battery would ever need to be replaced in a battery-operated device. :roll:

Another item for improvement on LEAF v2.

 

[mwalsh]

^ We had an hours number from the service manual on battery removal that, unless I'm not recalling it properly, was 2-3 hours, and that might have even been for R&R. But for a shop with little experience in doing it, I would maybe think that 4-6 hours is not unrealistic. Plus they'd need to charge the new pack.

 

[dhanson865]

Lol @ Nissan when Tesla can swap a pack in 90 seconds.

Admittedly they don't have any swap stations going afaik, but still... a full day of shop time is ludicrous beyond belief.

Then again, they "never imagined" a battery would ever need to be replaced in a battery-operated device. :roll:

Another item for improvement on LEAF v2.

Good point, a battery replacement that takes more than 2 hours at the most seems bad. I understand having to wait for techs (I can't always get a dealership to change my oil in under 2 hours so any simple procedure can take that long).

 

[dhanson865]

^ We had an hours number from the service manual on battery removal that, unless I'm not recalling it properly, was 2-3 hours, and that might have even been for R&R. But for a shop with little experience in doing it, I would maybe think that 4-6 hours is not unrealistic. Plus they'd need to charge the new pack.

Ideally they would charge the new pack with a L3 charger after replacing it which shouldn't take long. If the swapped it in 2 hours I'd give them another hour to charge the car with a combination of L3 and L2 charging or just leaving it on the L3 after the taper.

If they are going to sell hundreds of thousands of BEVs the process for maintaining them at the dealership needs to be smoothed out.

 

[mwalsh]

Ideally they would charge the new pack with a L3 charger after replacing it which shouldn't take long.

Hmm...I don't think I'd want the first full charge on a brand new pack to be via a QC. I'd want the slowest possible charge with plenty of allowance for balancing.

 

[dhanson865]

Ideally they would charge the new pack with a L3 charger after replacing it which shouldn't take long.

Hmm...I don't think I'd want the first full charge on a brand new pack to be via a QC. I'd want the slowest possible charge with plenty of allowance for balancing.

wouldn't you assume the battery was balanced and charged to 50% at the factory?

I wouldn't want a battery shipped from the factory at a low SOC.

although once the battery pack is in the car it will be top balanced, they could easily L3 charge to 80% and switch to a L2 to 100% and instruct the owner to put it on a L1 charge for the next few days to top balance.

 

[dgpcolorado]

Lol @ Nissan when Tesla can swap a pack in 90 seconds.

Admittedly they don't have any swap stations going afaik, but still... a full day of shop time is ludicrous beyond belief.

Then again, they "never imagined" a battery would ever need to be replaced in a battery-operated device. :roll:

Another item for improvement on LEAF v2.

Last year I had a chance to talk with the tech who handles my car and to read his training manual. The 2011/2012 LEAF battery modules have to be assembled and held in place by straps to be fitted back into the car. The 2013 modules were redesigned to lock together better and are a lot easier to assemble and load back into the car. That's one reason, I think, that replacements of battery packs in 2011/2012 LEAFs can't just use the newer packs, so they have to specially made from cells put the old-style cans.

 

[TomT]

The factory sheet that was in the door rest of my car when I took delivery indicated that the battery was supposed to have a charge of above 35 percent when it was installed in to the car and again before the car was shipped from the factory. There was a place where each one had to be signed off...

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=3676#p97705" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (Remember that this was based on "old fuel bars" where there was no reserve capacity below the last bar...)

wouldn't you assume the battery was balanced and charged to 50% at the factory?

 

[TimLee]

The 2013 modules were redesigned to lock together better and are a lot easier to assemble and load back into the car.

Shortly after the Smryna, TN LEAF production began there was a thread with a link showing production and the complete battery is lifted up and bolted to the body. Takes about 15 seconds on the line.

With the the right equipment 2013 change out could be very quick.

Another thread mentioned that the shop instructions require a lot of safety precautions including covering the floor with rubber mats although it doesn't seem like that would take all that long.

 

[GerryAZ]

For those who have had their battery replaced, I was wondering if the number of charge cycles (that is read by our scan tools) is reset to 0 or does it just keep incrementing after the new battery is installed.

In my case, the charge counts (QC and L1/L2) remained where they were except there was one more count for L1/L2 due to the partial charge by the dealer after completing the battery installation. I was told that the complete sealed pack was replaced so the charge counts must either be transferred to the new LBC (lithium battery controller) in the new pack or stored in one of the other electronic control modules. I dropped the car off in the morning and received a call that it was ready to pick up in the middle of the afternoon.

Gerry

 

[TomT]

I believe that the counts are stored in the BMS so it would make sense that they weren't updated.

[I was told that the complete sealed pack was replaced so the charge counts must either be transferred to the new LBC (lithium battery controller) in the new pack or stored in one of the other electronic control modules. I dropped the car off in the morning and received a call that it was ready to pick up in the middle of the afternoon.

 

[danmeljeff]

Going on day #2 with my LEAF at Nissan Service. As far as I could tell, my old battery was in the car all day yesterday. Today, around 11a I wasn't getting a response on a battery refresh request via the LEAF app. At 12a I noticed a couple of emails that my LEAF had stopped charging. I checked the app again, and it was 5 bars charged showing 43 miles range with 4h30m to go. I checked again at 4p, 9 bars charged showing 81 miles range with 2h to go.

At about 2:30p I got a call from my NoGasEV rep, he didn't have anything new to convey...just checking to make sure I'm happy with how things are going (which I am).

I suspect it'll be tomorrow when I get my LEAF back, and will be driving my *sweet* Nissan Cube loaner another day