Congratulations, I figured you were close. it looks like your alarm is now working and the car is going into sleep mode. Some of the posters in this thread did say that 100 milliamps should not be enough to drain your battery, they may be right, only time will tell. I think that your drain problem will probably be solved. Post in a few days or a week or two when you are sure the drain problem is solved.

 

Well you have to remember, this has been a problem over the past 5 years or so with I would say about 7 or so replacement battery's and recharging and jumping them maybe a hundred times. I have alot of research on these Optima's and once you drain them once, they never really rebound to full potential. Do that a few times and its shot. Thats why recently, the charge would only last about 12 hours on this battery.

-matt

 

oh wow....sweet! congrats on your findings.

 

If the problem is solved this will probably help some of the others with the same problem, especially if they know how to use a multimeter.

 

Your sure are dedicated to your Maxima I would have thought about getting rid of the car after a dozen or so jumps, that does not sound like fun. Hopefully you will be enjoying you reliable Maxima from here on.

 

I think it's awesome that a forum like this one can get together with members from all over north america and help out a person with his cars electrical problem.
Glad you were pointed in the right direction and was able to fix it. Imagine if you were on your own with this. Do you think you ever would have found it?

I didn't think that I would that's why I finally gave in and took mine into the dealership and had them find it for me.

Oh and 80-100 milliamps draw is acceptable for new cars with 7+ computers. For a car that is 10+ years old... that's enough to drain the battery over a few days.
Just so you know.

 

I've had a revilation this weekend too. I left town for the weekend, and for the first time ever I armed the aftermarket alarm in my carport. Behold, this morning When I went to crank it up, she started. Do you guys have after market alarms, or are you running the factory alarm? I still need to hunt down the root of the problem.

 

I have to agree thats a good amount of draw, especially when I kept going through batteries about once a year, from recharging and draining, recharging and draining.


Do the parasitic drain test and see what number your at after the car goes into sleep (pushing down the hood button, all doors locked, trunk closed)

After you get that number youll have a better idea where your at.

 

I have an aftermarket alarm system that like most it is tied into the factory system. I personally have not used my factory keyfob in more than 4 years. I have had this drain for about 6 months before I took it in. Like I sated in my eariler posting... the clowns at the body shop were to blame for my troubles.

 

Just to make this clear, this switch has NOTHING to do with the trunk being open. This is clearly there if the key cylinder gets popped out of the trunk during a burglary. If this plug is Unplugged, it acts like its not there and will NOT allow the secuirty system to arm, unlike previously stated in other posts. With this unplugged, missing or faulty, your parasitic drain will be about 100 milliamps.

-matt

 

probably the alternator.. had that problem with my maxima

 

Nice one n00b. The problem has already been solved.

 

Read the thread dude

 

Bless his heart, he just wants to fit in.


































Turd Nugget.

 

UPDATE:

Its been two weeks and I use my car about every other day, sometimes it sits for two days, and starts up right away, same strong start, every single time I turn the key. Still drawing 10 milliamps after going into sleep mode and the security system arms correctly every time.

Thanks for all your help guys. The cars a differnet car now, now that I count on it starting.

-matt

 

Any chance for a write up or is this a pretty simple swap? Also do you have a part number or name for the piece you replaced?

Thanks.

 

It pretty much a simple swap. With it already in there, just take it off and replace if you test it and its bad(security system not arming). This is not a part you can jusy unplug and your car will think its there. WRONG !!

The Part number is:
84665-40U00 SWITCH ASSY-TRUNK $63.38 list....paid $47.87

Alot of body shops overlook this part and wont replace it if it gets banged up.

-matt

 

Glad your car is still working.

 

HI I was looking at this truck sensor for the lock on my car. As I too have a 100ma draw. How would I tell if mine was bad? Can I test the resisance? If so which wires and what should it read? I really need to find what my draw is.... As I have spent countless hours searching. Thanks

 

Try arming your stock security system and see what the light on the dash does ? If you arm the system and the red light stays solid then in about a min it blinkes about 3 seconds between each blink, then its armed. If its CONSTANTLY blinking every second, even after the car is locked, then theres a fault in the system.

 

OK I finally was able to take my car back to Nissan. I have the same issue with the battery being completely drained after 24 hours of the car being started. I have traced, and traced with no avail. I was told last May that it was my alternator so Tynans Nissan in Aurora replaced it for $700- So i took it back for them to look at the problem and was told that I needed to start by replacing the cables from the battery cost of $450, they suggested replacing the starter because thry dont think its a Nissan starter another $500. I have owned the car since 2001 when it had 55,000 miles so I bet its still the original starter. Anyways I need to know if I should try to find some cables in a junk yard? Or start looking somewhere else? If so where? I have had the multimeter on and it draws 100ma all the time. Pulled fuses, relays, have been through about 7 batteries in the past 2+ years since this has been an issue. Thanks in advance for everyones help I appreciate the dedication to this site and helping fellow maxima owners.

