AC/Heater fan

I can't seem to figure out how to keep control of the ventilation fan on my new Leaf. As I'm driving around the vents just switch from dash/floor vents to floor vents only all on their own and the fan speeds goes from all the way up to all the way down. The fan speed indicator on the dash keeps displaying full speed, but it's definitely low speed. It goes from loud and making a breeze to barely audible and no breeze you can feel. I am not using AUTO or A/C, just fan only.

Is there some kind of automatic mode or something I'm missing?

Thanks.

Nope. If it isn't in Auto mode, then you have a malfunction.

Thank you.

Dude, this is problem #3 on a car that's 2 weeks old. I am really starting to regret this purchase. What a heap of junk. Even if I sold it tomorrow, just driving it off the lot cost me $9,000 in lost value, taxes, and registration.

I suggest that you carefully check the 12-volt battery negative cable chassis ground connection and both battery terminal connections. A high-resistance ground connection can cause many intermittent issues.

GerryAZ said:

I suggest that you carefully check the 12-volt battery negative cable chassis ground connection and both battery terminal connections. A high-resistance ground connection can cause many intermittent issues.

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Well it did it again the other day, which gave me more information. It's not the fan shutting off. What's happening is the car is switching the vents around on its own.

I normally drive in this mode: with the fan on high, trying to air out the "new car" smell.

When this happens it just switches to automatically. It sounds like the fan is off because apparently the fan is slowed way down when the mode changes. The other day it switched from to followed a few seconds later by . As near as I can tell that can't be a fault with the button since there's no way to go directly from to with a button press.

I can't see any way that taking it to the dealer will help since it can be up to 5 days in between this happening.

I had a Buick back in the day that did this in auto mode which was normal , it would switch like that at certain Temps, the warmer it got it went to full vent then when cold it went to feet, all perfectly normal, I guess it was predicting what the user would want. Are you sure thus isn't happening to you?

Steelcity said:

I had a Buick back in the day that did this in auto mode which was normal , it would switch like that at certain Temps, the warmer it got it went to full vent then when cold it went to feet, all perfectly normal, I guess it was predicting what the user would want. Are you sure thus isn't happening to you?

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I don't know. AUTO is off and there is no temperature setting since it's on ventilation only. If it is intentional behavior I most certainly want to know how to make it stop. I think I'm in a position to know what I want more than the car is able to guess what I want. The outside temperature was 55° the last it happened.

It sounds like the problem is that Auto mode is engaging when not selected, and in Fan only mode.

LeftieBiker said:

It sounds like the problem is that Auto mode is engaging when not selected, and in Fan only mode.

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If it is, it's not triggering the light to indicate that it's on. I know there's an auto switching from recirculate to outside air that's independent of the auto setting and there are no visual indications that it's active, but I didn't read anything about an auto vent mode function. Just for troubleshooting's sake I pressed the mode switch button and held it down for 10 seconds in case there was some auto mode that can be turned off.

This should be covered under warranty, especially if it's easy to duplicate it.

LeftieBiker said:

This should be covered under warranty, especially if it's easy to duplicate it.

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That's the frustrating part. It's not easy to duplicate. It's only happened three times in three weeks. I can't leave my car at the dealer for a week and have them drive it every day until it happens. I doubt they'd do it anyway.

I'm thinking about trying to capture a movie of it happening so I can show it to the dealer. Maybe if they see it they'll know what part(s) are responsible and can replace them?

If you can make a video that clearly shows - and makes very audible - the problem, then maybe. Otherwise, the general approach in a case like that is to wait for it to worsen and happen more often.

LeftieBiker said:

If you can make a video that clearly shows - and makes very audible - the problem, then maybe. Otherwise, the general approach in a case like that is to wait for it to worsen and happen more often.

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You don't need audio. You can see the display changing from dash vent to floor vent to both all on its own with no button presses.

In that case audio is optional, but may still be helpful.