Last week, I had my Max at the dealer getting a wheel bearing replaced; I also asked them to check one of the rear license plate lights that wasn't working. I was told that the light was being shorted out because of the strain of all the aftermarket lighting & stuff I've added to the car.

Now, the only things I've changed are the taillights (alteezas), the HU (has a big bright display), and the gauges (to indiglo); also changed most of the interior lights from white to blue, but the wattages are the same as the stock bulbs. It doesn't sound to me like it's that much of a difference in terms of what the (normal stock) battery has to support.

And to top it off, today I got the dreaded SES light; the code that came up (08-04: Auto Trans Control Unit communication to ECU) has "weak or dead battery" as one of the possible causes.

If the battery is the actual problem, is a standard battery really incapable of supporting any aftermarket add-ons? And will an Optima battery really make a difference if, indeed, my standard battery can't handle the load?

 

go through standard procedure and check out your battery and alternator...best place to go would be autozone for this...speaking from personal experience:

a light out, is a light out....nissan has a funny was of saying "aftermarket product" is the source of problems.....i had a sound a knock sound coming from the rear of my car, they blamed it on the rear strut tower brace...when i looked further into the problem myself since they were not, i noticed that my caliper was missing a bolt and KNOCKING on bumps.....that is a serious safety concern and if i would have gotten into an accident it would have been the dealership that would have heard from me.....

have the place check out yo shiznit.....my car stock battery and alternator rocked a kilowatt amp and a small amp, light upgrades and other electrically draining components for close to 2 years before the alternator started to go...and that was 6 years after the car was made.

 

The lighting described should have no ill affects on the battery or alternator. That's the dealerships way of telling you that they know nothing but what is in the FSM. And the FSM is lacking in details.



Sorry to rant - I got a call from the dealership asking me if I received my 108750 mile service reminder this morning. I said "yes, why?" "Well you havn't called to set up an appointment sir." I said, "Tell you what, you guys repair the emmisions equipment on my car that is covered to like 90,000 miles and has had my SES light on since 80,000 and I might let you service my car." Those guys are weiners. It says right in the FSM that ignition coils, O2 sensors, etc are all emmisions equipment but good luck getting them to replace one as a warranty repair.

 

get the battery and alternator tested under a load at autozone for free, it should tell u how mcuh the bat can handle