2013 Leaf - Dead 12-Volt Battery every 2 Weeks

[lorenfb]

2011 and 2012 Leafs WILL drain the 12-volt battery if left plugged in and not actively charging for extended time. Later models MAY drain the 12-volt battery depending upon conditions. My 2015 draws more residual current from the 12-volt battery when plugged in and not charging than it does when not plugged in.

Then some of the Leaf's modules (ECUs), e.g. the Leaf's charger, fail to power-down, i.e. enter their "sleep" mode.

With regard to the TCU, its failure to power down intermittently keeping a CAN bus alive and resulting in other ECUs not powering down,
significantly increases the battery's drain (sleep) current (typically < 50 - 100ma). The TCU system design should have had an interrupt timer
(typically within its micro-controller) to cause the TCU to power down if a communication fails for a period of time. That would prevent the
TCU from "hanging" and not powering down and also affecting other ECUs.

[jffjnny]

I'm having a similar issue. I'm new here, and there's 30 pages of this thread, so I'm sorry if this exact thing has been mentioned before.

I have a 2014 SL. I've only had it about six months, used with about 21000 miles on it.

A few weeks ago I noticed the EV system warning light on after charging in my garage overnight. I had washed it the day before and thought maybe something in the charging port got wet. I drove it to work the follow Monday, where it sits in the sun. Came out after work, no lights were on. I assumed it had dried. The next day after being in the garage, not charging, same light was on. I had to leave for work, no time to investigate. After work, no light. This went on for a couple days, baffling me. Regardless of charging or not, in the garage overnight the light came on, and after work, the light was off. I did some research and realized the sun was recharging my battery, which was likely the cause of my light after being in the garage. After a few days, this issue seemed to resolve itself.

A few weeks later (This past weekend), the light came on again and after being in the sun, went back off. This happened last Thursday and Friday. Then Saturday after being in the garage for about 24 hours without charging, my car was totally dead. I made the decision to just buy a new battery, since I was fairly certain the battery was the issue. Probably on the verge of dying and being kept alive by the sun. I got a Optima Yellow Top, because I read it was a good battery for this car. Changed it out Sunday. I've been working well all week, until today (Friday). The light was on again. It was cloudy yesterday and is overcast today. So maybe the sun wasn't helping me as much, but what on earth could be draining my battery?

I'm not in warranty so I'm hesitant to take it to Nissan. Any ideas?

Thanks

[Stanton]

I'm having a similar issue. I'm new here, and there's 30 pages of this thread, so I'm sorry if this exact thing has been mentioned before.

I have a 2014 SL. I've only had it about six months, used with about 21000 miles on it.

A few weeks ago I noticed the EV system warning light on after charging in my garage overnight. I had washed it the day before and thought maybe something in the charging port got wet. I drove it to work the follow Monday, where it sits in the sun. Came out after work, no lights were on. I assumed it had dried. The next day after being in the garage, not charging, same light was on. I had to leave for work, no time to investigate. After work, no light. This went on for a couple days, baffling me. Regardless of charging or not, in the garage overnight the light came on, and after work, the light was off. I did some research and realized the sun was recharging my battery, which was likely the cause of my light after being in the garage. After a few days, this issue seemed to resolve itself.

A few weeks later (This past weekend), the light came on again and after being in the sun, went back off. This happened last Thursday and Friday. Then Saturday after being in the garage for about 24 hours without charging, my car was totally dead. I made the decision to just buy a new battery, since I was fairly certain the battery was the issue. Probably on the verge of dying and being kept alive by the sun. I got a Optima Yellow Top, because I read it was a good battery for this car. Changed it out Sunday. I've been working well all week, until today (Friday). The light was on again. It was cloudy yesterday and is overcast today. So maybe the sun wasn't helping me as much, but what on earth could be draining my battery?

I'm not in warranty so I'm hesitant to take it to Nissan. Any ideas?

Thanks

It's very possible that your old battery was "shot"...and that the solar panels on your SL (combined with some sunshine) was keeping it "afloat". However, beyond that is just a guess unless you can tell us:
1) was the TCU/modem upgraded?
2) are you able to "pull" any DTC codes?

