New Leaf lasts 2 days before crashing

[nater]

Okay, I'm confused. The car was left on, and that somehow killed the 12v battery?

Please explain.

Nate

[mwalsh]

Okay, I'm confused. The car was left on, and that somehow killed the 12v battery?

Please explain.

Nate

Remember, no generator/alternator. So the 12v will eventually get depleted from running of the car's systems.

Now, I was under the impression that the 12v system would take charge from the main pack to keep it charged. So that means a) I was incorrect or b) that did indeed happen, which led to a completely discharged main pack and then, sometime following, would have meant a completely discharged 12v system. However, I'm not so sure the 12v system was completely discharged - the OP said that he could get the car into accessory mode.

[aqn]

[...]12 residual miles[...] As I got up yesterday, the dash charging lights were off and the car would not do anything other than turn on the accessories.

Does "would not do anything" include "shifter will not go into 'D' or 'R', only 'N' or 'P'"?

Flame suit on.....but that sort of sounds to me like you left the car turned on. No timer charging would be my first indicator and the completely dead battery pack my second.

Ahem, the car is back from a day at the dealer. While there is no absolute proof, examination found 3 error codes that led to a "fail safe state" indicating with strong probability that [...]

From the owner's manual, page 3-11:

"12-VOLT BATTERY SAVER SYSTEM
When all the following conditions are met for 60
minutes, the battery saver system will cut off the
power supply to prevent 12-volt battery discharge.
. The power switch is in the ACC position,
and
. All doors are closed, and
. The vehicle is in the P (Park) position."

If your LEAF was in ACC mode, it would shut down by itself after 60 minutes.

The question is whether your LEAF was in ON mode (e.g. if you just push 'P' and/or engage the parking brake) or in ACC mode; I suspect it was in ON mode, since to enter ACC mode from ON mode you need to push the power button twice (with foot off the brake) and it doesn't sound like you did that?

However, even if it was in ON mode all night and the traction battery was not being charged, would the display draw so much power that it would drain the traction battery's "12 miles remaining" charge (from having to charge the 12V battery all night)? 12 miles should be several kWh's worth of charge, even considering the "guess-o-meter" nature of the "miles remaining" display. Was the A/C or the fan on?

(The traction battery charges the 12V when the 12V battery's voltage is too low. From the service manual, section "EVC" page EVC-45:
"The automatic 12V battery charge control is a control to reduce the frequency of battery discharge by automatically
charging the 12V battery in case the 12V battery voltage is low when the key switch is turned to ON
or the vehicle has been left unattended for a long time.
When VCM [Vehicle Control Module] recognizes a need of automatic charge, VCM controls the DC/DC converter and the system main F
relay and charges the 12V battery using the Li-ion battery power.")

Additionally, your "fail safe" diagnostic codes sound vaguely like a symptom of the "won't go into 'D'" problem. I'm not yet convinced that the issue was simply because of your leaving the car on.

[mwalsh]

However, even if it was in ON mode all night and the traction battery was not being charged, would the display draw so much power that it would drain the traction battery's "12 miles remaining" charge (from having to charge the 12V battery all night)? on.

Yes.

I routinely leave my car at shows in second position accessory mode (so not even as "on") and it will routinely draw the main pack down by a SOC bar over a couple of hours of sitting there. So after 8 hours I'm sure whatever was left in the main pack was well gone and the 12v battery wouldn't have been in that great a shape either.

[EVDRIVER]

You can get failsafe codes for many reasons and other non-related codes as a result of one code indirectly resulting in another, I have read these codes on my car in Consult. In many cases the LEAF issues reported on the forum are user errors, quite a few too embarrassing to admit at the stage of resolution.

[TomT]

As another point of reference, as I documented here many months ago, I accidentally left my car on once when I arrived at work. I had eight bars when I arrived at 8am and when I go back to the car some 12 hours later, I was down to four bars. Since it was parked indoor, the lights had also stayed on all that time as they were in Auto...

However, even if it was in ON mode all night and the traction battery was not being charged, would the display draw so much power that it would drain the traction battery's "12 miles remaining" charge (from having to charge the 12V battery all night)? on.

Yes.

I routinely leave my car at shows in second position accessory mode (so not even as "on") and it will routinely draw the main pack down by a SOC bar over a couple of hours of sitting there. So after 8 hours I'm sure whatever was left in the main pack was well gone and the 12v battery wouldn't have been in that great a shape either.

[TNleaf]

After 15 minutes of 'inactivity', the car should chime and a message should come on the dash saying something like "Are you still there?" ...

First thing I thought of...



That would be awesome.

[EVDRIVER]

I expect we will see many issues like this in the future.

[mwalsh]

"12-VOLT BATTERY SAVER SYSTEM
When all the following conditions are met for 60
minutes, the battery saver system will cut off the
power supply to prevent 12-volt battery discharge.
. The power switch is in the ACC position,
and
. All doors are closed, and
. The vehicle is in the P (Park) position."

If your LEAF was in ACC mode, it would shut down by itself after 60 minutes.

My car doesn't do that either. Like I said earlier, I routinely leave my car in the second accessory position for hours upon end, so that folks can see the dash and center stack all lit up.

I do generally leave it with the doors closed but the windows rolled down, so they can stick their head in, and of course it's in Park. The only things that may be wild-cards....this situation may only apply to first accessory position OR opening a door may disrupt this cycle (I can't be completely sure I've stayed out of my car for more than 60 minutes - usually I'll need to get into the hatch, or will open the drivers door so someone can get behind the wheel).

[SanDust]

I expect we will see many issues like this in the future.

Unfortunately you're right. Also not limited to the Leaf. In fact I think leaving the car on and running the 12V battery flat may be the leading cause of Volts being stranded. The numbers aren't large for either car but you'd expect far more problems with mainstream drivers than early adopters.

It's something of a design flaw. Since the car is silent there aren't any audio clues that it's on, and some people will miss the charging lights. On the other hand I have turned the car on when its plugged in -- pairing a phone etc. -- so you don't want to prevent it. Off the top of my head I'd say chirping and power lights flashing or even lights flashing if it's plugged in and turned on, unless someone is sitting in the front seat or the driver's door is open. (There has to be a sensor for the front seat, yes?).

Something like this.