My Leaf Died Today

It's the air conditioner stop/restart problem. I was in downtown Pasadena with my two kids carseated in back when I noticed a warning light on the dash. So, at a red light, I shut down. Tried to restart. Dead. With traffic flowing around me, I had to get my kids unstrapped and safely to the sidewalk. I'd received the notice from Nissan weeks ago telling me to get the software fix but my dealership (Wondries in Alhambra) doesn't have the proper hardware or software to fix the problem. Even today, after calling roadside assistance, the dealership repeated that they can't fix the problem and doesn't know when it can.

My tone here doesn't come close to approximating my fury with the dealership at their ineffectual response toward rectifying the problem. At the moment the car is back at the dealership, towed there too late for any work to be done. No work tomorrow as the place is closed (Sunday). On Monday they'll attempt to get the car's systems cleared and restarted. But driving this car from here on out is going to be an exercise in anxious, stifled panic. Especially with my kids along.

Not a happy Leaf owner.

Any Nissan dealership can perform the upgrade. If yours is not prepared, take it to one that is. I'm sure there is one near you, and you have peace of mind once you have the upgrade installed.

You do know that you can have your car serviced at any Nissan dealer, right? If these bozos can't fix you up immediately on Monday, call and find a dealer that can, and drive it straight over there. Resetting the car so that it will start again is as simple as disconnecting the battery for a short time, and if the light comes on while you're driving to the next dealer, don't turn it off, and you'll be fine.

Oh, then write a scathing letter to Nissan corporate complaining that these guys can't even manage to refer their customers to another dealer when necessary.

It didn't happen to my leaf for awhile, so I thought mine was going to be OK. The day I had my AV EVSE installed in my garage I left my Leaf outside, since it was in the heat all day I decided to use the climate control before going to work. I got in it and it wouldn't start, luckily I read the posts on this forum or else I would have panicked more. I unplugged the battery for about 1 minute and plugged it back it and it was OK again. I took it in to the dealership that weekend and haven't had the problem since, of course I keep a wrench in my center console just in case. BTW if your dealership can't fix it get it back and take it to Fontana Nissan, you can't be too far from them, they should be able to fix it. Good Luck.

I can only imagine the anxiety this must have generated. Anyone experiencing this please, please pull out of traffic before shutting the car down and attempting to restart it. That way, if it doesn't restart you will not be stuck in a potentially dangerous situtation.

Seriously, that's almost worth an info sticker on the dash.

No matter what the indicators show, DO NOT turn the car off in traffic. Ever. Drive home, or to a dealer.

cashu2 said:

It didn't happen to my leaf for awhile, so I thought mine was going to be OK. The day I had my AV EVSE installed in my garage I left my Leaf outside, since it was in the heat all day I decided to use the climate control before going to work. I got in it and it wouldn't start, luckily I read the posts on this forum or else I would have panicked more. I unplugged the battery for about 1 minute and plugged it back it and it was OK again. I took it in to the dealership that weekend and haven't had the problem since, of course I keep a wrench in my center console just in case. BTW if your dealership can't fix it get it back and take it to Fontana Nissan, you can't be too far from them, they should be able to fix it. Good Luck.

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With the OP's knowledge of the issue ... and it being written up here so much ... and this being their 1st post ... I'm kinda baffled that they didn't simply (at LEAST) pull over before turning the Leaf off. Oh well.

Well as you found out I would never recomend turning your car off until you have gotten out of traffic. If you want a dealer that can do it Nissan of Mission Hills was great, I bought my car from Fontana and they didn't care they were friendly and nice.

-Matt
PS: To restart your car after this problem disconnect the negative battery cable for 10 seconds then re-attach, this will clear the error and allow you to drive.

Sorry to hear about your predicament. I'd definitely look in to a different dealer!

I beleive, just on general principals, every Leaf owner should carry a 10 or 13 mm wrench (either will work but the 13 is easier) or perform the wing-nut modification so that they can reboot their car if need be. I've done the wing-nut mod on mine.

dleesim said:

It's the air conditioner stop/restart problem. I was in downtown Pasadena with my two kids carseated in back when I noticed a warning light on the dash. So, at a red light, I shut down. Tried to restart. Dead. With traffic flowing around me, I had to get my kids unstrapped and safely to the sidewalk. I'd received the notice from Nissan weeks ago telling me to get the software fix but my dealership (Wondries in Alhambra) doesn't have the proper hardware or software to fix the problem. Even today, after calling roadside assistance, the dealership repeated that they can't fix the problem and doesn't know when it can.

My tone here doesn't come close to approximating my fury with the dealership at their ineffectual response toward rectifying the problem. At the moment the car is back at the dealership, towed there too late for any work to be done. No work tomorrow as the place is closed (Sunday). On Monday they'll attempt to get the car's systems cleared and restarted. But driving this car from here on out is going to be an exercise in anxious, stifled panic. Especially with my kids along.

Not a happy Leaf owner.