I doubt it had anything to do with the car washing, because if you really did get water in the charging port, you may have seen far worse than just a dead 12v battery (for example: I never, ever, ever let anyone "clean" my engine compartment).

[jffjnny]

It's very possible that your old battery was "shot"...and that the solar panels on your SL (combined with some sunshine) was keeping it "afloat". However, beyond that is just a guess unless you can tell us:
1) was the TCU/modem upgraded?
2) are you able to "pull" any DTC codes?

I doubt it had anything to do with the car washing, because if you really did get water in the charging port, you may have seen far worse than just a dead 12v battery (for example: I never, ever, ever let anyone "clean" my engine compartment).

I believe the TCU upgrade was performed prior to me owning it. I'm not sure how to tell.

What do you mean by pull DTC codes? Sorry, still learning the language? Are you referring to a OBD II scanner?

Also, I'm fairly certain the car wash had nothing to do with it. That was just my initial thought.

[Stanton]

I believe the TCU upgrade was performed prior to me owning it. I'm not sure how to tell.

search this thread for the TCU versions and how you can retrieve that info from the center console.

What do you mean by pull DTC codes? Sorry, still learning the language? Are you referring to a OBD II scanner?

Yes.

[brenton]

I'm having a similar issue. I'm new here, and there's 30 pages of this thread, so I'm sorry if this exact thing has been mentioned before.

I have a 2014 SL. I've only had it about six months, used with about 21000 miles on it.

A few weeks ago I noticed the EV system warning light on after charging in my garage overnight. I had washed it the day before and thought maybe something in the charging port got wet. I drove it to work the follow Monday, where it sits in the sun. Came out after work, no lights were on. I assumed it had dried. The next day after being in the garage, not charging, same light was on. I had to leave for work, no time to investigate. After work, no light. This went on for a couple days, baffling me. Regardless of charging or not, in the garage overnight the light came on, and after work, the light was off. I did some research and realized the sun was recharging my battery, which was likely the cause of my light after being in the garage. After a few days, this issue seemed to resolve itself.

A few weeks later (This past weekend), the light came on again and after being in the sun, went back off. This happened last Thursday and Friday. Then Saturday after being in the garage for about 24 hours without charging, my car was totally dead. I made the decision to just buy a new battery, since I was fairly certain the battery was the issue. Probably on the verge of dying and being kept alive by the sun. I got a Optima Yellow Top, because I read it was a good battery for this car. Changed it out Sunday. I've been working well all week, until today (Friday). The light was on again. It was cloudy yesterday and is overcast today. So maybe the sun wasn't helping me as much, but what on earth could be draining my battery?

I'm not in warranty so I'm hesitant to take it to Nissan. Any ideas?

Thanks

Sounds very similar to the issue I had. The telematics unit has a flaw and it will fail to connect to the server so it will just keep trying over and over. This drains the battery over night, even a fully charged, brand new battery. Then in the morning you turn your car on and the car recharges the 12V battery with the DC-DC converter which is SUPER beefy so your 12V gets recharged back to full power by the time your trip is done. I don't think it's the solar panel, I think it's just your morning commute. To confirm this, turn your car off when you arrive in the morning and then turn it on again: my bet is the light will be off.

Every once in a while this telematics loop will drain the battery totally dead and you'll be stuck.

Here is a list of things that I know of that can trigger the telematics (it's probably incomplete) so if you avoid any of these things, you're less likely to have a dead car in the morning:

• Using the NissanConnect ("Carwings") app at all, even just having it on in the background.
• Having your car in an area that is stored as a "preferred charging" station
• Having a setting to send you notifications based on anything that might trigger (being at a preferred charging station, plugged in, unplugged, whatever.

I have taken my car in to Nissan 5 times about this same issue now, and they finally admitted the problem. See here http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=25722.

[lorenfb]

Every once in a while this telematics loop will drain the battery totally dead and you'll be stuck.

And Leaf owners continue to use it???

[jffjnny]

I'm having a similar issue. I'm new here, and there's 30 pages of this thread, so I'm sorry if this exact thing has been mentioned before.

I have a 2014 SL. I've only had it about six months, used with about 21000 miles on it.

