clunk from battery area after climbing 2000ft (600m)

knightmb said:

What was the beep before the clunk sound? It sounds like the beep confirmation is turned on in the NAV but I didn't see anyone using the NAV in the video? It sounded like the low battery warning beep?

Click to expand...

The beep was indeed the Low Battery warning. My car now gives a truncated message by the lady, which is handy since I see LBW fairly often

Nubo said:

Sounds to me like a metal panel "beer-canning" due to pressure change. As I think I previously noted, I'm not sure if there is any provision in the battery case for pressure equalization, or if the case is simply meant to expand and contract. If the former, then perhaps a valve/vent/filter is blocked. If the latter then could just be an accident of geometry or stamping. Or I could speculate that pack attachment bolts (or something bolted TO the pack) need to be re-torqued. I might consider it a minor annoyance but given the electrical smell I'd say have Nissan look into it.

Click to expand...

Due to a broken charger in the town I work in (someone backed into the pillar and knocked it over!), I ended up having to drive up to the mountain town of Rossland this afternoon to charge. I got the clunk just before getting into town. I flipped to the battery cell screen of Leaf Spy and nothing odd showed up there; temps all normal, cell voltages too. I parked the car, plugged in and sat in it for 5 minutes, and it clunked again as I was sitting there. I also did not get any 'electrical' smell... so now I'm not sure what to think. Perhaps it is just the battery shell "beer-canning" as you've suggested.

Perhaps it is meant to be vented, but mine is blocked? I have driven on a number of gravel and muddy roads, so possible I've flung up some debris into a vent. I'll put it on the list of things for my dealer to look at when I make the 380 km trek over the mountains in May! (I also need to get the brakes reprogrammed according to a letter from Nissan.)

achewt said:

Perhaps it is meant to be vented, but mine is blocked? I have driven on a number of gravel and muddy roads, so possible I've flung up some debris into a vent. I'll put it on the list of things for my dealer to look at when I make the 380 km trek over the mountains in May! (I also need to get the brakes reprogrammed according to a letter from Nissan.)

Click to expand...

The battery is completely sealed, I've seen test pictures where the whole case is submerged under water in a pool with no leaks. So with no vents, it is possible the elevation and temperature changes are doing this. I've driven up and down some +5000 elevation changes here in TN (going through parts of the smokey mountains) where my ears pop and my eyes water from the elevation changes, but never heard anything like you experienced, I would be curious as to the cause as well.

I haven't encountered any of this, either, and I've done a number of 5000ft (1500m) climbs in the LEAF. I've also driven some bumpy dirt roads, through water, and over plenty of ice and snow. Hope it's nothing serious.

I have a 2013 SL Leaf that I've owned for a year and a half now. I've never heard this 'clunk' until the past few weeks. I commute up a pretty steep grade from Denver to my home in Evergreen - about 2500ft (750m) five days a week - and have since I've owned the car. And reliably, within a mile or so each time I drive up these past few weeks, I hear (and feel in the seat) this same 'clunk' that you describe and have recorded in your video. For me, the battery charge is always right around 60% - do to the fact that I'm driving the same route each day. Air temperature has typically been in the 40 deg F (4 deg C) type of range the past few weeks. Then, a couple times, when I've been stopped at a red light after getting off of the highway the past couple days, I'll sit for less than a minute and hear the same 'clunk' again - but haven't heard the second 'clunk' if not stopped by a red light. Any updates?

Hi Frank, no updates to report. Battery health degradation seems normal, and I'm nearing 108,000 km (67k miles). I still get the clunk when making climbs from the valley bottoms around here (about 500 m) once I've climbed about 600 m (2,000 ft); my local ski hill is actually an 1,150 m climb, and I do not get a second clunk. I've not smelled anything other than that one time either, so I think that was a coincidence. Probably the tin-canning as someone described earlier up thread.

What is interesting to me though is that you say yours just started, whereas mine has done this within a few months of being new. What actually causes it... maybe a blocked equalization valve in the battery pack?! I'll be making the annual pilgrimage over the 3 mountain passes to get my "battery check-up" from the nearest Nissan dealer in a few months - I might try asking them. Though they see so few Leafs, they might not have a clue.

If this noise happens when climbing a hill then most likely it is the battery case expanding.
Absolutely safe. Actually a good sign that case is waterproof
The fact that batter heats up also helps with getting more pressure in the pack.
And going up the hill helps lower the outside air pressure.
Most likely the clunk happens again later on when the pack cools down when parked or you drive down the hill.

I suspect battery case was designed not to clunk but it appears your does. It's like squeaking bed or floor :lol:

Don't worry, your battery will not do that
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz95_VvTxZM

Sounds like a safety component in the emergency brake is releasing, possibly from no longer travelling uphill. I've heard that same noise a few times when I tried to take off too quickly after starting the car and releasing the emergency brake, where the brake didn't release and I had to accelerate a little which then released the brake. It only happened once or twice before I learned to not try to take off so quickly, but it was almost the same sound. Maybe once the car detects that you are no longer going up a slope, something gets released, which is why you are hearing it once you have arrived in town (i.e. no longer going up a long hill)

I own a 2017 Nissan Leaf and we are experiencing the same clunk from the battery area when the vehicle is climbing over 2000ft ( it's approximately 2,500 ft) elevation within 16 miles (20 minutes). The clunk always happens within the same 1 mile range and happens every time we drive from Salt Lake City, UT (4,226 feet) to Summit Park, UT (6,887 feet). We first noticed it this summer (2019). There is an audible clunk and it can be felt through the passenger foot-well behind the driver's seat.

I'm planning on letting the Nissan dealership know and pointing them to this discussion forum. I will also report to https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/

Electryic said:

Sounds like a safety component in the emergency brake is releasing, possibly from no longer travelling uphill. I've heard that same noise a few times when I tried to take off too quickly after starting the car and releasing the emergency brake, where the brake didn't release and I had to accelerate a little which then released the brake. It only happened once or twice before I learned to not try to take off so quickly, but it was almost the same sound. Maybe once the car detects that you are no longer going up a slope, something gets released, which is why you are hearing it once you have arrived in town (i.e. no longer going up a long hill)

Click to expand...

Same here.

I hate these questions... I hear a noise... What could that be??

Forget about it..