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

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
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!
Oak, I am in the same dilemma. Bought my 13sv last July without the upgrade and would love to try the remote functions. I use the timers for getting to and from work. I checked this thread for issues and now am of the attitude "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I would like to see what the percentages are that have no issues to that of even minor issues (like fuse pulls), before I pull the trigger. My son is bugging me to get this done too.
No word on 4G upgrades yet?
 
My 2 cents.

I have a '15 SV, and I had the TCU replaced some time ago. I would be pissed if I had to pay, because it works for 3 weeks out of every month... on average. Nevertheless, it is not a huge inconvenience for me, because I have the timers all set. There are times I will like to preheat while it is plugged in, or before I leave the office, but I have grown to accept it.

The original 12v battery has not been replaced, but once a week I plug it into a desulfator, so I may not have a dead battery in the near future.
 
I bought my car used and it also did not have the TCU upgrade, so from what I am reading here, it sounds like it wouldn't be worth upgrading, is that correct?

I really don't want to have to mess with pulling fuses, etc. I had a car where I had to do that in the past and I don't want that again.
 
cwerdna said:
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.

I think you are on to something: I haven't had to do a fuse pull since I deleted my saved charging locations (like my house) and defeated the ability to save new ones. In addition, I haven't had the "yellow ! car" with DTC P3131 (which clears itself after a power cycle anyway).
I'm beginning to think that the TCU goes into "runaway" mode when it's trying to figure out if you've parked by one of your "saved" locations...and whether it needs to send the corresponding reminder (with me it was an email). So basically, I've given up that one function to keep things like "charge stopped/complete" messages (I live for those!) and all the background CW/NissanConnectEV updates (like driving history).
 
Stanton said:
cwerdna said:
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.

I think you are on to something: I haven't had to do a fuse pull since I deleted my saved charging locations (like my house) and defeated the ability to save new ones. In addition, I haven't had the "yellow ! car" with DTC P3131 (which clears itself after a power cycle anyway).
I'm beginning to think that the TCU goes into "runaway" mode when it's trying to figure out if you've parked by one of your "saved" locations...and whether it needs to send the corresponding reminder (with me it was an email). So basically, I've given up that one function to keep things like "charge stopped/complete" messages (I live for those!) and all the background CW/NissanConnectEV updates (like driving history).
Yep. I agree on your hypothesis.

I think that last time I've received a DTC P3131 was around mid-Oct 2017 (http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?p=508093#p508093). I definitely have had to pull the fuse at least once to get the TCU out of it stuck state between that date and today.

If in fact the 3G TCU was developed by Nissan or a vendor in Signapore, but they probably didn't dogfood it properly/at all there. Leaf isn't even listed at https://www.nissan.com.sg/vehicles/new.html. I talked to a former roommate from Singapore when I was there a few months ago and he said Tesla's not there yet. He said you have to jump thru many hoops just bring one in. So, I suspect there's little charging infrastructure there. I also noticed 0 EVs during the few days I was there.
 
I'm an new Leaf owner. Mine is a used 2017 model w/ 30 KWh battery pack. When I tried to use Nissan Connect I found out that the TCU was not "on." I am heading into the dealer this morning (1/17/18) to have it activated.

I read a lot of the posts in this thread (but not all of them :) ). Are there any current issues with the TCU on 2017 models that might warrant NOT turning on the TCU? Does the 2017 TCU still have the 'fuse pull' issue?

Sorry if this has been covered before; I'm still learning so much about the Leaf.

Thanks,

Kevin
 
radarguy said:
I'm an new Leaf owner. Mine is a used 2017 model w/ 30 KWh battery pack. When I tried to use Nissan Connect I found out that the TCU was not "on." I am heading into the dealer this morning (1/17/18) to have it activated.

I read a lot of the posts in this thread (but not all of them :) ). Are there any current issues with the TCU on 2017 models that might warrant NOT turning on the TCU? Does the 2017 TCU still have the 'fuse pull' issue?

No, you are safe. This issue only applies to LEAFs up to MY2015. 2016 and beyond already had 3G support built in (and apparently working fine, which makes it even more frustrating that they can't get it right in the older cars).
 
Newbie here, I'm looking at 2015 leafs to purchase and wanted to know, as I can't seem to find a thread, if there is a charge (one time or monthly) to use the NissanConnect program? It seemed as though there was a charge unless you purchase or lease a new Leaf. Could anyone help me with that? Lots of great info and lots of helpful people on this forum. :)
 
briscobully:

To date, Nissan has repeatedly mentioned (threatened?) but never started requiring payments for either Carwings or its replacement NissanConnect. Given the instability of the products, it would be tough to get people to pay for it. Also, similar products for other cars are not charged for, such as "Entune" for Toyota vehicles. GM's "OnStar" is a paid service but it is more of a concierge service than one that provides data based solely upon recorded telematics in the vehicle.

In the beginning of my LEAF ownership in 2012, I used Carwings and religiously went over every table, report, diagram, and suggestion it offered. Now, six years later, I use NissanConnect solely for turning on the pre-heat/pre-cool functions. Sadly, I have success about 6 out of 10 tries, mostly due to weak AT&T cell coverage in our area.
 