A few weeks ago I noticed the EV system warning light on after charging in my garage overnight. I had washed it the day before and thought maybe something in the charging port got wet. I drove it to work the follow Monday, where it sits in the sun. Came out after work, no lights were on. I assumed it had dried. The next day after being in the garage, not charging, same light was on. I had to leave for work, no time to investigate. After work, no light. This went on for a couple days, baffling me. Regardless of charging or not, in the garage overnight the light came on, and after work, the light was off. I did some research and realized the sun was recharging my battery, which was likely the cause of my light after being in the garage. After a few days, this issue seemed to resolve itself.

A few weeks later (This past weekend), the light came on again and after being in the sun, went back off. This happened last Thursday and Friday. Then Saturday after being in the garage for about 24 hours without charging, my car was totally dead. I made the decision to just buy a new battery, since I was fairly certain the battery was the issue. Probably on the verge of dying and being kept alive by the sun. I got a Optima Yellow Top, because I read it was a good battery for this car. Changed it out Sunday. I've been working well all week, until today (Friday). The light was on again. It was cloudy yesterday and is overcast today. So maybe the sun wasn't helping me as much, but what on earth could be draining my battery?

I'm not in warranty so I'm hesitant to take it to Nissan. Any ideas?

Thanks

Sounds very similar to the issue I had. The telematics unit has a flaw and it will fail to connect to the server so it will just keep trying over and over. This drains the battery over night, even a fully charged, brand new battery. Then in the morning you turn your car on and the car recharges the 12V battery with the DC-DC converter which is SUPER beefy so your 12V gets recharged back to full power by the time your trip is done. I don't think it's the solar panel, I think it's just your morning commute. To confirm this, turn your car off when you arrive in the morning and then turn it on again: my bet is the light will be off.

Every once in a while this telematics loop will drain the battery totally dead and you'll be stuck.

Here is a list of things that I know of that can trigger the telematics (it's probably incomplete) so if you avoid any of these things, you're less likely to have a dead car in the morning:

• Using the NissanConnect ("Carwings") app at all, even just having it on in the background.
• Having your car in an area that is stored as a "preferred charging" station
• Having a setting to send you notifications based on anything that might trigger (being at a preferred charging station, plugged in, unplugged, whatever.

I have taken my car in to Nissan 5 times about this same issue now, and they finally admitted the problem. See here http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=25722.

I have done what you recommended. Get to work (about a 30 minute drive with traffic), turn the car off, then on again. The light stays on. But after 8 hours in the South Carolina sun, no light.

Yesterday was cloudy and rainy. The light was off after work, but came back on after a few hours parked out of the sun.

I turned off all carwings options and signed out. Also plugged in overnight. We’ll see if the light is on. In previous posts, I’ve seen that some dealers have disabled the telematics.

[tbog1]

Jffjnny
I recently got a 2014 SL aa well. Did the TCU upgrade 2 weeks after I bought it. Within 2 weeks my battery was dead. I recommend the following

1) Call Nissan Leaf Cust service
1-877-664-2738 option 1 then 4.
x457214 speak to Will. He is well aware of the issue . I made them pay for my new 12volt battery because their TCU known issue killed it and I would not accept a recharged battery from the dealer. They paid $140 for the battery and received my check from them in 5 days. The App benefits is not worth a dead car battery at a random time.

2) Have your dealer turn OFF the TCU until the fix comes out.

3) Go to the CarWings menus in the car and turn OFF transmit data until the fix is in place

It is a great car. I love mine. Just not through testing of the 3G TCU in my opinion. I have owned Nissans for over 25 years. They stand behind their products just need to get to the right person at Nissan. Best of luck and keep us posted

[WetEV]

Every once in a while this telematics loop will drain the battery totally dead and you'll be stuck.

And Leaf owners continue to use it???

Sure. If you reset the telematics with a fuse pull and replace about once every three months, it works almost all the time. When it stops working, you pull the fuse. The value to me of remote climate start in winter and summer is worth the bother. Might not be for everyone. I'd love my car even more if I didn't have to do this.

There seems to be different types of lockups. I've not had a battery drain due to this yet. But once a quarter, I've needed to pull the audio fuse to get it working again.