2012 Leaf Charging Problem

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95eagle

Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2013
Messages
20
Location
Maryland
65,000 miles. Plug in either a level 1 or 2 charger. Blue lights come on for a couple seconds and clunk, everything shuts off. Installed new 12 volt battery. No help. Connector seems to be o.k. but hard to tell. Any ideas? Thank You.
 
If you can post a private YouTube video, and then link to that here, that would help tremendously. In particular, show us what's happening with the three blue lights on the dash below the windshield.

Also, see this post RE the charge timer possibility:

https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=23885
 
Tried the timer charge button to left of steering column inside vehicle. Middle blue light beneath windshield came on and shut off after a few seconds. Thus, still would not go into charge cycle.
 
That is the timer override button. Did you try plugging in and charging while the blue light was on?
If not, it didn’t prove anything.
If yes, and it wouldn’t charge, the problem is something else.

Do you have a multimeter and some basic electrical knowledge?
 
Yes, I plugged level 2 charge cable in while middle blue light was on. I have a Fluke multimeter and know how to use it. Found a U-Tube video on what readings to expect on the car level 2 charge connector. Will try that.
 
The readings on the car charge connector were 4.3 volts between ground and the prox pin. Infinite resistance between pilot pin and ground in either direction. Would indicate an open diode or some other failure in the OBC. Doubt that a new diode in the pilot line will fix it but will try it anyway. Could also be the cable off the car charge plug but highly unlikely.
 
No. DC voltage is read between ground and the proximity pin. Resistance is read between ground and the pilot pin. My reading was 4.3 volts DC between the ground and the proximity pin.

Would a problem with the cable from the cars charge connector to the On Board Charger show up as a trouble code on a OBD 2 reader and LeaSpy? I do not own a OBD 2 reader but will get one if it will check that cable.
 
Sorry, didn’t read your post carefully.

The results do indicate an open diode. I think someone here replaced the surface mount diode on the charger’s circuit board. There may have been a photo.

I don’t know if any DTCs would be set.
 
If you are certain that it's an open diode then see this post, which explains how to add a new inline diode within the J1772 charging port:

https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?t=24696
 
Well, much probing between the pilot pin and ground yielded nothing. I have to conclude that either the diode on the OBC or the cable from the charge port is the culprit. Easiest test is to install a diode in the wall charger in series to the pilot line going to the charge port. If it works, will move the diode to the charge port pilot line on the car. I have a 1N5408 diode and will try that.

I ordered a OBD 2 reader for LeafSpy. Still hoping it may somehow check the cable.
 
Do I have my terminology backwards?

If the diode fails “open”, it would have no continuity in either direction. If it fails “closed”, it would have continuity with the same resistance in both directions.

My diode failed closed which I fixed by adding an inline diode. Yours seems to have failed open which means that that circuit is not functional. The diode on the circuit board needs to be replaced. An added inline diode will not complete the circuit.

If you suspect the cable, I would first be sure all the connectors are all firmly mated.
 
Yes. I agree as I indicated in an earlier post for an open diode. A new one in the pilot line would not work. However, I am not convinced that I had good contact while probing between the pilot pin and ground.

Am I the only one who had great difficulty in probing that charge connector? Never seen anything like it. Should be straightforward. I could not make contact with the pin with a straight in approach. I had to probe along the side of the pin which was iffy at best. I have a second 2012 Leaf and it is the same way as far as probing those pins.

Thus, to eliminate the possibility that I did not make contact on that pilot pin, I will put a diode in the Bosch wall charger pilot line and see what happens.
 
95eagle said:
Yes. I agree as I indicated in an earlier post for an open diode. A new one in the pilot line would not work. However, I am not convinced that I had good contact while probing between the pilot pin and ground.

Am I the only one who had great difficulty in probing that charge connector? Never seen anything like it. Should be straightforward. I could not make contact with the pin with a straight in approach. I had to probe along the side of the pin which was iffy at best. I have a second 2012 Leaf and it is the same way as far as probing those pins.

Thus, to eliminate the possibility that I did not make contact on that pilot pin, I will put a diode in the Bosch wall charger pilot line and see what happens.

You might have better luck with inserting a piece of wire into the connector rather than trying to reach in with your meter probes. If you use stranded wire, and spread out the strands, you should be able to be sure of decent contact.
 
Yes, I tried using a piece of wire. However, an inspection with a magnifying glass reveals what looks like the pins are surrounded at the top with a non conductive shield. Thus, the only way to get a reading is to slide a probe past the shield to a bare spot on the pin. Not very easy to do. Like I said, never seen anything like this.

Today, I will try the diode fix.
 
The diode fix did not solve this issue. Ordered an OBD 2 reader. Will see if any trouble codes show up. Wish there was an easy way to check the cable from charge port to OBC. The cable snakes into the innards of car and hard to even visually follow it. Slowly narrowing it down to a probable bad OBC. May just spring for another OBC (used) and swap it out. See what happens.
 
It goes without saying but I'm going to say it anyway....be careful with the high-voltage connections. The battery voltage is extremely dangerous and potentially lethal.
 
95eagle said:
The diode fix did not solve this issue. Ordered an OBD 2 reader. Will see if any trouble codes show up. Wish there was an easy way to check the cable from charge port to OBC. The cable snakes into the innards of car and hard to even visually follow it. Slowly narrowing it down to a probable bad OBC. May just spring for another OBC (used) and swap it out. See what happens.

If you unplug the other end from the OBC, it should be pretty easy to check continuity through the cable. I'm about 80% sure you have a "open" blown diode, and you'll have to either replace the diode or the OBC. There really aren't too many ways for the cable assembly to get damaged...
 
A bit of information that I neglected to include in my initial post is this and I would not think it has anything to with the charging malfunction. However; the charging problem started after the 12 volt battery failed. The car had the original 12 volt battery in it and suddenly failed to a reading of 5 volts and car would not charge. After replacing with a new battery (now reads 12.7 v.) the charging problem continued. Same as with the bad 12 volt battery. That is as Paul Harvey use to say, “the rest of the story”.
 
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