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.
Here's a problem I had which I have fixed. Maybe the solution will help you.
93 GXE 140k miles
Had nearly 30 days of continuous below-freezing weather where I am, Washington DC suburb. Drove one to local mall a few miles away. Came out after about two hours, battery is completely flat, will not turn engine over. I figured it was the cold weather, many cold starts, heater running constantly, often using headlights, short, start/stop runs.
Called my wife, she brought her car with jumper leads, started OK. Drove the car home and put the battery (only 18 months old) on the charger overnight. Reconnected it next morning, car starts and runs fine. Assumed the problem was solved. Next day I get a call from my wife, Maxima has flat battery outside local library.
Same procedure, jump start then drive home. Took the battery out and put it back on the charger. Left the car till the weekend for further examination.
On the weekend, looked up my Haynes manual. Started doing their charging system checks.
1) All fuses inside car OK
2) All relays under hood OK]
3) Battery open voltage OK
4) Put an ammeter in circuit with the battery (disconnect negative battery terminal and insert ammeter) Found that with the IGNITION OFF there was a 100 milliamp current drain. Haynes says the maximum current drain (considering, clock, radio presets, engine control computer, etc) should be 50 milliamps.
With the ammeter still in circuit I started pulling connectors off the positive battery terminal. As soon as I removed the fuseable link which connects to the alternator main terminal, the current drain dropped to zero.
Remembered Nissan Tech and possibly others had previously mentioned the alternator diodes go bad after time, so I figued I had found the problem.
Bought a new alternator my local Nissan dealer $368.00. Replaced the alternater, recharged the battery. Problem solved.
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.
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...
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