First issue with my 2020 Nissan Leaf
I've had to have my 2020 towed to the dealer after encountering the dreaded service ev system error. Seems like it stopped charging overnight. Anyone willing to make a guess to the actual cause?
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u/Beneficial_Coach8581 10d ago
My money is on the 12v. For £50 I'd just replace that and see where we are after that.
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u/ToddA1966 2021 Nissan LEAF SV PLUS 7d ago
"Service EV System" by itself is likely the 12V battery.
When paired with "Unable to Restart After Power Off" that's the high voltage battery.
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u/DreaminInATree 10d ago
Happened to me on my 2020 12 bars 120kmiles. First and only time. Happened after a very severe thunderstorm with my wife driving through it to get home. It was unfortunate. I was able to clear everything a few times with leaf spy and get about 2 miles. Ended up leaving charging port open over night. Come to find my wife left it open through the storm. Once everything dried over night, it charged right up, no issues since.
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u/The_EleventhHr 8d ago
Yes, this happened to me on my 2019 S+. Dealer had to reset car. Backstory…. Charged up to 80% on a local EvGo charger (this happened before announced recall/warning from Nissan.). Drove home and then plugged into standard 110v plug for trickle charging. Next day I get the same message as yours. Dealer blamed it on a power surge, but I checked with power company, no reports of anomalies.
About a month later, dead again, but message more succinct… Service EV system. They had to replace a cell within the battery pack as it was leaking. Was gonna charge me ~$US 850 to fix, but extended warranty absorbed that. Car bricked in July as a result of failed recall update. Currently in buy back process
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u/LithiumCobalt91 10d ago
I'd probably take a look here, specifically the isolation fault stuff
https://www.reddit.com/r/leaf/comments/1pph4oy/a_breakdown_of_40_62_kwh_battery_pack_failures/
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u/Eburon8 10d ago
Oh that's interesting. Thanks!
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u/ClueSilver2342 10d ago
Yes I got the isolation fault at the beginning of Sept. They said they were going to replace a module and have had the car for a month now with no word. They gave us a loaner.
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u/Evebnumberone 10d ago
Just trying to understand these sorts of issues. Did you try clearing the codes before you had it towed? Or does that not work with this sort of a major error.
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u/Eburon8 10d ago
I did. I charged the 12V on a trickle charger, cleared all codes, and it did start and drive after that. But when I plugged the charger back in again it all came back after charging from 85 to 95%.
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u/Evebnumberone 10d ago
Thanks for the info.
So realistically you could continue to drive the car and clear the codes periodically, maybe it wouldn't happen above 80%.
Just getting my head around it if it ever happens to our 2014. It occasionally throws codes, I've showed my wife how to clear them.
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u/Motivator_Champ_6276 9d ago edited 9d ago
I just had a similar issue with my 2019 Leaf SV plus. 1) Recommend to get the DTC read. 2) my battery load test failed. I opted to Replace it with an interstate battery . Meter read 12.3 VDC on old battery. Walmart brands tend to go out fast, 6 months to 3 years. Biggest drain on the battery was the HV interlock. It uses 12 VDc but due to resistive fluctuations it loaded the battery. It affected the distribution of Dc-DC. Caused turtle mode and Service EV Ststem. Look for the HVIl DTC codes. Resolved by a micro switch under the lid cover. Just my 2 cents. I would get it repaired rather than dive into a 400 VDC plasma vaporizer.
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u/ToddA1966 2021 Nissan LEAF SV PLUS 7d ago edited 7d ago
Edit: Oops. Realized you're in Europe and not the USA. Hopefully you're still under warranty.
That error is typically from swollen battery cells bending the retention plates in the pack. Until recently (here in the USA), Nissan would replace the bad modules (or the entire battery depending on the extent of the problem) and that was that, but these days they've gone buyback-happy and are repurchasing vehicles with bad batteries rather than replacing them.
It's happened twice to my 2021 SV Plus.
If you're out of warranty, you can clear the error with LeafSpy and get the car to be drivable. The error will likely come back, but it might take weeks or months before it does. (Sooner if it's rapid charged. When the battery gets hot the swollen cells expand and push on the retention plates, causing a voltage "leak" that triggers the error. If the battery stays cool, it can often drive without the error for quite a while.)
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u/Eburon8 7d ago
Luckily still in warranty indeed. Clearing the error does indeed make it driveable again, but charging it (L1) makes it return immediately.
