Hi everyone, this is my first post on this forum or on any forum. I have been a lurker on web 2.0 until I encountered the problem discussed in this thread. Please excuse the lenght of this post. I got my 2012 gen1 Leaf last november. When I cleaned the interior the touch screen started to open and close on its own. Luckily it stopped quite soon, probably because spilled cleaning liquid dried up. Driving around with the heater on did not harm either. A week ago the problem returned and drained the battery in my absence. I knew what caused it because the touch screen was left open, and there was condensation on the screen.
Inspired by jkline's post (thanks!) I went to work this weekend and took some pictures. However I did want to preserve a functioning button to open and close the screen. If my solution really works remains to be seen, but I am happy I did not damage my sat nav any further. Which does not mean that you won't, so be careful if you try this yourself. You will need phillips screwdrivers in three sizes, a soldering iron, a spray can of Plasti dip liquid electrical tape and some adhesive tape to do this. And a willingness to risk ruining your cars head unit and order an expensive replacement from your dealer in shame.
First, as jkline wrote, disconnect the 12v battery when the screen opens. I did it when it was fully extended and found out it is best to disconnect the battery when the screen is abount and inch out, when the screws in the second picture are reachable. Then remove the head unit. To do so pull gently but firmly at the lower end of the black center console, then pull the top end away. There are indeed movies that show this on youtube. Remove the cables connecting the consule. Then remove four big phillips screws either side of the head unit.
Lift up the radio to pull it out, then disconnect the wires and take it inside. The frame of the screen is held in place by five small screws. Two below and three on top. The two lower ones can be removed now. As jkline wrote they are fixed with loctite. I found out they can be removed by heating them up with a soldering iron. Funnily enough they came loose when I tried to tighten them first. Wiggle a bit and they will come out. Be carefull not to lose these small screws. Next the two screws on the side of the display ca be removed, as show below.
Once these screws are removed the screen can be twisted out of the rails of the main unit. Be carefull, the screen is now only connected by a fragile flat multicable. Once the screen is out of its rails the top three screws can be removed. Heat up first, the wiggle with a small phillips screwdriver.
Now the screen frame unclips on the sides and can be taken of. Be carefull, it is still connected by a small flat cable, see below.
There is a small strip of plastic that hides the pcd jkline mentioned from view. Unscrew five small screws to remove it. Some screws are below the black rubber tape. Now the plastic strip and the screen frame can be removed. The pcb will dangle from the screen on its flat cable. The pcb is a bit more complicated than I imagined. I suspect it either shorts when moisture builds up around the open/close switch on the right or (perhaps more likely) around the connector on the left with its bare wires.
This is probably where jkline disconnected the white flat cable. I couldn't figure out how to disconnect it and I wanted to keep the buttons functioning. So I cleaned the pcb with alcohol, then covered up the head unit and sprayed four layers Plasti Dip liquid electrical tape on the pcb. I covered the two buttons with small pieces of tape. This is the result.
This might be a good time to clean the touch screen and the lcd below it. I put everything back together hoping at least the head unit, screen and touch screen would still work. They did, and the screen remained closed. But this was expected anyway, since it had been in indoors. It is early days but so far the two buttons below the screen still work and the screen has remained closed. It remains to be seen if the solution is permanent, but I have high hopes. It might work for others aswell, but be carefull, it seems awefully easy to do more damage than good. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction!