[CraftsmanMike]

Last week, the salvage 2014 Leaf arrived for my Superbeetle conversion. The front is pretty bashed (radiator support almost touches the drive stack) but the car can move around on its own.

When I plug in the trickle charger that came with it, the car starts beeping a lot and all three charge indicator lights on the dash flash. The user's manual says the flash code means:

"When the temperature of the electrical plug is too hot, or the EVSE is unable to detect the temperature of the electrical plug, check that the electrical plug is connected correctly. If it is connected normally, stop use immediately and contact a NISSAN certified LEAF dealer."

The plug latch mechanism is broken off at the connector, if that matters.

Any advice for how to start troubleshooting?

thanks,
---mike...

 

[Kato659]

Last week, the salvage 2014 Leaf arrived for my Superbeetle conversion. The front is pretty bashed (radiator support almost touches the drive stack) but the car can move around on its own.

When I plug in the trickle charger that came with it, the car starts beeping a lot and all three charge indicator lights on the dash flash. The user's manual says the flash code means:

"When the temperature of the electrical plug is too hot, or the EVSE is unable to detect the temperature of the electrical plug, check that the electrical plug is connected correctly. If it is connected normally, stop use immediately and contact a NISSAN certified LEAF dealer."

The plug latch mechanism is broken off at the connector, if that matters.

Any advice for how to start troubleshooting?

thanks,
---mike...

The latch is important as it prevents arcing at the connector terminals. When you push the latch button to remove the unit, it stops the flow of electricity so the connector doesn't scorch over time. The car is likely looking for a resistance on that latch and isn't finding it.

 

[CraftsmanMike]

The latch is important as it prevents arcing at the connector terminals. When you push the latch button to remove the unit, it stops the flow of electricity so the connector doesn't scorch over time. The car is likely looking for a resistance on that latch and isn't finding it.

I only saw the two pins, and wondered why there wasn't a sensor line, but forgot they might monitor a voltage drop in the circuit when activated. Good call! I'll check if jumpering the exposed pins to the connector has any success.

thanks,
---mike...

 

[CraftsmanMike]

I was able to align the pins of the broken latch mechanism with the broken connector which I then allowed me to connect to the cable connector, but got the same result. It's been cloudy and rainy so I just tried a quick test.

Would anything show up on an OBD2 scanner?

I guess I'll try LeafSpy. Any PID downloads for Torque Pro? I'm more familiar with Torque

 

[Electric Land Cruiser]

The fault code says it can't read the temperature sensor, I would look into the sensors's location and check it for damage. Also on my LEAF with front end damage the chademo wiring was pinched and the insulation was broken, a slightly harder hit probably would have cut a wire or two.

 

[CraftsmanMike]

The fault code says it can't read the temperature sensor, I would look into the sensors's location and check it for damage. Also on my LEAF with front end damage the chademo wiring was pinched and the insulation was broken, a slightly harder hit probably would have cut a wire or two.

I was trying to read the service manual on my phone and didn't realize the table for fault code lights I was reading was for the lights on the charger, not the ones on the dashboard (I didn't notice the change in sections).

It turned out that the front end damage bent things just enough that I couldn't get the charger connector to latch. I drilled and cut plastic pieces until I could access the mounting nuts for the charge port and let the port hang free. I was then able to fully seat the charging connector, and it is charging as expected.

Next is to see if the cooling system is worth salvaging, or if I change to something like the ESDI-EV cooler for their Beetle, which is much smaller, though they use their own charging system and heatsink it, so their cooling is only for the motor and inverter.