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GroundLoop said:

Seriously, that's almost worth an info sticker on the dash.

No matter what the indicators show, DO NOT turn the car off in traffic. Ever. Drive home, or to a dealer.

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+1

You knew about the problem and yet turned it off in the middle of traffic with kids in the car :shock:
Then you have the Leaf towed to a dealer that you know cannot fix the issue :roll:

Hard to blame Nissan too much for this one. Reboot the car and drive to a dealer that can fix it.

Not all Nissan dealers are LEAF Certified, so "your" dealer apparently has not purchased (perhaps $50,000?) the special LEAF service equipment, which includes a Consult III+ machine to deal with the LEAF's multiple CAN buss systems.

This is an example of (just) one reason that Nissan wants new LEAF sales areas "sufficiently prepared" before the begin delivering LEAFs in the area.

When a dealer tells you they cannot fix a problem, it might be best to believe them, and find a telephone (to locate a dealer that CAN help you)?

When Nissan phones you, sends emails, and sends letters to "strongly suggest" getting your LEAF updated to avoid an identified problem, is it reasonable to be angry with Nissan because you decided to ignore them?

It is good that nobody was injured, and hopefully the problem is now behind you. Give kind thanks to the dealer that did help you.

Jeez guys, it's his first post here, so why not that assume he was NOT familiar with the problem before this happened to him. The dealer is a bit of a mystery, they either are not LEAF certified (then how did they sell him the car?), are incompetent (more likely) or both. They definitely should have referred him elsewhere the first time he inquired about the upgrade and they couldn't do it.

It is odd, if one sees a red warning light in an ICE vehicle I think most people would pull over to the side of the road and then turn the engine off, and yet for some reason people want to try to "reboot" the car in traffic. The poster's actions were not atypical, my next door neighbor did the very same thing. Only in his case when he and a police officer were trying to push the car out of traffic (left hand turn lane), he slipped and the open driver's side door knocked him down, caught his legs and had him rolled into a ball before he could escape.

Please don't blame Nissan corp. My experience was nothing but spectacular. The final software fix was released on a Friday. I got a call from my dealer on Monday. On Tuesday the regional tech drove 200 miles to where I have the car. Fixed it in an hour at the local Nissan (small town) dealer. The dealer was not LEAF certified, but allowed the tech to use their facility and even allowed me to watch and barrage the tech with questions about the LEAF and the software upgrade. I couldn't be more satisfied with Nissan's striving to give the best service possible given an unforeseen software error.

Lopton said:

To restart your car after this problem disconnect the negative battery cable for 10 seconds then re-attach, this will clear the error and allow you to drive.

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can anyone provide a snapshot of exactly what it is that needs to be disconnected (and if any precautions need to be taken to do so: e.g. wearing goggles, rubber gloves etc)? I'm a complete mechanical novice and have no idea a "negative battery cable" looks like or how to disconnect it.

You just disconnect the NEGATIVE terminal from the 12 volt battery under the hood. It's on the driver's side and looks like every other car battery in the world. No real precautions are needed per se. However, if you are not comfortable carrying out such procedure, than DO NOT do it!

earther said:

[Can anyone provide a snapshot of exactly what it is that needs to be disconnected (and if any precautions need to be taken to do so: e.g. wearing goggles, rubber gloves etc)? I'm a complete mechanical novice and have no idea a "negative battery cable" looks like or how to disconnect it.

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earther said:

Lopton said:

To restart your car after this problem disconnect the negative battery cable for 10 seconds then re-attach, this will clear the error and allow you to drive.

Click to expand...

can anyone provide a snapshot of exactly what it is that needs to be disconnected (and if any precautions need to be taken to do so: e.g. wearing goggles, rubber gloves etc)? I'm a complete mechanical novice and have no idea a "negative battery cable" looks like or how to disconnect it.

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Then don't do it. Disconnecting and/or modifying the battery cable is the suggestion of some forum members not Nissan. If you have a problem, then contact Nissan or the included roadside assistance. If you received the service campaign notice, then make an appointment to have the potential issue addressed.

People, the OP has one post to his/her name, and it was over a week ago.

Either trolling and having a laugh at your expense, or hiding in a corner afraid to post a follow-up. In either case, move along - there's nothing to see here.

z0ner said:

People, the OP has one post to his/her name, and it was over a week ago.

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The OP was yesterday. He joined a week ago.

earther said:

Lopton said:

To restart your car after this problem disconnect the negative battery cable for 10 seconds then re-attach, this will clear the error and allow you to drive.

Click to expand...

can anyone provide a snapshot of exactly what it is that needs to be disconnected (and if any precautions need to be taken to do so: e.g. wearing goggles, rubber gloves etc)? I'm a complete mechanical novice and have no idea a "negative battery cable" looks like or how to disconnect it.

Click to expand...

The negative battery cable is usually black (positive is usually red), but just look for the minus (-) sign on the battery. There's usually a 10mm nut to loosen in order to slip off the negative wire.