2002 Repeated Battery Failure

starboomer · Apr 20th, 2005, 10:03 AM

Our '02 Maxima has had repeated battery failure. Approximately every six months it is dead. I drove to the store yesterday and when I got back it was dead. We have it towed and the dealership says it is a bad battery cell. They also say they check the alternator and starter and they are good. We ran out of the factory warranty at the end of Mar. '05. It's gotta be something else. Although we are covered under the battery warranty this is just unacceptable. Does anyone have any ideas or experience with this?

grafflef · May 9th, 2005, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by starboomer

Our '02 Maxima has had repeated battery failure. Approximately every six months it is dead. I drove to the store yesterday and when I got back it was dead. We have it towed and the dealership says it is a bad battery cell. They also say they check the alternator and starter and they are good. We ran out of the factory warranty at the end of Mar. '05. It's gotta be something else. Although we are covered under the battery warranty this is just unacceptable. Does anyone have any ideas or experience with this?

Has this been happening since new? May have bad diodes in the alternator. Depends how well they checked the alternator if they say it's ok. If not then it sounds like you have excess current drain while the car is parked. Have you ever left the car just sit for a few days without starting it to see if the battery goes dead? If so, you may have a short in wiring or some electrical component is draining the battery.
You need to check the current drain on the battery. To do this you need an amp meter. If you know an electrician, he might have a clamp on meter. If get a meter that will measure up to 20 AMPS not milliamps. Then disconnect the pos. post and put the meter in series with the battery and the cable. The reading you should get should be very low without anything on or doors open. It should be less than 1 AMP. Bear in mind that the radio and clock will draw current so remove these fuses first. Also the computer will draw a small amount of current.You can see the curent draw go up by just opening up the door for the lights to go on. What you do next is starty removing fuses one at a time until the current goes to zero. Hopefully you will find the excessive current draw. Good luck grafflef

starboomer · May 12th, 2005, 11:08 AM

Thanks for your response. Here's the history.
03/29/02 Bought car new

07/08/03 11,488 miles Car won't start after sitting 4 days. Jump started and took to dealership. Tested charging and starting system and all functioned normally. They told us to not jump start but have towed if happens again so they can test computer to reviel the problem

08/19/03 11,567 miles. Car dead had towed. Dealership said faulty cell in battery. Replaced battery.

05/02/04 17673 miles. Started car and backed into driveway for oil change. Changed oil and car dead. Charged battery cause we had to move it (weekend) and took it to dealership next day. They checked battery, draw, and electrical system, no codes found. Asked them to contact Nissan which they said they did.

05/27/04 21,488 miles. Service engine soon light on so took to dealer. Tested battery and charging system found normal operation. Faulty oxygen sensor was reason for SES

11/02/04 22,558 miles. Drove car to town and around on errands. Took to car wash. When car ready it was dead. Towed to dealership. Tested battery and charging systems. Found battery to be shorted. Replaced battery.

04/20/05 23,298 miles. Drove to grocery store. 5 minutes and back in car and it is dead. Mfg. warranty expired 03/29/05. Towed under battery warranty. Tested battery and found shorted cell. We asked them to contact Nissan again.

04/28/05 -04/29/05 Took back to dealership based on their contact with Nissan. Performed electrical system draw tests on charging system, audio system, and antilock brake actuator. Looking for a draw of 50 milliamps or more. Tests found only a .43 milliamp draw which is ok and will not cause battery discharge.

