There should be cheaper batteries. I changed my Leaf battery in late 2019 (when it was ~5 years old) for £50. I think it's something like Exide branded, just one of cheapest with long warranty (never buy absolute cheapest).

I don't recall anything needed for Leaf. No radio code, charge timers will need re-setting. Everything just worked after I changed over. It was super easy. May need Leafspy Pro to clear any possible error codes, I can't recall if I needed to do it.

 

I looked up some of this stuff for my e-NV200, which is ever so similar to an older Leaf, but may differ slightly - so take with a pinch of your usual condiments.

Yes, a battery UK 012 or German L1 is correct, and an ordinary SLI (starter, lights, ignition) lead-acid battery should work, regular or calcium or EFB - but not AGM. There might be some advantage in using an EFB, which is supposed to cope better with being kept part-charged, but any make or grade of regular starter battery should work about equally well.

Don't disconnect the 12V battery while any of the car's electronics are awake, otherwise you'll cause (at least) a blizzard of fault codes which later need to be cleared. The procedure for the van is to disconnect the charge cable, open the bonnet, then turn the van fully On, then turn it Off, close all the doors and touch nothing for at least 5 and no more than 60 minutes. (If some helpful person opens any door or presses a button on the remote key, start again with the On, Off, Wait sequence.)

Then disconnect the negative battery terminal, before working on the positive and the hold-down clamp. Lift out old battery, lift in new battery, re-fix clamp, connect positive terminal - then, last of all, connect negative terminal. Should then be functional with the new battery, with two or three oddities to catch up on.

In the e-NV200, it's then necessary to teach the electric windows where to stop: close and open each, fully, holding the switch for a few seconds after the glass reaches its destination. And to re-program any charging and pre-heating timers, since those are forgotten when the 12V is disconnected. If you have Leaf Spy,it's probably worth clearing any fault codes at this stage, too.

As noted, I hope this is helpful, but it might be subtly or utterly wrong - worth confirming that the rules are indeed the same for the Leaf.

 

Then disconnect the negative battery terminal, before working on the positive and the hold-down clamp.

Just highlighting this bit, if you've never done the job before. Removing the negative first separates the battery from the bodywork (car is negative earth), so when you're working on the positive terminal it doesn't matter if the spanner touches the bonnet or whatever. If you don't remove the negative first, you risk a very nasty short circuit.

 

Good advice from @Mark I.

Like most modern cars the key is to turn it off close all doors (but with bonnet left open) and leave it alone for at least 5 minutes for the ECU's to go into sleep mode.

If done properly you won't set any fault codes. Depending on how long the battery is out you may lose a few settings though.

For my Leaf (30kWh) I had to re-enable the charge timer and climate timers, although the actual schedule itself was not lost. I think I had to re-set the remote climate control preheat temperature in the zero emissions settings page as well.

Another thing that was lost was my tyre maintenance countdown on the main dashboard. But other than that nothing important is lost by disconnecting the 12v battery.

I fitted this Yuasa battery to mine and 19 months later no complaints. Bosch are a good brand as well though, as long as its the right size/shape.

 

This is great advice. Thank you all.

One question, after turning the car on and then off again, should I lock the doors?

 

One question, after turning the car on and then off again, should I lock the doors?

Normally, no. I don't think it matters except that after the battery is disconnected you may feel the urge to open a door (to pick up the small spanner you left inside), and unlocking the doors is inconvenient without power.

 

I have been reading quite a few threads recently where people have been having problems with faulty 12v batteries causing other issues with the car.

My Leaf is a 2015 model and I am pretty sure it still has the original 12v battery seeing as it is Nissan branded. I think it would be prudent to get it changed now before any issues crop up.

I found this battery which is supposed to be compatible with my car:

Bosch S4002 - car battery - 52A/h - 470A - lead-acid technology - for vehicles without Start/Stop system - Type 012/079 https://amzn.eu/d/8Jqcif0

Would this be OK or is there something better I should get. I am not really bothered about warranty as I plan on selling the car in a year and a half anyway.

I have never changed a 12 V battery before but I have all the tools to do so. Is there anything I should or shouldn't do whilst changing the battery? I had a garage change a battery in my last car (Nissan Note) and it caused the radio to require a password to get working again which required a dealership visit. Any pitfalls like that to watch out for?

Thanks.

you are lucky to get 8 years out of the standard oem batteries! Mine died after 5 years and the only warning is that it will refuse to start in the and give random error messages.
The renault/nissan Junk and are too weak for ev use and when flat will refuse to start without warning as the 12v battery cant activate that main lithium traction battery.
Nissan should've put in a heavier duty battery in the car because the Leaf abuses the 12v battery more than a standard Ice car but Renault-Nissan are cheap and just use the same ones as the jukes and qashqais as they are built in the factory in Sunderland, wouldn't be surprised if this was one of criminal ex ceo Carlos Ghosn genius decisions(!)

Good advice from @Mark I.

Like most modern cars the key is to turn it off close all doors (but with bonnet left open) and leave it alone for at least 5 minutes for the ECU's to go into sleep mode.

If done properly you won't set any fault codes. Depending on how long the battery is out you may lose a few settings though.

For my Leaf (30kWh) I had to re-enable the charge timer and climate timers, although the actual schedule itself was not lost. I think I had to re-set the remote climate control preheat temperature in the zero emissions settings page as well.

Another thing that was lost was my tyre maintenance countdown on the main dashboard. But other than that nothing important is lost by disconnecting the 12v battery.

I fitted this Yuasa battery to mine and 19 months later no complaints. Bosch are a good brand as well though, as long as its the right size/shape.

I highly recommend Yuasas they are night and day better than the weak Renault parts bin oem ones fitted to the leaf BUT I would recommend the YBX5012 over the one you listed due to: longer 5 year warranty vs 3, higher capacity and(54Ah vs 52Ah ) higher "cranking cycles"(50000 vs 30000), and higher cold cranking amps(500 vs 450) which is important as the leaf does tax the 12v battery a lot when you start up and it engages the main traction motor and the other random issues (leaking windscreen due to poor sealant causing water to drip onto the bms module and cause random glitches causing extra 12v battery drain...).

i have the YBX5012 in my leaf but you cant go wrong with yuasa , whatever OP goes for it isnt worth the hassle trying to save money on a cheaper unbranded battery

 

I am pretty sure it is the original battery. Here is a photo:

There are a couple of Yuasa batteries that are listed as compatible for not much more so I will look at them if they are better than the Bosch I posted.

 

That is indeed the original one from Nissan.

I changed it out at around 5 year mark, this new one has gone past 3 years mark now. No problems so far.

Found the thread: 12v battery size numbering for gen 1.5 Leaf There's a link to Tayna batteries, good seller.

 

There's a date stamp on your battery - 130415 or 130416 - can't quite see it clearly enough.

 

So there is! 13/04/15. The car was first registered in September 2015 so the battery is defo original! I have ordered another one which should arrive in the next few days. I got a Yuasa YBX5012 as recommended.

 

Wow, you guys really push your hardware. Lead acid battery usually just have life of ~5 years.

I changed my one in 2019, 5 years old. It's now coming up to 4 years since change, I've been charging it up to hopefully last 2 more years.

 

Wow, you guys really push your hardware. Lead acid battery usually just have life of ~5 years.

I changed my one in 2019, 5 years old. It's now coming up to 4 years since change, I've been charging it up to hopefully last 2 more years.

I have an ICE car that was registered in May 2008 and it's still on it's original battery!
When not in use it's on a CTEK battery charger/conditioner.

 

Got the battery changed over. Thanks for all the advice everyone. Getting the leads off was a little tricky but not too bad. Never electrocuted myself so thumbs up for that!

All the settings in the car were saved apart from the trip meter. My charging timers were still there all they needed was switch back on.

The only weird thing to happen is my state of charge on the traction battery was 70% when it was set to charge to 80%.

I didn't think to check the state of charge before starting.

Will need to keep an eye on that.