NissanConnect EV / Telematics Hardware Update, for the post-2G world

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I missed my plug in reminder email Friday night and saw the EV System warning indicator when I started the car yesterday. The indicator did not clear after cycling power to the car so I checked DTCs and found the usual EV System Incomplete Shutdown along with a few others related to CAN Bus communication. There was also a code related to the TCU antenna. I had the TCU upgrade done last December and have needed to reset the TCU a total of 5 or 6 times both before and after replacing the 12-volt battery. In all cases, the EV System warning light came on when starting the car after failing to receive a message the car should have sent (such as plug in reminder or charge complete notifications). I now believe the EV System Incomplete Shutdown and other DTCs occur after the TCU is unable to send its text message through ATT (regardless of the status of Nissan's servers). There would have been more incidents if it were related to Nissan's servers and only 1 or 2 incidents if it were due to low auxiliary battery voltage.

I pulled the 20-ampere fuse yesterday to reset the TCU, accepted data transmission in the CarWings menus, and it has been transmitting messages normally. It also updates charging stations and responds to remote status update requests quickly.
 
GerryAZ said:
I now believe the EV System Incomplete Shutdown and other DTCs occur after the TCU is unable to send its text message through ATT (regardless of the status of Nissan's servers).

Can't believe many continue to use the TCU knowing that it will potentially "hang" resulting in a 12V battery problem & fault codes.
 
lorenfb said:
GerryAZ said:
I now believe the EV System Incomplete Shutdown and other DTCs occur after the TCU is unable to send its text message through ATT (regardless of the status of Nissan's servers).

Can't believe many continue to use the TCU knowing that it will potentially "hang" resulting in a 12V battery problem & fault codes.

I've only had to reset my TCU one time in the last three months since replacing the 12v battery. I had to reset it at least once a month since install last January, before replacing the original 12v battery. I have never had any of the problems mentioned by others, like a dead battery, DTC's, or system shutdown issues. I use the remote Climate Control feature quite frequently. I also live in an area where AT&T has good service coverage.
 
Pretty much same for me. I use it a lot especially in Winter. Fuse pull lasts about 3 months. I'm in a condo building and quite a ways from the car, so remote control is very handy.
 
lorenfb said:
Can't believe many continue to use the TCU knowing that it will potentially "hang" resulting in a 12V battery problem & fault codes.

The very few times (no more than 6 total in the past year) that I have needed to reset the TCU are worth the convenience of using the remote access for climate control and charging status. As noted previously, I now believe my issues are solely related to failure to connect to ATT so I expect to only have occasional problems related to outages of nearby towers. The TCU will not drain the 12-volt battery in my car unless it hangs and creates the incomplete shutdown and other DTCs and the car is parked for extended time. As long as I reset the TCU and clear the DTCs when I first notice them, there is no issue with the 12-volt battery.
 
GerryAZ said:
lorenfb said:
Can't believe many continue to use the TCU knowing that it will potentially "hang" resulting in a 12V battery problem & fault codes.

As long as I reset the TCU and clear the DTCs when I first notice them, there is no issue with the 12-volt battery.

Then don't forget, and keep a jumper battery in the car. Besides, 12V batteries don't "like" being fully discharged, i.e. they generally
don't fully recover.
 
My telematics hardware has just locked up again, in a different way. I can do remote climate, status and such what, but can't update charging stations, download destinations and such. I'm getting a B02 error for these.

Sigh. Fuse pull time.
 
Would like to regain the remote climate control ability in our 2012 SL, but since seeing the troubles folks are having after the TCU replacement, I'm a bit hesitant to do so.

I would not consider it a good trade to regain the remote features at the expense of a random dead 12v battery and the need to do fuse pulls and resets.

To summarize what I've read so far in this thread:

* It's an unlucky few who have this problem - the majority that have the TCU replaced have no issues.

* The cause of this problem is that the new TCU remains on and does not return to the standby state, thereby draining the 12V battery.

