The day before a two week vacation I went out to the garage to go to work and the LEAF failed to start up. It turned on but stalled half way through its start up sequence. After several attempts to start the vehicle I started to wonder about getting it to the repair shop. I couldn’t even get it in neutral to allow a tow truck to pull it out of the garage. It was a poser.
I went inside to consider my options. I soon realized that modern EV’s are like computers on wheels; a reboot often resolves computer issues, the same might work for the car. I returned to the garage, disconnected the 12 volt battery and left the car for 30 minutes.
Upon reconnecting the 12 volt battery the car started normally and drove normally. I chose to take it to the local Nissan dealer for it to be checked over. The dealer retained the car for two weeks while I was on vacation. Diagnostics revealed no fault. It started for them every day without fail and has for me since I returned. The failure to start is still an unsolved mystery. This is the first time in 111,000 miles the car has let me down in anyway, and thankfully I was able to resolve the issue myself easily enough.
I carry tools with me to disconnect the 12 volt battery in case it fails me again away from home.
