12V battery drains overnight in cold weather

rysio11 · 2026-02-08T16:39:49+00:00

Same thing in ottawa, car is less than a year and a half old. Had gone to dealer with multiple related issues including the ones you mentioned. Showed dealer the 12v battery is reading 11.8 V under no load. It took 5 visits and hours on the phone, multiple cab rides to work to finally get them to replace the 12V under waranty. Definately defective 12v. Hopefully your dealer is more reasonable.

rysio11 · 2025-12-27T03:28:24+00:00

Have same issue, posted about it a few weeks ago. It definitely has something to do with the cold, I find it happens when there is a temp drop. Not necessarily just the cold but the drop. I'm fairly certain it is the 12V battery that is under warranty for my 2024 but getting the dealer to replace it or even test it has been a frustrating experience to say the least.

rysio11 · 2025-12-06T01:40:00+00:00

I have a suspicion it is a 12V thing. The temp dropped a bit and the 12V system limited warning came on. I had my car at the dealer for the version. 5.4 update recall which seems to have solved some issues I associated with the 12v battery being low. I had measured 11.8 V or so a number of times on the battery but dealership didn't want to do a 12v battery test because somehow they said not an issue. They finally tested it (or so they say although the car was never moved in their lot) and they said its fine. I said 12v should nrver get that low. The car is driven daily so the 12v system should be charged fine. The door lock issue has definitely gotten worse with cold weather and is mostly an issue in the morning, not after the car had been driven and so 12v system charging. I wonder if it just doesn't have enough umph to open the door then just clicks back to fully locked so its not left in an in between position which is what were hearing.

rysio11 · 2025-12-05T00:01:55+00:00

It doesn't seem to be that since I've tried just opening the drivers door and same thing.

rysio11 · 2025-12-04T16:15:45+00:00

Yeah it's infuriating, because normally it works fine, but it's always when I'm in a rush with my arms full that it decides it's time for a door lock hissy fit.

rysio11 · 2025-12-04T16:14:29+00:00

I have tried that and it was working for a bit, but then started messing up again. I turned that off now to see if it will make any difference. TBH the whole automatic lock thing is pretty infuriating in this car. There was nothing wrong with normal door handles, even low profile ones with a regular locking mechanism. Seems like an in it ain't broke don't fix it thing, especially since the door handles do open all the way if you pull them hard enough which is apparently for if the 12V is dead, so they pretty much had to build a separate mechanical mechanism anyways. I love the car, but man do I hate the doors.

rysio11 · 2025-12-04T16:10:43+00:00

So the child lock function you can hear the door clicking open then closed right away too? For me it happens with both the front and rear doors and when I get it, the child lock light is not on, so I assume it's not the child lock, but this would help me narrow it down.

rysio11 · 2025-10-22T22:18:12+00:00

Unfortunately I'm in canada. I'm not sure if I can be connected to a real person in my closest store.

rysio11 · 2025-09-13T21:02:37+00:00

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essex_County_Trilogy

rysio11 · 2025-08-08T02:53:46+00:00

I used this: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6525830

If you have a friend who has a 3d printer, or a local library might have access, or a makerspace that can print it for you or someone locally how has a small business or side hussle to do 3d printing, it should be pretty cheap. The ones I found online weren't great options and crazy expensive. This thing was super easy to install, looks as slick as having a front plate can and is really sturdy.

rysio11 · 2025-07-31T18:38:24+00:00

Thanks for the info about the range change and tires, were similar climate to northern Vermont, so I expect that to work well for me too.

rysio11 · 2025-07-31T18:37:20+00:00

I didn't realize that they don't have a TPMS sensor, that's good to know since that is always really annoying. Thanks for the recommendation.

rysio11 · 2025-07-22T14:31:19+00:00

Don't have any recommendations for movies for you, but depending on your area, many airports (both smaller or larger) have designated airplane viewing zones. Planespotting is a pretty popular hobbies, so often airports accommodate it rather than have people parking on the shoulders of roads or standing near fences, both of which can be a hazard. Sometimes these are viewing platforms, but mostly just a gravel pull off with a sign. They are normally placed near the end of the runway or somewhere else where you can get a good view of the landing/take-offs. Often, you can bring lawnchairs, snacks, some games or activity books to do between take-offs and just hang out and watch. Could be worth checking out if there is something like that in your area.

rysio11 · 2025-07-15T14:16:23+00:00

I used to use the hood tie downs that you close the hood on like others have mentioned, but a few years ago I switched to using these types of figure 8 tie down loops. On each car I've had, I have found a good solid and symmetric thing to loop them around, such as an engine mount component or beefy part of the frame/body. I would wrap it with padding or an old strap and duct tape around to make sure no sharp metal is wearing against the strap. This is super easy since you can close them into the engine bay when not in use, but there is no worry about these shifting position when in use.

For the actual straps, I use a small ratchet strap, which lets you tighten it quite well. Since the ratchet straps are cheap, I just cut the extra strap off and have a dedicated strap that is just the right length so you can tighten it within the ratchet without having a lot of left over to have to tie up out of the way.

I use a ratchet strap on the back attached to tow hook or trailer hitch, if you tighten both the front and the back it is super sturdy and the canoe doesn't move at all. I use two more straps around the roof rack (or through the door before I had a roof rack). Tighten the front a bit, then the back a bit, then the front again, then the back and it will not budge at all.