* The TCU gets stuck on for a variety of possible reasons, but there is no complete consensus yet.

* The problem exists in both the earlier 11/12 model years as well as the 13/14/15 model years.

* Those that have issues have a variety of work-arounds, but there is no solution forthcoming from Nissan.


Please correct me if I'm missing something here...



Thanks!
 
OakLeaf said:
Would like to regain the remote climate control ability in our 2012 SL, but since seeing the troubles folks are having after the TCU replacement, I'm a bit hesitant to do so.
.
.
.
Please correct me if I'm missing something here...

You've "beat the dead horse" pretty well, but what's your question?
If you want to "regain the remote climate control" of your 2012 Leaf--regardless of what other issues you may/may not have--you need to do the TCU upgrade; if you don't, you won't.
 
Stanton said:
You've "beat the dead horse" pretty well, but what's your question?

No expired equine abuse intended ... :)

The question is if the above is an accurate summary of the known issues and state of affairs surrounding the 2G TCU replacement.
 
OakLeaf said:
Would like to regain the remote climate control ability in our 2012 SL, but since seeing the troubles folks are having after the TCU replacement, I'm a bit hesitant to do so.

I would not consider it a good trade to regain the remote features at the expense of a random dead 12v battery and the need to do fuse pulls and resets.

To summarize what I've read so far in this thread:

* It's an unlucky few who have this problem - the majority that have the TCU replaced have no issues.

* The cause of this problem is that the new TCU remains on and does not return to the standby state, thereby draining the 12V battery.

* The TCU gets stuck on for a variety of possible reasons, but there is no complete consensus yet.

* The problem exists in both the earlier 11/12 model years as well as the 13/14/15 model years.

* Those that have issues have a variety of work-arounds, but there is no solution forthcoming from Nissan.


Please correct me if I'm missing something here...



Thanks!

It's an unlucky few who have this problem - the majority that have the TCU replaced have no issues.

No, it depends on how the TCU is used. In my case, I only use it to update charging stations and have not had any problems
in about a year.
 
OakLeaf said:
Would like to regain the remote climate control ability in our 2012 SL, but since seeing the troubles folks are having after the TCU replacement, I'm a bit hesitant to do so.

I would not consider it a good trade to regain the remote features at the expense of a random dead 12v battery and the need to do fuse pulls and resets.


Please correct me if I'm missing something here...

It's quite simple, if you want to regain remote access, have the TCU upgrade done. You may have to occasionally pull and re-insert the 20amp Audio fuse to reset the TCU. Some people are affected by this issue, some people are not. If you have a 12v battery in good condition, the fuse pulls should be minimal. If you want the remote capability, that is what you have to put up with, for now.
 
lorenfb said:
No, it depends on how the TCU is used. In my case, I only use it to update charging stations and have not had any problems
in about a year.

I use the TCU a lot, and have needed to fuse pull about once every three months.

I use remote climate control, Leaf Manager does an auto update of charge level at every stop, I use Google "send to car" once a week or so...

OakLeaf said:
* The TCU gets stuck on for a variety of possible reasons, but there is no complete consensus yet.

I'm not sure if the use rate and the TCU lockup rate are all that related. The one item that might be in common for my TCU lockups is using in a weak signal location. There is one place I go to roughly a once a month with a very weak signal in the parking lot. At least two of the lockups were right after going there.

There are several different TCU lockups. I've had mostly "remote access doesn't work, but updating charging stations does work". I've also had one "nothing works" and one "remote access works, but updating charging stations doesn't work". Other people have reported DTC codes and such what, I've not seen these. Yet.
 
Many thanks to everyone for their advice and input, it's greatly appreciated!

Was also wondering what the reliability and responsiveness of the current CarWings/NissanConnect EV app is? Generally better or worse than when running under 2G?
 