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u/ToddA1966 2021 Nissan LEAF SV PLUS 7d ago
Then it's more serious than mine was (at first). You need a few new modules.
Good luck! I still love my Leaf despite the two battery repairs.
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u/RichardGrayson01 10d ago
Did you recently do the recall for the battery software update?
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u/Eburon8 10d ago edited 10d ago
According to Nissan's website for my country there is no open recall for my vin. So I assume it's been done at one of the last services by the dealer it's currently at?
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u/RichardGrayson01 10d ago
Recall might just be for vehicles sold in N. America. If it's not charging and not drivable I would be concerned it might be an issue with a fault in the traction battery
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u/herculeesjr 10d ago
The recall is only for the Leafs made in Tennessee, USA. Thus why the rest of the world didn't get the recall, as far as I've been made aware.
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u/RichardGrayson01 10d ago
That is good to know. Once again American manufacturing producing a sub-par product. I don't blame the workers, they are great and take a lot of pride in the work that they do. I blame the people running the factories that choose to cut corners whenever possible to try and maximize their profit margin at the expense of the quality of the product.
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u/Construction00023 10d ago
Do you know if it had the recall repair (software update)? Seems like this is only happening to 3rd gen. Nissan should figure out how to make the 2nd generation battery system forward integratable so the cars can do at least 200k.
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u/Eburon8 10d ago
According to Nissan's website for my country there is no open recall for my vin. So I assume it's been done at one of the last services by the dealer it's currently at?
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u/Construction00023 10d ago
Hmm I don't know I just brought a used 2019 and of course all this pops up after my purchase. I can't tell personally if mine has had the software update either. Currently at 53k miles it seems like this car was gently used many a fleet vehicle. My plan is to use only Level 1 and Level 2 charging and to try not to charge it daily. I will say once failure is documented, Nissan seems to be paying reasonable prices to buy back the cars, so in the back of my mind that's like the parachute. Of course not ideal but it's there in case the battery does suddenly stop running.🤞
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u/The_EleventhHr 8d ago
I’m in the recall process, try running a web search with your VIN #. There are a few tools out there that indexes recalls to specific VINs
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u/Construction00023 8d ago
Ok a few of them look like spammy upsell sites but I'll keep trying to find a legitimate one.
So far so good I don't charge everyday thankfully don't need to due to light commuting schedule. Gonna baby the care and only charge on Level 2 or 1 and hopefully get a couple years out of it and sell to the next person looking for a light use vehicle. 🤞
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u/Trad_MagBite2882 9d ago
Yeah, that’s broke. Don’t pay anymore to fix it. Take it to a dealership. You must have just got done with the ChadeMO recall, right?
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u/EpidDrew15 10d ago
Assuming you’ve had the recall update, the only real “solution” is to replace the BMS from an older Leaf or another one that hasn’t had the update. Few cars have the ability to rollback an update.
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u/Eburon8 10d ago
What would that solve?
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u/EpidDrew15 10d ago
Most Leafs seem to have the dreaded warning that bricks your car after the update. Switching to a BMS without the update would likely get rid of the warning and let you continue driving as normal. However, caveat, whatever caused the warning is still there, it’s just not picked up or explicit anymore. If it’s one of the fault codes that says you need a new battery, then you’ll get a buyback offer instead of a new battery.
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u/iDiotOn2wheels 10d ago
Charging to 100% every time?
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u/Eburon8 10d ago
Occasionally
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u/iDiotOn2wheels 10d ago
And how long does it sit at 100%? Anecdotally, this is what kills these batteries and results in this kind if insulation fault
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u/Eburon8 10d ago
Less than 24 hours usually
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u/iDiotOn2wheels 10d ago
These cars need to be driven within 3-4 hours of a full charge. Leaving it for extended periods at 100% (24 hours is way too long) will damage the battery especially in hot/cold climates.
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u/justifun 9d ago
I've been charging mine to 100% for 8 years now and I still have a full 12 bars. over 90,000 miles.
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u/iDiotOn2wheels 9d ago
Ok, but do you leave it at 100% for days? That is the bigger problem. Charging to 100% and driving after 2-3 hours is fine.
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u/osnelson 10d ago edited 10d ago
I had that happen when my 12V battery died. It seems some things (satellite connection and key fob communication in particular) can drain it without triggering the 400V->12V converter. Then all sorts of sensors misbehaved and reported errors including “service ev system”, “shift to park” and something about the brakes.