car won't start. replaced battery, cap and rotor, spark plugs, spark plug wires, checked coil with ohmeter (good), cleaned corrosion on cables. disconnected batter cables overnight, still having same issue. also removed the alternator and had it checked; it is ok.
the car will start when it is jumped and will start after being off as long as it doesnt sit too long. any ideas?

 

junk battery?
you have a draw that is killing the battery with the car off.

 

If you are sure the battery is good,then you most likely have a parasitic electrical drain from one of the cars components(as internetautomar pointed out)

Most likely source would be the alternator,other less likely sources would be the radio/aftermarket amp(if you have one)/some relay might be stuck open/the trunk light might be staying on/etc.etc.


google "parasitic electrical drain" to find instructions on how to find electrical drains.

 

That sounds like my car with the alarm not going off.

 

yea, everyone seems to be in conclusion on the cause.
i rewired the automatic antenna to the power source wire for the radio (i have an aftermarket) last spring...so maybe that was draining the juice (it was raising and lowering the antenna without the car/alternator running). i finally detached it a week ago, but im guessing the current battery has already been ruined. only thing i can do is buy another batter and see.
im actually trying to sell the car since i bought the altima se-r. it runs great after it gets jumped, but you cant sell a maxima that doesnt start to the general public...unless any of you guys are interested in buying it and figuring out the problem or you need a parts car? i need to get $1200 out of it...so seriously...pm me!

 

PM me the details of the car, IIRC you are in indiana right?

 

automar gonna get a maxima?

 

not likely, but ya never know

 

Dude if you wanna find if you have a draw...IIRC you need a test light that has a wire/clamp

My gfs car was doing the same thing but all of a sudden its not. Its kinda scary...

1. disconnect negative cable
2. clamp the test light wire onto the negative battery post
2. touch the negative battery cable with the tip of the test light

make sure everything is off in the car, take the key out the ign and see if the light in the test light is on. to find out that the process is working just open your door and it should work just like your dome light would.

If anyone notices I missed or screw up somewhere let me know.

 

a draw is measured with a meter. there should pretty much always be a small draw on the battery (clock, ECU, radio memory)
the amperage draw will change depending on how much power is being pulled by it.
the clock/ecu/radio memory draw is less than an amp combined so if you are drawing more than 2 amps you've got a serious draw.

 

ecu uses pwr when car is shut off?

 

yes.

 

k just learnin'

 

distributor

 

Any updates?

 

post #5

 

Thats not an update

It was posted prior to my post and is something that I already knew. As for update; I was wondering whether it was the battery that got 'ruined' due to the parasitic draw or if the problem is still persistant. In other words:

Alex, have you gotten a new battery to test whether you're on the right track or not?

 

I don't think he's going to fix the car john.

 

lol. havent tried. about to go out and see what i can do. ill pm details to internetautomart. either someone can buy it here or i can fix it or hopefully fix it and sell it to someone and they can figure it out. it has to be a draw because the voltage is always good, but the amperage is obviously no good since the engine wont turn. i dunno. ill see what i can do.

 

i took the battery out and measured the voltage. it was sitting at 11.9 volts. i took it to wal-mart and they ran it on the machine for 40 minutes. they said the battery is good (i bought it at sams, so they really have no reason to lie to me about the battery altough wal-mart and sams= one) and i just measured the voltage at 12.8 volts. reinstalled. fired right up. running voltage at 14.87 volts. so it seems the battery is good. and the cables are all good. the question is...what is draining the energy?

 

i check for an amperage drain on both the positive and the negative cables; all i could get were miliamps, jumping from 70 to 160 mili. doesnt seem like theres a drain at the moment, but who knows. i will find out when i go to start the car tomorrow.

 

you may need to change the cables / check the connectio to be clean and tight at both ends of both cables

 

i started the car up just now at 10am and it started up fine. not sure what has been going on. i turned the dome light off and removed the power antenna from the circuit, so it has to be one of those two. i dunno.