OakLeaf said:
Was also wondering what the reliability and responsiveness of the current CarWings/NissanConnect EV app is? Generally better or worse than when running under 2G?
With the old 2G TCU, about the only times where it the app wouldn't be able to get a response from the car is if there was no AT&T coverage (e.g. in bottom level of underground parking of the building I used to work in). It wouldn't have this weird wonkiness where it would stop responding and require a fuse pull. Also w/the old 2G TCU, I never hit the yellow ! car with DTC P3131 (e.g. http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=508093#p508093). And, there were no problems w/saved charging locations and it sending me plug-in reminder for those.

Now, to mitigate these issues, I deleted all my saved charging locations and shut off a bunch of things relating to Carwings on the car side. And, I sometimes have to pull the fuse in order to get the 3G TCU out of the bad, non-responsive state.
 
OakLeaf said:
Many thanks to everyone for their advice and input, it's greatly appreciated!

Was also wondering what the reliability and responsiveness of the current CarWings/NissanConnect EV app is? Generally better or worse than when running under 2G?

There are some differences in the way it functions, but, for me, responsiveness is the same. Reliability is similar, but is dependent on how well the AT&T coverage is in the area. The 3G TCU is more sensitive to the voltage level of the 12v battery, and will occasionally stop working and need the Audio fuse pulled and replaced in order to reboot it. There are changes in some of the messages. For example, I have a charge timer that starts every morning at 2:10am. With the 2G TCU, I would get a Charging Stopped message every time it activated and was done, even if it did not do any charging. With the 3G TCU, I only get a message if the traction battery level was below the set point and some charging was actually done.
 
Hi.

After disabling all regular updates, not sharing data, declining data transfer, etc from within the car, the TCU lock up goes away. Even in that state you can still use the remote climate control feature. I've done this for >6 months without a drained battery or other issues. In that state, I can't tell the car to start charging or get a battery charge status back.

Meanwhile, next month it will be 1 full year since I paid Nissan $200 for the privilege of having them remove features from the car or else cause it to drain the 12V battery. Many here seem happy having to pull fuses or buying new 12V batteries instead of joining voices and taking the fight to Nissan. I'm willing to pitch in and hire a lawyer to represent us.

Regards,
JR
 
JRoque said:
Hi.

After disabling all regular updates, not sharing data, declining data transfer, etc from within the car, the TCU lock up goes away. Even in that state you can still use the remote climate control feature. I've done this for >6 months without a drained battery or other issues. In that state, I can't tell the car to start charging or get a battery charge status back.

Meanwhile, next month it will be 1 full year since I paid Nissan $200 for the privilege of having them remove features from the car or else cause it to drain the 12V battery. Many here seem happy having to pull fuses or buying new 12V batteries instead of joining voices and taking the fight to Nissan. I'm willing to pitch in and hire a lawyer to represent us.

Regards,
JR

I would like to know what features Nissan removed from your car with the TCU upgrade. I paid for the TCU upgrade a year ago, and have full access to the features offered. I have not had any issues with a drained 12v battery. I did have to do a fuse pull about every three weeks, until I replaced the original (over 4.5 year old) 12v battery with a new one. Since then, I have had to do a fuse pull one time.

12v batteries do not last forever, and have to be replaced regularly, especially in warmer climates. No one is happy about having to replace them, or do fuse pulls to reboot the TCU. It is just an accepted fact of life that we have to live with, for now. In my view, it is a small price to pay for the remote access features, and associated AT&T Cellular Service, that we are receiving, at no additional cost.

Nissan is aware of the problem with the TCU. They may develop a fix for it, and they may not. At present, I have no interest in paying a lawyer to fight Nissan over this issue. The results could be a complete shutdown of the service, or a monthly fee to use it. I'm willing to wait a little longer to see if Nissan provides a solution.
 
baustin said:
Nissan is aware of the problem with the TCU. They may develop a fix for it, and they may not. At present, I have no interest in paying a lawyer to fight Nissan over this issue. The results could be a complete shutdown of the service, or a monthly fee to use it. I'm willing to wait a little longer to see if Nissan provides a solution.

My thoughts exactly: this would be the "end" of CarWings/NissanConnect, which I do not see as a good thing.
 
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