Leaf - won't go into Drive mode

oinkely · 09-04-2019 10:05pm #1

Just checking if anyone has had a similar issue. 132 gen 1.5 leaf tekna. Was fine until wife went to go to work this morning. Car turns on, but the 'press brake pedal and push button' warning comes on every time, doesn't recognise that the brake is pressed. Won't go into D or R, no green car appearing on the dash. Will toggle between P and N.

I checked that the brake lights wee coming on in case it was something simple like a switch at the pedal gone faulty, but they are coming on, so unless there are two switches????

Thought it might be the 12v getting low as it was still on the original so went and bought a new one, no difference. Also tried the battery from my leaf and no difference.

Googling has not enlightened me any further, most threads seem to point to the 12v but I have ruled that out as an issue.

Any ideas?

KCross · 09-04-2019 10:09pm

Do you have LeafSpy? Or get someone nearby to check it for you.
Check for error codes.

oinkely · 09-04-2019 10:31pm

Tried to get the dongle i have working, NADA. It worked before, just won't connect to the phone. Have a friend coming tomorrow with a diagnostic computer to have a look. I'll update then, just seeing if anyone had similar problems and there was a simple fix...... Wishful thinking

KCross · 09-04-2019 10:44pm

Probably not it but any chance the fob battery is low?

Try putting the fob up against the start button and then trying the startup sequence.

Worth a try anyway.

Soarer · 09-04-2019 11:57pm

I reckon the original 12V is knackered, caused an error, and the error is stopping the new battery from starting the car. Also, there's no saying the new battery is charged enough to start the car, especially if bought off the shelf.
Obviously the battery you took from your car is ok.
Put that in, and press the power button twice without pressing the brake. You should be able to use your dongle then to clear the errors.

oinkely · 11-04-2019 11:07am

brief udpate - it appears to be serious. Motor inverter or something like that coming up as faulty. It will most likely have to go to Nissan.

KCross · 11-04-2019 11:42am

oinkely wrote: »

brief udpate - it appears to be serious. Motor inverter or something like that coming up as faulty. It will most likely have to go to Nissan.

When there are 12V issues you get all sorts of weird error codes that arent real.

I presume you cleared all the codes and tried again? Did the error just reappear?

What codes is LeafSpy showing?

Soarer · 11-04-2019 4:00pm

As KCross asked, have you run LeafSpy and cleared the errors?

Have a look at the attached file. When my 12V was weak, I was getting all sorts of errors.

I changed the 12V, ran LeafSpy to clear everything, and I've not had an issue in over a month now.

The main dealer is a last resort!

oinkely · 29-04-2019 12:50pm

Just checking if anyone is near Dun Laoghaire/ kilcoole who could lend me an OBD dongle to check this? Just back from holidays and need to get this sorted out now! Tried the dongle that I was pretty sure had worked in the past but no joy connecting. I do have another one I found in the drawer at home that might work but was pretty sure the one i tried was the one that worked in the past.

FWIW, my friend who checked it for me did it with a Teng OBD computer thing. But as i was going away the next day and he was in a rush i wasn't paying too much attention.

oinkely · 08-05-2019 4:17pm

Nissan called me back today. Inverter failed, can't say why. Repair bill will be 9500. Aaaaaaaarrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhh

Guy in deansgrange said nissan Ireland will do nothing.

Anyone know of anybody independent who might be able to look at it?

zilog_jones · 08-05-2019 4:31pm

What do you mean by "nissan Ireland will do nothing"?

Soarer · 08-05-2019 4:33pm

Did you send it to the dealer without running LeafSpy or changing the 12V battery?

What tests do Nissan do to check the inverter besides reading the error codes? Because if they're just reading the codes, it could well be the 12V causing the problem.

Soarer · 08-05-2019 4:33pm

zilog_jones wrote: »

What do you mean by "nissan Ireland will do nothing"?

I assume he means they won't cover it under warranty, or meet him halfway or something.

oinkely · 08-05-2019 4:48pm

Before sending to Nissan:

Replaced 12v battery (first with the one from our other leaf and then with a brand new one).
Read codes from Teng OBD Computer and leaf spy - cleared but came back same.

Would not go into D or R mode.

Paid for a tow truck to Nissan Deansgrange, was with them a week and they got back to me today with quote for repair of €9500.
Simply said inverter failure and can give no further details like why etc.

Best bit is if i do get them to repair it, a €9500 repair comes with a 1 year warranty.

I thought we were signing up to the greatest and cheapest form of transport here!

Soarer · 08-05-2019 4:52pm

oinkely wrote: »

Before sending to Nissan:

Replaced 12v battery (first with the one from our other leaf and then with a brand new one).
Read codes from Teng OBD Computer and leaf spy - cleared but came back same.

Would not go into D or R mode.

Paid for a tow truck to Nissan Deansgrange, was with them a week and they got back to me today with quote for repair of €9500.
Simply said inverter failure and can give no further details like why etc.

Best bit is if i do get them to repair it, a €9500 repair comes with a 1 year warranty.

I thought we were signing up to the greatest and cheapest form of transport here!

That's a kick in the bollox. Basically the car is a write-off.

Very unlucky.

oinkely · 08-05-2019 4:55pm

I will try both Nissan Ireland and UK to see if either will do anything, guy in Windsor Deansgrange said that as it was a UK import Nissan Ireland most likely will do nothing in terms of warranty or goodwill despite it being 8 months out of warranty.

