Nissan: restart problems reported in Leaf electric cars

[/quote]Would you have turned off your ICE car in the middle of traffic if the check engine light had come on?[/quote]

Yes, but probably wouldn't have seen the light hidden behind the electrical tape I placed over it 80k miles ago.
I guess my comment was a general one about how some of us view and react to warning lights.
I believe they did away with the complex terror alert warning system because no one had the same idea of what to do for each shade of terror.

Anyone that sees a warning light and then turns the car on and off at a traffic signal lacks common sense. This issue is getting overblown and beaten to death, if you have an issue get it fixed and move on.

Woo hoo, I'm famous!

Thank goodness CNBC was fair and balanced in their writeup and chose a benign quote...

Right. Everyone always consults the owner's manual every time they have a problem with their car... If they can even find it! And certainly WHILE they are driving!

Human nature is to turn something off and back on - or just off - if suddenly confronted with a number of warnings. As soon as you do that you are toast as it will not restart.

ICE cars have been recalled in the past for less serious similar issues than this... At the very least, Nissan should have contacted every current owner to apprise them of the situation and advise of them of what Nissan is doing to correct it. So far, I'm not impressed with how Nissan has handled this, or more appropriately, not handled it, and I don't think it augers well for the future....

davewill said:

Would you have turned off your ICE car in the middle of traffic if the check engine light had come on?

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That was not you...it was GEEKev and not GeekEV. I suspect it was somebody named Kevin. Gee Kevin, I did not know you bought a new car.

davewill said:

Would you have turned off your ICE car in the middle of traffic if the check engine light had come on?

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I've had my indicator come on showing that my vehicle was overheating, you can bet that I pulled off the road before I turned off the car to inspect the situation. No way I would have done that in the middle of the road!

palmermd said:

That was not you...it was GEEKev and not GeekEV. I suspect it was somebody named Kevin. Gee Kevin, I did not know you bought a new car.

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Yeah, I was bummed once I realized that. Kevin had the EXACT thing to say as I did - what are the odds?!?! :lol:

jamesanne said:

A reasonable person would pull off the road and evaluate what is occurring, consult available documentation (owner's manual), and possible use the included roadside assistance.
From page 6-4 Stopping the vehicle
1. Safely move the vehicle off the road and away from traffic...

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mogur said:

Right. Everyone always consults the owner's manual every time they have a problem with their car... If they can even find it! And certainly WHILE they are driving!

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Do not miss quote and obscure what I have written. I suggest you take responsibility for your own comments that made the news today. Comparing a restart safety system activation to Toyotas uncontrolled acceleration, where people died, is irresponsible and grandiose. I have been quite disappointed in the many assumptions and exaggerations that are made by some in this forum. Common sense goes a long way, if you are having a problem contact Nissan. Turning the car off and on, disconnecting the battery, doing the hokey pokey, performing an exorcism, etc are not likely to fix the problem. When I spend $35k+ on a new car, when there is a problem I bring it in so that it can be fixed.

palmermd said:

That was not you...it was GEEKev and not GeekEV. I suspect it was somebody named Kevin. Gee Kevin, I did not know you bought a new car.

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palmermd,

Your name is in Japanese newspaper site.
http://www.nikkei.com/tech/trend/article/g=96958A9C93819499E2EAE2E0E38DE2EAE2E6E0E2E3E3E2E2E2E2E2E2;p=9694E0E7E2E6E0E2E3E2E2E0E2E0

mogur said:

The fact that Nissan is saying that it is not a safety issue reeks of BS though... That may come back to bite them on the ass ala Toyota!

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According to a poster at ABG ...

Recalls are required whenever a vehicle or piece of original equipment are found to be defective in such a fashion as to be unsafe, or if found to be non-compliant with safety regulations. Federal reg. 49 CFR 573 is the authority here.

In the Leaf's case, the inability to start the car is not considered unsafe, as pointed out in the article - so there is no need for a recall to be initiated.

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While anyone can cookup a scenario that results in serious injury for anything benign - this isn't a safety issue under normal circumstances - unlike unintended acceleration would be.

That was a direct quote, verbatim and unedited. I did not post the whole damn thing however because anyone can go back and read it, and I hate it when an entire quote string is posted ad nauseam. And I always take responsibility for my postings and comments. What's more, I made no mention of unattended acceleration; Toyota has had MANY recalls of late for a variety of things which have not resulted in any deaths. but which HAVE resulted in a loss of consumer confidence and reputation. The point was that Nissan should be especially cognizant of keeping silent in light of such things, considering what it did to Toyota. YOU were the one that choose to make that acceleration connection, not me. 'Nuff said.

jamesanne said:

jamesanne said:

A reasonable person would pull off the road and evaluate what is occurring, consult available documentation (owner's manual), and possible use the included roadside assistance.
From page 6-4 Stopping the vehicle
1. Safely move the vehicle off the road and away from traffic...

Click to expand...

mogur said:

Right. Everyone always consults the owner's manual every time they have a problem with their car... If they can even find it! And certainly WHILE they are driving!

Click to expand...

