[Scrooge]

is there any online resource that shows how to remove the OBC this way? I don't have a lift.

Yes

 

[jtowser20]

Yes

thanks - can you provide a link? appreciated

 

[Scrooge]

thanks - can you provide a link? appreciated

I can't find my workshop manuals atm but check out this link as there might be some good info, cheers

(3) Performance upgrade for the LEAF, [Part 1] Inverter upgrade - YouTube

 

[Barfly]

thanks - can you provide a link? appreciated

Here is a link to my manuals:- Tony's Manuals

 

[jtowser20]

Here is a link to my manuals:- Tony's Manuals

looks like that's for 2013 Leaf, not first gen. I was able to find a disassembly manual for the 2012 and the OBC is in a different location.
Neither doc shows how to access the 2012 OBC behind the rear seats though, as mentioned in the post that I quoted.
Thanks for the help though!

 

[TeamT]

...what I forgot to mention: Some people seem to be pulling the charger up into the car, without removing stuff underneath it. Given how stuck the piping was, and how short with almost zero maneuvrability, I decided I wasn't Mr. Nimblehands enough for that. But that could be a time-saving alternative for some.

Many thanks for this thread. I might have joined the club

Looks like the cooling pipes are attached to a aluminum block that sits with a number of bolts on the back of the charger. Would an alternative method be to drain the coolant and simply unscrew these bolts to separate it from the charger and then remove the charger from the car? To avoid going under the car and fight with the rusty clamps.

 

[4a6179]

I just wanted to say a massive THANK YOU for writing this post and documenting it so clearly. With the help of some YT videos by New Zealand outfit EVs Enhanced, I was able to diagnose (via AC charge port) an OBC fault. I bought a used one (mfg. 2011-02) for my 160k (2012-02) Leaf, then my neighbour and I replaced it in around 2 hours. Most of the 2 hours was spent under the car, removing and then reinstalling the plastic covers - the actual replacement itself took < 10 mins. I need to hang on to this Leaf for another year or so, and am planning to diagnose & repair the faulty OBC before selling it to a fellow Leaf owner with this issue.

 

[4a6179]

Would an alternative method be to drain the coolant and simply unscrew these bolts to separate it from the charger and then remove the charger from the car? To avoid going under the car and fight with the rusty clamps.

The time taken to drain the coolant and refill / bleed is outweighed by the low time taken to whip off the back underbody shield and disconnect / plug the coolant lines. My downfall was that I didn't put the front of the car up on stands (only had the rear on ramps) so I had very little room under the car, then I went ahead and removed an extra underbody panel, where you only need to remove the small one 2nd from front to disconnect the battery plus rear one for coolant lines. Good to get all the rocks out of them though, and see how much rust is under there! I'd say that removing & reinstalling the back guard (under the charger) would take 20 mins tops, and we only lost around 250mL of fluid to leakage, in addition to what's in the charger.
Also, the clamps and bolts on mine weren't nearly as rusty as OP, possibly because despite living by the harbour here, it never freezes and therefore we don't get salt on the roads like some countries. The metal is far from perfect under there, but nowhere near as bad as OP.

 

[Dalathegreat]

Great guide, just completed a charger swap on a 2012 LEAF, made a video whilst at it

 

[Sjalabais]

Great guide, just completed a charger swap on a 2012 LEAF, made a video whilst at it

Thanks for sharing that one, Mr. Dala the Great!

 

[Gritts911]

My on board charger has recently failed in my 2011 leaf. This post is very helpful; but i've been having a lot of trouble finding some information I need.
One thing I need to know is what part number to order. I tried to order what I thought was the most recent hardware version (From the EVenhanced website page) "3NA8A" but was told by the Nissan dealer I ordered from that the new part that "supersedes" it is 3NA2A and they were going to update my order and ship out that one. But I'm worried that they are actually giving me wrong information and sending out old stock.
Am I wrong?

Another issue, do all of these charger versions support DC fast charging? I know the DC fast charging was an option on the 1st gen. And even though DC fast charging bypasses the AC charger it still uses t to communicate somehow.

And my last question. How do you update the firmware on these chargers. Is that a Nissan dealer thing only?

 

[Dalathegreat]

One thing I need to know is what part number to order.

All these versions will work on the 2011-2012, not much difference between reliability

296A0 3NA0A → 296A0 3NA0E​

296A0 3NA1A → 296A0 3NA1E​

296A0 3NA2A → 296A0 3NA2E​

296A0 3NA3A → 296A0 3NA3E​

296A0 3NA4A → 296A0 3NA4F​

296A0 3NA5A → 296A0 3NA7A​

296A0 3NA6A → 296A0 3NA7A​

296A0-3NA8A (current hardware version – no known update available)​

And my last question. How do you update the firmware on these chargers. Is that a Nissan dealer thing only?

Only Nissan can do this yes. But again, not much to be gained from firmware updates unfortunately!

 

[Gritts911]

All these versions will work on the 2011-2012, not much difference between reliability

296A0 3NA0A → 296A0 3NA0E​

296A0 3NA1A → 296A0 3NA1E​

296A0 3NA2A → 296A0 3NA2E​

296A0 3NA3A → 296A0 3NA3E​

296A0 3NA4A → 296A0 3NA4F​

296A0 3NA5A → 296A0 3NA7A​

296A0 3NA6A → 296A0 3NA7A​

296A0-3NA8A (current hardware version – no known update available)​

Only Nissan can do this yes. But again, not much to be gained from firmware updates unfortunately!

Thanks for the information Dala. That makes me feel better about them sending the "older" version.
Hopefully this new one will last at least another 10 years. I'm sure the battery and other major parts will probably fail before then

 

[bix_the_dog]

This interesting thread has got me thinking - are the cars surge protected? I imagine they must be, particularly when using outdoor runs of cable, but maybe it is worth using supplemental external protection to help look after the onboard electronics?

 

[Gritts911]

Update on mine:
The Nissan dealer ended up sending 3NA8A.

It took me about 3 hours to install; and I never took the car off the ground. I had about 4 inches of clearance to work with the coolant lines underneath the OBC and that REALLY sucked. Most of my pain and wasted time was trying to manipulate the spring clamps on the hoses.
I took the risk of only removing the service plug and not the underbody battery plug. There should be no high voltage when the car is all the way off and the relays are open; but you are working on a broken car and something could be in the wrong state and electrocute you.

If I did it again I would jack it up and take the underbody shield off because fighting the coolant lines and making a huge mess with the coolant was not worth it. But it CAN be done without ever taking the car off the ground.
Mine now works great. And it was completely worth it to be able to charge at home again! I will update this post if I see any obvious failure point when I open up my old charger.