SalisburySam

Thanks for the speedy reply. I wondered as such due to all the reliability issues but you never know. I assume then you just have to contact Nissan and prove you are the new owner in order to get connected? I live in Chicago and didn't care for AT&T's service for my cell so I doubt I'll be happy with the 3G in the Leaf. Due to the Chicago winters, I would most likely only use the service to preheat the vehicle during the colder months (which is almost all of them); Today it's a balmy 22F real feel with flurries!

Thanks again!
 
briscobully said:
SalisburySam

Thanks for the speedy reply. I wondered as such due to all the reliability issues but you never know. I assume then you just have to contact Nissan and prove you are the new owner in order to get connected? I live in Chicago and didn't care for AT&T's service for my cell so I doubt I'll be happy with the 3G in the Leaf. Due to the Chicago winters, I would most likely only use the service to preheat the vehicle during the colder months (which is almost all of them); Today it's a balmy 22F real feel with flurries!

Thanks again!

You can set a climate timer to preheat the vehicle without the Telematics. I'm not sure about the Leaf S, but this will work with the SV and SL models, as long as you can predict the time of departure. Works best if you are on a regular schedule.
 
Thanks for the info... I most likely would lean towards the SV or SL models anyway due to the better battery mechanics. I live in a colder weather area, Chicago, and the interior heater works better in the non-S based models; Or so I'm told.
 
GerryAZ said:
If you are looking at used LEAFs, keep in mind that 3G upgrade is only free on 2015. It costs $199 for older models.

Give the context for this thread (e.g. the upgrade causes battery draining) I would avoid upgrading telematics like the plague. We have had to have our towed three times since doing the upgrade and there’s still no fix. We’ve since disabled all information sharing etc. which severely limits the capability/purpose of doing the upgrade.
 
EvieInCA said:
GerryAZ said:
If you are looking at used LEAFs, keep in mind that 3G upgrade is only free on 2015. It costs $199 for older models.

Give the context for this thread (e.g. the upgrade causes battery draining) I would avoid upgrading telematics like the plague. We have had to have our towed three times since doing the upgrade and there’s still no fix. We’ve since disabled all information sharing etc. which severely limits the capability/purpose of doing the upgrade.

I have only had to pull fuse and reset DTCs 4 or 5 times since getting my free upgrade in December 2016 so the convenience of remote access is worth the small hassle to me.
 
GerryAZ said:
EvieInCA said:
GerryAZ said:
If you are looking at used LEAFs, keep in mind that 3G upgrade is only free on 2015. It costs $199 for older models.

Give the context for this thread (e.g. the upgrade causes battery draining) I would avoid upgrading telematics like the plague. We have had to have our towed three times since doing the upgrade and there’s still no fix. We’ve since disabled all information sharing etc. which severely limits the capability/purpose of doing the upgrade.

I have only had to pull fuse and reset DTCs 4 or 5 times since getting my free upgrade in December 2016 so the convenience of remote access is worth the small hassle to me.

That assumes the battery hasn't already run down. Being stranded three times and having to get the car towed... not a "small" hassle at all.
 
People have been having this issue for over a year now? Nissan at one point has told some owners engineers have looked at this and a fix is coming... And here we sit with no fix and dead batteries.

I would like to know what recourse owners who have had the upgrade and have dead batteries can get in forcing the dealer IE Nissan into replacing the batteries and plugging up their service bay with the car constantly being towed in to address a dead car. I mean sure you can keep the car on a maintainer, and do battery disconnects and fuse pulls and keep on going.... but I wonder if Nissan would jump into action once it starts costing them money. Right now it just costs us money so Nissan could care less. It is pathetic.

I am glad I held off on the upgrade thanks to the good people here telling us of these issues. But I still find it maddening we are so far along this path and Nissan has not made customers whole. That just is not acceptable to push out a customer paid for upgrade that damages car batteries and creates problems with the functionality as designed into the car. This is really sad.
 
MalcolmReynolds said:
People have been having this issue for over a year now? Nissan at one point has told some owners engineers have looked at this and a fix is coming... And here we sit with no fix and dead batteries.

I would like to know what recourse owners who have had the upgrade and have dead batteries can get in forcing the dealer IE Nissan into replacing the batteries and plugging up their service bay with the car constantly being towed in to address a dead car. I mean sure you can keep the car on a maintainer, and do battery disconnects and fuse pulls and keep on going.... but I wonder if Nissan would jump into action once it starts costing them money. Right now it just costs us money so Nissan could care less. It is pathetic.

I am glad I held off on the upgrade thanks to the good people here telling us of these issues. But I still find it maddening we are so far along this path and Nissan has not made customers whole. That just is not acceptable to push out a customer paid for upgrade that damages car batteries and creates problems with the functionality as designed into the car. This is really sad.

Your denying yourself the advantages of a functioning TCU, because of the possibility of a problem. Yes, there are those with TCU issues, but not everyone has been negatively affected. It may cost me a little time, but it has not cost me any more money that would be expected. I upgraded the TCU, when they first became available, in January 2017. I replaced the original battery (almost 5 years old) in September 2017 with an AGM battery. The need for fuse pulls has greatly decreased since then. When the TCU stops responding, I just do a 30-second fuse pull, and then all is good for another month or two. Yes, it is an inconvenience, but not as much as it would be not having remote access to the car.
 
Back
Top