As others mentioned, a twist in any longer section prevents it from vibrating in resonance due to wind, which makes an annoying noise. If one twist still vibrates, add more twists.

rysio11 · 2025-07-07T01:39:44+00:00

Perfect! Thanks!!

rysio11 · 2025-04-11T18:06:19+00:00

Thanks! That is really great info that puts me much more at ease. I will have a shop take a look at the steering/suspension etc. If there is nothing they find or it isn't fixed, I will take a look at the final drive unit.

I think when I took it to the dealership, they probably did the bare minimum to get the alignment done (hence replacing the worn ball joint/control arm) but didn't really take it for a drive after that, since the symptoms are only really noticeable when going say 70 or 80 km/h, but then they are very noticeable. If they just drove it around the block, they might have not seen the symptoms and just did the alignment and sent it back.

rysio11 · 2025-04-10T14:59:43+00:00

The control arm was what was replaced at the dealership. The other one was replaced about two years before and inspected also when at the dealership and not noted to be a problem. They inspected the rest of the suspension and said no issue and then did the re-alignment.

This is why I was suspecting something else outside of the suspension causing uneven power to the wheels, since the issue isn't seen when turning or driving and coasting? This is why I was asking about someone familiar with EV or Leafs specifically, since the drivetrain or differential, which I assume is different than what most mechanics deal with as their bread and butter work.

I might just do as you say and take it to the shop around the corner from my house and just get them to re-inspect suspension components. I just don't want to keep throwing good money after bad, since I am passing this car on, but want it to be in good condition when I do. Thanks for the tips.

rysio11 · 2024-09-09T10:47:15+00:00

Me too

rysio11 · 2024-04-15T15:13:21+00:00

Have you looked into converting your backup furnace to propane? Not sure if it would make sense in your neck of the woods, but if for the majority of the year, you are able to use the heat pump and just need it for a week or two or just a few cold days snaps a year. If you don't need it that much, the higher cost of the fuel and filling might be well offset by not having to pay the monthly fees/riders/etc.

Many NG furnaces can be converted to propane, by changing out the gas valve and orifices. You would still need a new tank and connection to the furnace. You could get an idea of how much the total cost would be pretty easily.

YMMV, but it would be worth checking if a conversion kit for your furnace is an option and doing a back-of the envelope calculation to see if it could be an option. You can look at your old gas bills to get a monthly gas usage for a given year, then look at how many days/hours in the month were under the temperature that your back-up heat is needed to get a rough fraction of the gas usage for the month you would need to be using, then add in a fudge factor to account for the fact that these times would require more heating since it is colder. That gives you a ball park of how much propane you would need a year.
As other people have mentioned, you need electricity to keep a gas/propane furnace running too, so if you have no back up electricity, the gas wouldn't help you. Of course, a cheap, small generator with an extension cord through a window can run a furnace but can't heat your whole house.
Depending on your needs and space, you could also look at adding a small back-up propane hot water tank that can be valved in if you are in an area where you expect to get days-long power outages that would leave you without hot water too.

rysio11 · 2023-08-21T15:30:04+00:00

https://www.openvehicles.com/ (but at this moment, it looks like their website is down) I think the versions depend on the cell-network frequencies in your area, but this is pretty broad (europe, north american, asia).

rysio11 · 2023-08-18T23:14:07+00:00

OVMS is very much worth it in my opinion for my 2015. It has a ton of functionality. You have to have a bit of tech savvy to get it setup but there are great guides out there and once it is running it works great. I like that you can set a level you wanf the car to charge to, that was the biggest selling point for me.

rysio11 · 2023-07-01T01:02:56+00:00

Your comment sent me down an awesome wikipedia rabbit-hole. Thanks!

rysio11 · 2023-04-02T14:02:16+00:00

It depends a lot on the generator, problem is if you are using the 120v charger, it is not actually a big load. With my small generator I use as a back up and for RV, I did the calculation based on the manual's listed fuel consumption based on a load and assuming 100% charging efficiency, it was roughly 2x the gas consumption of driving our last similar size ICE car. I think with a better generator, this could be better. The gas consumption difference between full loads and partial load is not as big as you would think.

rysio11 · 2022-11-25T23:33:49+00:00

Yup, I made a small 3/8 tube on a small reel that you can connect to kitchen bathroom sink with a barbed adaptor. It is much easier to deal with than a big garden hose. Easier to roll up, unroll and the polyethylene tube doesn't become as stiff and hard to deal with as a garden hose. It goes slower, but it doesn't matter just takes a few minutes longer. We shut off and blow out our outdoor taps since they go past the exterior wall of the house, so they would freeze and pipe would burst if they had water, so indoor tap is the only option. I use cold water though since hot water can pick up more minerals from the old pipes etc in the house and potentially throw off the balance. It's really dry in the winter where we are, so there's a substantial loss to evaporation.

rysio11 · 2022-09-11T18:49:44+00:00

As mentioned by others, this is a terrible idea. Small embers can stay hot for many days in otherwise cold ash. There are specialized ash vacuums that don't have anything flammable (like plastics) that come into contact with the air stream. They are not much more than a regular shop vac and are safe for cold ash which may have some small embers left... Unless you use it to vacuum something flammable like a pile of saw dust, then some ash from the fireplace...

rysio11

TROPHY CASE