 

Thay all sounds like BS, looks like you have the 100ma draw just like Matty, this is probably because your allarm sysetm is not being armed. Faulty trunk, hood or door switch would do that. Busy now will try to help later.

 

That all sounds like BS, looks like you have the 100ma draw just like Matty, this is probably because your alarm system is not being armed. Faulty trunk, hood or door switch would do that. Busy now will try to help later. Sometimes the dealers mechanics don't know s***.

 

Is there a way to test the resistence of the switches? What should they read? I am also tending to believe that it has something to do with the alarm system. It is the stock alarm, nothing else in the car is aftermarket..ie radio, ect.

 

First you need to check if your alarm is arming itself and working. If not than that's almost certainly causing your problem. That information is contained within these posts. All the things that have to occur for the alarm to arm itself are also listed in one of the posts. A switch is either closed (zero resistance) or open (infinite)resistance. You can google that basic information to learn to operate a meter. Most of the information you need to resolve your problem is contained in these threads. I will try and help but I can't start teaching basic electronics.

 

Perfect thanks I will report back when I have time to troubleshoot probably this weekend.

 

Lock your doors and tell us what that red light on your dash does..

matt

 

HI when i lock the doors the light stays lit for 30 sec, then blinks every 3 sec.. Is that normal?

 

IIRC, yes.

 

Looks like you alarm is arming and the car is probably going into the sleep mode. So all your alarm related switches are probably OK.

Maybe you have a different issue. You would need to check your current draw the way Matty did to see if you actually have a parasitic drain.

 

I have had the multi meter on the battery and the draw is 100ma, it never drops down. In turn the battery is dead in 24 hours.

 

When you are doing this test have you depressed the hood latch switch with your finger? You need to do that to get in sleep mode (10ma). The alarm won't arm with the hood open so you have to depress the switch. should go into armed/sleep mode about 30 sec after you depress the switch. See below:

I checked my 98 SE which works normally and does not have this problem. I opened my hood and checked current with everything else off and closed. The draw was approximately 0.1 Amps = to 100 milliamps. This is the same as Matt's result. If I depress the switch that senses if the hood is closed after about 30-60 seconds the current draw goes down to about 0.01 Amps or 10 milliamps. This must be the sleep mode kicking in. That is quite a a difference. I can understand if another switch from the alarm system is malfunctioning, of missing, the car would never go into sleep mode.

 

Yes i held the switch down with my hand when I tested for the sleep mode working. I need to exchange my battery again as it has been through the ringer draining so often and I will verify with a brand new battery that the sleep mode does not happen. thanks

 

This is from the FSM faults in any of the following would probably prevent sleep mode operation.

When any one of the following switches are turned ON, the “sleep” mode is canceled:
I Ignition key switch (Insert)*
I Ignition switch “ACC” or “ON”
I Lighting switch (1st)
I Door switches (all doors)
I Trunk room lamp switch
I Hood switch
I Trunk lid key cylinder switch (Unlock/Tamper)
I Multi-remote controller
I All switches combined or connected with door LCU
* Also, when key is pulled out of ignition (ignition key switch is turned from ON to OFF), the “sleep” mode is canceled.

 

Get a copy of the FSM it's all over the org page EL-175 has an on board diagnostic test you can use to check your system out.

 

OK I will find it and move on to the next step.

Just FYI brand new battery put in yesterday, exchanged- and I left the multimeter on for 20 mins still was at 100ma....

 

There is a section in the FSM that tells you about sleep mode , just go to the electrical section and search "sleep".

 

Yea I had the exact same problem...you need to troubleshoot and find the missing link

-matt

 

Hi I was able to use the EL book I downloaded to troubleshoot the electrical system. I found that the anti-theft system is good. But i was able to verify that the charge indicator on the dash does not turn on whent he car is in the "on" position. I was able to visit the closest Nissan dealership to speak with a tech. The tech showed me how to test if the light works by grounding a wire to the body. I disconnected the connectot that has three wires then goes to two wires into the alternator. Then on the red/white lead touched a wire and grounded- had the ingition on run and the light turns on. So is the problem internal on the alternator? I was told that I could bring the car to this dealership as my reciept was from another Nissan dealership and the warranty work can be done anywhere. Is this light not functioning properly causing the parasitic drain?
Thanks for reading...

 

Charge light not coming on is probably not related to the parasitic drain (10ma is normal when car goes into sleep mode) but considering your problem with the battery getting drained It would be wise to fix it.