Do not miss quote and obscure what I have written. I suggest you take responsibility for your own comments that made the news today. Comparing a restart safety system activation to Toyotas uncontrolled acceleration, where people died, is irresponsible and grandiose. I have been quite disappointed in the many assumptions and exaggerations that are made by some in this forum. Common sense goes a long way, if you are having a problem contact Nissan. Turning the car off and on, disconnecting the battery, doing the hokey pokey, performing an exorcism, etc are not likely to fix the problem. When I spend $35k+ on a new car, when there is a problem I bring it in so that it can be fixed.

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True, but Nissan also must be aware that everyone is watching them and the Leaf, and the old adage stands: Perception is reality. They would have been better served by immediately responding to the issue in a direct and positive manner, showing how firmly they are standing behind the product and their customers. Just my opinion...

evnow said:

While anyone can cookup a scenario that results in serious injury for anything benign - this isn't a safety issue under normal circumstances - unlike unintended acceleration would be.

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mogur said:

That was a direct quote, verbatim and unedited. I did not post the whole damn thing however because anyone can go back and read it, and I hate it when an entire quote string is posted ad nauseam. And I always take responsibility for my postings and comments. What's more, I made no mention of unattended acceleration; Toyota has had MANY recalls of late for a variety of things which have not resulted in any deaths. but which HAVE resulted in a loss of consumer confidence and reputation. The point was that Nissan should be especially cognizant of keeping silent in light of such things, considering what it did to Toyota. YOU were the one that choose to make that acceleration connection, not me. 'Nuff said.

jamesanne said:

jamesanne said:

A reasonable person would pull off the road and evaluate what is occurring, consult available documentation (owner's manual), and possible use the included roadside assistance.
From page 6-4 Stopping the vehicle
1. Safely move the vehicle off the road and away from traffic...

Click to expand...

mogur said:

Right. Everyone always consults the owner's manual every time they have a problem with their car... If they can even find it! And certainly WHILE they are driving!

Click to expand...

Do not miss quote and obscure what I have written. I suggest you take responsibility for your own comments that made the news today. Comparing a restart safety system activation to Toyotas uncontrolled acceleration, where people died, is irresponsible and grandiose. I have been quite disappointed in the many assumptions and exaggerations that are made by some in this forum. Common sense goes a long way, if you are having a problem contact Nissan. Turning the car off and on, disconnecting the battery, doing the hokey pokey, performing an exorcism, etc are not likely to fix the problem. When I spend $35k+ on a new car, when there is a problem I bring it in so that it can be fixed.

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Clearly we are going to disagree that there is a safety issue.

mogur said:

They would have been better served by immediately responding to the issue in a direct and positive manner, showing how firmly they are standing behind the product and their customers. Just my opinion...

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And just how should they have done that ? Say that it is a big safety issue and recall ? :lol:

The problem Nissan has is slow communication to dealers that are not adequately trained yet. The other problem they have is forums like this and stupid sensational web blogs like ABG and others. I'm surprised ALL Cars Electric has not wrote a story that says this is the end of the LEAF since they seem to think an EVSE will burn up an EV, ignorant journalism if you can call it that. This is a minor issue that prevents the car from starting resulting in a really frustrating and inconvenient event when it occurs, but it is easily fixed and not an indication of any terrible thing other than a software adjustment. Some people are acting like it is a faulty brake issue or something utterly dangerous. Plenty of new cars have many issues that are far worse, the Volt had several but they all faded into the background. I find the crappy navigation interface to be more dangerous because it is so non-intuitive and distracting while driving, the more I use that junk the more I wish it were the one from my 05 Acura TL. I would bet more people get in accidents from the poor NAV logistics then the silly no-start software setting that is getting completely over hyped here and this comes from a person that was stranded 80 miles from home when dealers were closed. Can we spare this thread for real updates or changes on this topic rather than making the issue more than it needs to be? People wonder why manufacturers don't post on forums, they would be crazy to get involved in some of what happens on the internet.

The restart issue is now being covered on MSNBC. Main stream media coverage is going to be a problem for Nissan unless they come out with a definitive fix quickly and communicate same.

"Unfortunately for this electric vehicle, green does not always mean go!" MSNBC tease.

Leafittome said:

The restart issue is now being covered on MSNBC. Main stream media coverage is going to be a problem for Nissan unless they come out with a definitive fix quickly and communicate same.

"Unfortunately for this electric vehicle, green does not always mean go!" MSNBC tease.

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There seems to be a definitive fix and it has been out for some time. Is there evidence that there is not?

I'm not sure I would classify rolling back the version of software as a definitive fix. It's more like a stop-gap in my opinion, until they can come out with something more permanent... We still don't really even know if there were some compressors out of tolerance with excess HV leakage, a VCU leakage parameter that was set too tight, all of the above, or something else entirely...

EVDRIVER said:

There seems to be a definitive fix and it has been out for some time. Is there evidence that there is not?

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EVDRIVER said:

There seems to be a definitive fix and it has been out for some time. Is there evidence that there is not?

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Nissan's own press release does not state that. It is far from definitive as to a cause and correction. In the PR arena, they must provide closure, or it will be a Toyota like debacle. People are looking for excuses to denigrate EV cars and the Leaf is the poster child. Nissan must get in front of this and be decisive in their pronouncement of a permanent fix.

Perhaps they need a bit more time to test the issue? It also seems the software value was set far too sensitive to begin with relative to what even Toyota uses. Regardless, if it fixes the issue I don't care and the AC is under a three year warranty and if there are prolific issues it will be evident before then. This is only a big deal because it's a LEAF and not another car.