KCross · 08-05-2019 5:03pm

oinkely wrote: »

I will try both Nissan Ireland and UK to see if either will do anything, guy in Windsor Deansgrange said that as it was a UK import Nissan Ireland most likely will do nothing in terms of warranty or goodwill despite it being 8 months out of warranty.

Its a european warranty so the country doesnt matter.

But if its outside warranty then that is a problem.

You need to start looking at getting a scrapped Leaf and getting the inverter etc from that.

oinkely · 08-05-2019 5:32pm

KCross wrote: »

Its a european warranty so the country doesnt matter.

But if its outside warranty then that is a problem.

You need to start looking at getting a scrapped Leaf and getting the inverter etc from that.

Yep, outside the 5 year warranty by 8 months.

Problem is if I get one from a scrapped one can I find someone to swap it? Not sure that it's going to be a DIY job, though have done a gearbox swap in a Fiat before! I own spanners........ but messing about with the HV system is probably not wise!

samih · 08-05-2019 5:56pm

Can you ask Nissan if the inverter needs coded? Working on the hv components should be safe once you pull the safety plug from under the rear tunnel cover. You'd need to drain the coolant etc but doesn't sound like a rocket surgery to swap the parts and the inverter is accessible from the top. And you could upgrade to 6.6 kW charger at the same time if you don't have one atm.

Go on, do it. A gearbox is harder to do I reckon.

Might also be worth asking if BBA reman could find what's wrong with the old unit. And there is currenlty a 2015 inverter on sale on ebay for 1/10 of the price from Nissan.

oinkely · 08-05-2019 7:56pm

samih wrote: »

Can you ask Nissan if the inverter needs coded? Working on the hv components should be safe once you pull the safety plug from under the rear tunnel cover. You'd need to drain the coolant etc but doesn't sound like a rocket surgery to swap the parts and the inverter is accessible from the top. And you could upgrade to 6.6 kW charger at the same time if you don't have one atm.

Go on, do it. A gearbox is harder to do I reckon.

Might also be worth asking if BBA reman could find what's wrong with the old unit. And there is currenlty a 2015 inverter on sale on ebay for 1/10 of the price from Nissan.

I'm thinking that might be the way to go

slave1 · 09-05-2019 8:49am

Twitter is your friend.....

Soarer · 09-05-2019 10:44am

I don't think Twitter is anybody's friend, tbh.

Probably a good source of information though!

samih · 09-05-2019 12:46pm

youtube had some disassembly videos of the leaf power stack. Seems straight forward enough to work on these.

slave1 · 09-05-2019 1:18pm

I meant OP needs to Tweet about it copying the likes of Nissan UK, Ireland, Top Gear etc

oinkely · 09-05-2019 4:20pm

Looking for a used inverter at the moment. One from ebay in the UK and the guy is checking shipping costs. Have put up a request on partfinder and findapart.

Anyone know of any breakers with a leaf gen 1.5 in at the moment?

samih · 09-05-2019 4:44pm

oinkely wrote: »

Looking for a used inverter at the moment. One from ebay in the UK and the guy is checking shipping costs. Have put up a request on partfinder and findapart.

Anyone know of any breakers with a leaf gen 1.5 in at the moment?

findapart.ie and start ringing. And get those 98-01 saab 9-5 headlamp rear covers (the larger one behind the dipped reflector) for your front suspension struts from the same yard.

scudodave · 09-05-2019 5:31pm

Bad form Nissan.

Hard to believe that a 132 car is a possible economic write off because of massive parts charges.

Best of luck to op.

Mike9832 · 09-05-2019 6:14pm

scudodave wrote: »

Bad form Nissan.

Hard to believe that a 132 car is a possible economic write off because of massive parts charges.

Best of luck to op.

Electric cars can't go wrong

Only 20 moving parts

We keep hearing

No one talks about Tesla drive trains costing €20,000+ if they go wrong

Hope it works out OP

Have you tried any auto electrics?

KCross · 09-05-2019 9:36pm

oinkely wrote: »

Looking for a used inverter at the moment. One from ebay in the UK and the guy is checking shipping costs. Have put up a request on partfinder and findapart.

Anyone know of any breakers with a leaf gen 1.5 in at the moment?

If the previous recommendations above dont work out for you I'd recommend you talk to this guy...

https://www.indra.co.uk/about-us

The owner, Mike Schooling, is a regular poster on the UK forum and has been working with EV drivetrains and the Leaf for years and has swapped out inverters before and reconditions battery packs etc.

imo, he's probably the top 1 or 2 guys in the UK for EV drivetrain repairs.

He might even be able to source an inverter for you or he might have contacts in Ireland.

If the worse came to the worse you could put the car on a trailer and for a few hundred ferry it over to him. Cant be worse than what Nissan Irl have offered you anyway!

I'd take an educated guess that your own inverter might even be repairable. It could be only some small component of the inverter thats gone but the local Nissan dealer would have no clue about power electronics and will simply dump the lot and charge for a complete replacement.

Anyway, defo give him a call and see what he says, that'll cost you nothing.

KCross · 09-05-2019 10:01pm

Just to add another data point.... had a quick search for his posts on the UK forum and he gave a rough quote of £1500 to replace the entire motor/inverter/charger stack from a scrap car. He keeps the spares at hand himself, swaps that into your car and keeps yours and repairs it for stock.

That's reasonable money and that was a few years ago... might be cheaper now.

https://www.speakev.com/threads/leaf-major-repair-costs.12746/

oinkely · 10-05-2019 12:18pm

thanks all,

Think I have an inverter sourced. And i have an ex-nissan mechanic who is fully trained on leafs to do the swap.

I'll update when done.

Leaf - won't go into Drive mode

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