dansmax2003

iTrader: (7)

OK...here is the story. I have a 2003 Maxima SE, that has about 49k miles and that is in service since September 2002.
I parked the car in front of the garage (outside) on Saturday night, i left for 3-4 day vacation and when i came back today and tried to use the car, i noticed that i cannot unlock the car from the remote. Then i saw that my "security" light is not blinking either.
I manually unlocked the car with a key and i noticed that it is all dark inside. No lights, no headlights, no chime sounds...nothing. It was 10pm, so i didn't have time to investigate anything. I did check for my headlights and they were left on "off" position, no "auto".
The only thing i had left plugged in was my Escort Passport 8500 radar detector, but this thing goes off as soon as i turn off the car. I leave it plugged in ALL the time and this has never happened before.

What do you think this is?? Is it just a bad battery? Could it be anything else?? The battery is original, only 2 years old, it's 70-80 degrees outside with some cooler mornings....is it possible for it to just die on me like that? Let me know what you think. I am puzzled. .... Should i buy a brand new battery or should i try to "fix" this one? Winter is comming.

Thanks!

SEmy2K2go

iTrader: (10)

Never seen a dead battery get "fixed" before. Time to replace it.

Edit: If you find that you may have left an interior light on or something, you may get away with just charging the battery. That would be the first step.

Mr. Peabody

If you take your battery into a Sears Auto dept they will test your batt for free and tell you if it's capable of being recharged (if one or more of the "cells" have gone bad it will not hold sufficient charge). I've done this several times over the years with them.

Mr. Peabody

SR20DEN

iTrader: (7)

As stated above, test the old battery first. It may just be a dead cell. If the battery is fine then you have an excessive power drain that needs to be tracked down. Normal ignition off power should only drain <30mA.

2k1seae

iTrader: (1)

I'm not sure about this, but I think that the alarm system might be a drain on the battery over a long period of time. Also, I had to replace my battery after about 3 years, so you probably need to just replace it (crappy OEM battery). No warning and it was the OEM battery. Dealer gave me discount because of warranty.

takkar

Check for green light on the battery

Gsilk

well i left my car for 10 days when i went on vacation with the alarm armed. no problems when i came back. she started up fine

PoLo

iTrader: (7)

check water leve if it's an OEM battery. quite a few have had this problem. has to be diluted water as well. open the caps and check it out. it's happened to me before, even on my optima yellow top, and it was a fluke, cause it never happened again after that. i seriously wouldn't worry. but definitely check the water level as that's what it could very well be. a low level count would not cause enough power to start, and with a 4 day downtime, enough time to evaporate some more.

Jaws

What would you "dilute" the water with? Do you mean distilled?

PoLo

iTrader: (7)

i'm a damn fool. distilled. you are correct, and i'm an idiot

sascuderi

Normally shouldn't happen unless battery is bad or have some type of excessive drain. This summer I left my 2000 I30 for 14 days and it was fine. Still using the original battery! But I do add distilled water 1-2X a year to keep the fluid level correct.

MiniRX7

Something doesnt sound right.

In a 2002 or 2003 maxima, if you leave ANY LIGHTS ON including the overhead lights or headlights as such. after 10 minutes, it will AUTO SHUTDOWN... Its a power saver feature built in to the maxima.

Your drain is a more serious problem than just leaving the lights on..

dansmax2003

iTrader: (7)

Thank you, all for your replies. I wanted to update you sooner but i was way from my PC.
I took the battery to two different shops for test and they both said that it is a bad battery. Couldn't hold charge. I didn't check the water level unfortunately but since it is a 2+ year old battery, i decided to get a new one anyway. I bought a Die Hard Gold from Sears and i am good for at least 3 years.(according to Sears)

Thanks again!

MiniRX7

The battery is still under warranty with NISSAN... but i believe its prorated for the number of years

Mr. Peabody

Good for you Dan. Be sure to keep the paperwork from Sears in your glove compartment. If you ever have a problem with it, bring it back with your paperwork and the will prorate you a new one.

I may be mistaken but I thought that the "gold" series was proratable for 5 yrs not just 3. Perhaps it's 100% for 3 years then a prorate for the next 2 years.

Mr. Peabody