exam this morning missed because car wouldn't start
 

I was suppose to take an exam this morning, but when I tried to start the car it wouldn't start or crank at all. When the key was turned a slight hissing noise was made, but the horned honked though. The anti-lock, check, brake, and battery light were all on but very faintly, seat belt moving slowly and there was some corrosion on on the positive terminal wires. Also, I accidently left the foglight switch on (turns on when headlights are on, not independent) for more than two days. Can the battery be drained if the foglight switch is left on for more than two days? I'm so stupid when it comes to car problems...help :(

Could be a dead / drained battery, or a shot alternator.

something definately drained the battery, the question is what.
it more than likely is not related to your fog light switch being left in the on position.
you may have left the door slightly open so the dome light was on and that drained the battery.

Once you get a jump or replace the battery, check voltage on it while the car is running. If the alternator is working properly it should in the low 14s.

Since I currently don't have a new battery to install, is it okay to leave the dead battery out of the car? I can't seem to find the charger, so would it be fine if the car doesn't have a battery for a day?

Wow,you wasn't lying when you said you don't know anything about cars..:chuckle:..It wont hurt the car to leave the battery out.;)

Take the battery up to your local autozone,they will charge it up for free.

Well, finally found the charger and hooked the battery up to it and amazingly its still full. Now just have to put the battery in the car, jump start it, and if it's running then off to Nissan it goes so they can find out what the problem is. I really do hope it's not the alternator because it was replaced last year. A couple months ago all the interior lights and headlights would flicker slightly and sometimes the engine didn't have a smooth sound to it.

if the battery is full, i assume you mean fully charged, then why jump it?

Just in case it doesn't start up next time, but with the symptoms in my first post I assumed it was a dead battery. After finding out that the battery was still fully charged then maybe it's something else like a shift lock?

shift lock? that thing draws a tiny amount of power. and the +12v is only when ignition is RUN or Start. I wouldn't really look at that particular component.. are you SURE that nobody added any superfluous crap prior to you buying the car? Like a cell phone or potentially whackly-wired aftermarket radio?

if the bat was full and it wouldn't start then it may be the NSS or the alarm

NSS = Neutral Safety Switch right?

Could also be corroded battery lugs and connectors. A wire brush can be used to clean these. Also when u tried starting did the car turn over..or did u hear the starter cranking? or nothing happened when u tried starting...did the lights work without starting?

Correct-a-mundo

Couldn't it be corroded ground wire or something? NSS and Alarm should cause a situation of either ON or OFF, not 'slow moving seatbelt and dim lights'... or am I wrong

true those are symptoms of low voltage, but the battery was full so corrosion is pretty possible

My spidey sense says alternator even though yours was replaced last year...

Your spidey sense is a little off today..:arrow:

If he had a dead alternator,then he would have a dead battery to go with it.(if you will read his posts,he says the battery was fully charged)

The cars electrical system will draw current from the battery when the alternator dies.

ibmaxima2k2hasablootoofsituation

You mean some of this?

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c4...yFriedWire.jpg

yeah summodat.

Kentucky Fried Wire. Finger-zapping good!

is the hissing the starter spinning alone?

Its the electronics straining to get power.

~Alex

clean your terminals, check your wire to your altenator and your starter, either one with a slight bad connection or ground can cause this.

The starter doesn't make any noise when the key is fully turned, the only noise is a single click. Well, my dad wants me to buy a new car because it's probably not a good idea of adding more money just to have a running smooth again when I'll be buying a new car in a couple years. I was thinking a 07-08 max SE, 07-08 Altima SE, or 08 Subaru Impreza WRX 4 door. Does the 08 Altima come stock with projector HID's or xenons HID's?

well if it makes a single click, does everything else in the car (lights, radio, etc) turn off while you are in START? if it is, then there could be another culprit. I found this one out in july of 06. I went to taco bell, got out of the car, ate, got back in the car, turned the key and CLICK. silence. tried 5 more times, nothing. called my brother, he came out with jumper cables, said "show me what it's doing... sounds odd" and i showed him.. er, tried to, because the SOB fired right up.

comes to be that I later found out I had a missing bushing in my shifter. so when i put it in Park the gear position sensor didn't sense that I was in park, it sensed that I was in reverse. If i turned my car to ON and went out back, even though the selector was in park, i would have seen my reverse lights on. So i guess me sitting down in the car or whatever a cuople times made enough motion on the car that the thing jiggled into Park position, allowing it to start.

Here's how to test it. If it clicks and won't start.. open the hood, look down near your oil filter and actually, closer to the tranny mount by the strut tower, and there's a thing that looks like this and take the cable connector and just push it ALL THE WAY to the passenger side, because that's 'park'. all the way counterclockwise will put you in '1' but you would have to have someone push the button on the shifter and all for that to move cuz you can't shift out of park just by nudging the sihfter. I digress. Anyhow after you have moved the shifter doodad all the way towards the passenger side, then try again to start the car. If it starts then, go to Nissan, ask for an "automatic transmission shifter bushing", pay the cashier $3.56, drive home, wait a little bit for the catalytic converter to cool off while playing Wii, go back outside, unbolt the driver side bolts off the catalytic converter heatshield (the front one), peel it down for access, undo the cotter pin on the shifter, pull off whatever is on the shifter (should be a washer and maybe fragments of an old bushing), slide on new bushing, reinstall shifter linkage arm thingy (oh btw make sure your parking brake is set b/c if you don't and are on any kind of hill, the car will possibly roll onto your head/torso and you will die, because there is a chance you will inadvertently shift the thing out of park while maniuplating the shifter rod), put on washer, pop in cotter pin, bolt the heat shield back up, and go finish the Wii game you started earlier. After you score a 300 on Wii bowling, go drive your Maxima as a celebratory prize for you awesome bowling score.

A bad starter will work when cold and begin to fail when warm. When you hear the "click" thats the relay engaging and giving the starter power, so if its going bad this can take 5-10 attempts. Each time you do this the battery drains, so you do it enough and then you'll need to get a jump.

As said above, the shifter bushing can be an issue as well sometimes. Push it further forward into park, or shift to neutral to see if there is a difference.

I had intermittently this starting problem in the last several months. still struggle to find the problem. it could be the starter problem.