04/29/05 We contacted Nissan ourselves and filed a claim.
05/05/05 Nissan Area Rep said he would not approve throwing parts on the car because they can't find anything wrong with it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by grafflef

Has this been happening since new? May have bad diodes in the alternator. Depends how well they checked the alternator if they say it's ok. If not then it sounds like you have excess current drain while the car is parked. Have you ever left the car just sit for a few days without starting it to see if the battery goes dead? If so, you may have a short in wiring or some electrical component is draining the battery.
You need to check the current drain on the battery. To do this you need an amp meter. If you know an electrician, he might have a clamp on meter. If get a meter that will measure up to 20 AMPS not milliamps. Then disconnect the pos. post and put the meter in series with the battery and the cable. The reading you should get should be very low without anything on or doors open. It should be less than 1 AMP. Bear in mind that the radio and clock will draw current so remove these fuses first. Also the computer will draw a small amount of current.You can see the curent draw go up by just opening up the door for the lights to go on. What you do next is starty removing fuses one at a time until the current goes to zero. Hopefully you will find the excessive current draw. Good luck grafflef

grafflef · May 12th, 2005, 04:59 PM

Sounds like it's time to pick a good lawyer. I wouldn't let them say the warranty expired because you have been having the same problem since the car was new. The only other advice I can offer is have the dealership send it to another dealer that may be able to troubleshoot it. You definately have a problem. Did they try and change the alternator? Mabe a big heavy duty battery? Which probably won't help.
The alternator could be OVERCHARGING the batteries thats why they are failing.

Give the car to the nissan rep to use right before the battery is due to go out and let him be the one to have the car towed the next time it fails!
Don't let these people fool you,just because they can't find out what's wrong with the car. FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT !!!!!

dmroberson · May 12th, 2005, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by starboomer

Our '02 Maxima has had repeated battery failure. Approximately every six months it is dead. I drove to the store yesterday and when I got back it was dead. We have it towed and the dealership says it is a bad battery cell. They also say they check the alternator and starter and they are good. We ran out of the factory warranty at the end of Mar. '05. It's gotta be something else. Although we are covered under the battery warranty this is just unacceptable. Does anyone have any ideas or experience with this?

might have a dead cell in the battery. since your starter and altenator are good that sounds like the most logical thing. I had that problem in one of my other vehicles.

Zac · May 13th, 2005, 12:11 AM

If you cant do anymore in terms of help from Nissan, I would invest in an Optima Yellow Top; they are essentially impossible to kill.

2K1Maxima · May 13th, 2005, 11:10 PM

Try a different Dealership!! Do you have any aftermarket electronics hooked up stereo, alarm, amp, anything along those lines??

remembermorrison · Jun 2nd, 2005, 02:51 PM

I have seen this problem on maximas forever! The stealership kept bitch'n saying i was leaving my lights on and draining the battery. So I went out myself and got a optima yellow top. That should fix everything right up. My old Bosch battery kept drying up, so I would add water, etc... Optima solved my year long mystery of the battery continuously dieing.

IanH · Jun 2nd, 2005, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grafflef

Has this been happening since new? May have bad diodes in the alternator. Depends how well they checked the alternator if they say it's ok. If not then it sounds like you have excess current drain while the car is parked. Have you ever left the car just sit for a few days without starting it to see if the battery goes dead? If so, you may have a short in wiring or some electrical component is draining the battery.
You need to check the current drain on the battery. To do this you need an amp meter. If you know an electrician, he might have a clamp on meter. If get a meter that will measure up to 20 AMPS not milliamps. Then disconnect the pos. post and put the meter in series with the battery and the cable. The reading you should get should be very low without anything on or doors open. It should be less than 1 AMP. Bear in mind that the radio and clock will draw current so remove these fuses first. Also the computer will draw a small amount of current.You can see the curent draw go up by just opening up the door for the lights to go on. What you do next is starty removing fuses one at a time until the current goes to zero. Hopefully you will find the excessive current draw. Good luck grafflef

I second the Alternator Diodes.
I purchased a one year old SUV that had this problem, and didn't find it before I went on a trip. the alarm would go off for no reason, and the battery would go flat sometimes.
Driving back in the rain at night the lights dimmed out and I nearly didn't make it. the battery was completely flat in the morning.
Any way when the alternator got hot the diodes leaked, and when the car was left to cool they were fine.
I replaced the power diode stack ONLY and all was well for the next nine years.
This is particularly difficult to find and diagnose.
please make sure you look for current when the car is shut down from a long drive and is hot.
However it is possible you just had some bad batteries.......