battery mysteriously drained

- R
- Rusa
  
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posted
20 years ago

Mon, Sep 15, 2003 5:55 PM

Hi all, Yesterday, I couldnt start my nissan maxima GXE ('92). No lights coming on, no nothing. The battery read about 4 volts ! Thought battery was totally dead and got a brand new battery.

I fitted in the new battery and the car started up fine. I didnt run the car again that day. Next day I attempted to start the car to go to work but battery was totally dead again. The battery is reading about

5 volts and it is brand new !

I am baffled as to what could have drained the battery since I didnt run the car at all ? Could my alternator be shorted but I can't explain why the car started the first time when I put the new battery.

Any pointers sincerely appreciated.

- W
- Warner Crump
  
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posted
20 years ago

Mon, Sep 15, 2003 7:55 PM

- R
- ronm
  
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posted
20 years ago

Mon, Sep 15, 2003 9:20 PM

- H
- Holden McGroyn
  
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posted
20 years ago

Tue, Sep 23, 2003 5:52 PM

snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (Rusa) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com:

Put a test light inline between the battery and positive battery cable, if the test light comes on then your drawing too much power, start pulling fuses untill the light goes off. If your alternator is drawing power when the car is off it will usually be warm to the touch, if it's warmer than everythung else when the engine is cold - that's the culprit. Alternators however very seldom fail in this way so look for other stuff first.

- J
- John Nguyen
  
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posted
20 years ago

Fri, Sep 26, 2003 10:42 AM

it's most likely the alternator.... because the alternator is wat recharges the battery of the car... no recharge means that your car will be running the battery till it dies out on you... this would explain the new battery going dead on you... because since your starter got the juice from the new battery to start... it works fine.. and your ignition coils would have gotten their power from the new battery as well.... but since while running the alternator wasn't recharging your battery... it basically ran it dry... since it was only 1 day from new.. this would probably explain the 5V compared with the old batteries 4V... Nissans are very notorious for their alternators.... same as Hondas are for their automatics and seal problems (ie windows and moonroofs) and Toyotas and the bottom ends of their blocks... hopes this helped out your wondering about the problem...