Bad Power Distribution Module? Check In Here

I took delivery of my Nissan Leaf S on April 20 in Las Vegas NV. I had zero problems using the 120v charge until June 6 when I got into my car whose charge indicator lights were out (indicating a completed charge) and upon turning it on noted that it was not fully charged and had some warning lights on the dash. I shut it off and turned it on again and the warning lights went away. Thinking that perhaps a brown out or other anomaly may have triggered the poor charge I drove for the day and again, plugged it in for an overnight charge. The next day the charging situation was the same, warning lights on dash and only a partial charge.

I called the dealer and they were awesome and got me in this morning. At noon they called me to tell me that their mechanic had the same experience that I had, only a partial charge before it shut down. At 4 pm they told me I had a bad Power Distribution Module and that it needed to be replaced. Bad news: potentially up to one week before the part arrives and they can fix it... Good News? I'm out of town for most of the week.

Who else has had this issue? The dealer shared with me they had seen one other Leaf that had this issue so the mechanic felt confident in his assessment and ability to fix the issue.

I believe there have been several similar reports recently, perhaps a quality control problem?

Stoaty said:

I believe there have been several similar reports recently, perhaps a quality control problem?

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I believe you may be right. Perhaps it's the new US Plant? If you have had this issue please check in here.

Same issue. 2013 SL started doing this after about a month. Been in the shop for 10 days. PDM replaced but waiting on another part that was damaged in the PDM replacement process, which I hear is common.

Stoaty said:

I believe there have been several similar reports recently, perhaps a quality control problem?

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Or a design problem. Really hard to say which.

Same problem here. 2013 S with 4600 miles.
Car been in the dealer for 5 days. They just called and said it's the PDM; need to order part. promise to have the car fixed by friday. We'll see if that promise holds up...

Just dropped mine off on Saturday. After going the rounds with them about there being something wrong, they finally told me it was the PDM. They said it is on back order with no current ETA. Current mileage is about 3500.

I have owned my Leaf for nine weeks now, and it has been in the shop two separate times for a total of 16 days for failure to charge. I am now on my third PDM. Mean time between failure has been three weeks.

LasPaled said:

Bad news: potentially up to one week before the part arrives and they can fix it... Good News? I'm out of town for most of the week.

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The Bad News is that waiting one week for a major LEAF part is actually Good News, compared to owners' past experiences, especially with charger modules.

francistaft said:

I have owned my Leaf for nine weeks now, and it has been in the shop two separate times for a total of 16 days for failure to charge. I am now on my third PDM. Mean time between failure has been three weeks.

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Are there lemon laws for you to get a new car after the same repair 3x?

Once again, it would be helpful to know where he is...

It is interesting that the 2013s are apparently turning out to be considerably less reliable than the preceding years...

braineo said:

francistaft said:

I have owned my Leaf for nine weeks now, and it has been in the shop two separate times for a total of 16 days for failure to charge. I am now on my third PDM. Mean time between failure has been three weeks.

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Are there lemon laws for you to get a new car after the same repair 3x?

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It varies from state to state. Here it has to be 4x in 12 months, or out of service for 30 days. The car has to have been bought in the state, new, and under 12k miles

Tennessee.

I just picked up the car after the second repair visit -- this one nine days. The part number of the replaced part is 292C0-3NF3B. The service manager again disclaimed any ability to speak in more than generalities regarding Leafs. However, he said the tech told him it was the same part that was replaced the last time, except that last time a unit identical to the original was installed, whereas this time an upgraded unit was installed. He said he was told there had been an upgrade to "the circuit board or something like that." The tech was out to lunch, but I requested a call from him to try to get more information.

Hopefully the upgraded model will end the charging problem.

I had the same issue of partial charge and the dealer says it's the PDM. But they're saying it will only take 2 days to get part. We'll see. I know someone in the EV industry so I'm going to ask him to track this down to see what the scoop is.

The part should be in today, and they said I should have my LEAF back by EOD. Crossing my fingers I can dump this rental turd today.

unfortunately my 2013 sl now has this too. I can't get more than say 30-50 minutes a charge before i have to pull the plug and restart the level 2 charger again. I also get the dash warning light on first boot after the charger stopped. My dealer will get my leaf today. Hopefully fix my front end clicking drivetrain noise too.

They must have had an epidemic of bad parts...

bigt said:

unfortunately my 2013 sl now has this too. I can't get more than say 30-50 minutes a charge before i have to pull the plug and restart the level 2 charger again. I also get the dash warning light on first boot after the charger stopped. My dealer will get my leaf today. Hopefully fix my front end clicking drivetrain noise too.

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WOW! It seems we may have the beginnings of a recall item...

I have been away on business for the last week and called the dealer when I returned to town. The part is not in and they have no clear idea when it will be in. To be clear:

2013 Nissan Leaf S Model
Delivery on April 19, 2013
Shipped from Phoenix AZ to Las Vegas (No S models locally)
1100 Miles

Booo....

Lemon Laws in Nevada are 30 days out of service but that is only for those that purchased the car. Mine is a lease and I am not sure what my recourse is if we hit that 30 day mark.

I took a loaner today (an ugly blue Versa that someone had smoked HEAVILY in... first stop a convenience store that sold air fresheners and Fabreeze! I asked for a GTR but she said they had just run out... ). They removed the clause where I have to return the car with a full tank of gas because I told them that I didn't think I should have to fully pay to fuel the car because that is why I got a Leaf in the first place. I offered to pay about $3.50 for every 100 miles I put on the car which is about equivalent to paying for the electricity to charge the car in my area. I plan on billing them for any fuel that I have to pay for in excess of that amount.

Let's keep chatting here...

locman said:

Same problem here. 2013 S with 4600 miles.
Car been in the dealer for 5 days. They just called and said it's the PDM; need to order part. promise to have the car fixed by friday. We'll see if that promise holds up...

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Friday came and went without any update from dealer. I called them today and...no parts...not even an estimate on when they'll get the part. I'll call 1800-nissan1 on Monday to file a claim. The car has been in the dealer for 10 days now. It's not looking good.....sigh.....

holy moly, I guess I'm waiting with installing my aftermarket DRLs, as I don't want my dealer to blame the potential problems on my lights. Very happy I found this thread.