maximatech12

Here's one for all the aftermarket part designers...

Car now won't start. I found a crack in battery by + terminal.
My question
Is the Interstate battery cheap or does the Maxima hold down bar idea need to be customized?
Should IB give me a new one under warranty?

maximatech12

When taking it off I noticed the dents under the bar.
I was sold on the IB MegaTronII because I saw 5 year warranty.
What a sales scam because the battery is cheap and if it cracks why would anyone want another cheap battery?
Sometimes I pull out quickly and turn out into traffic. If the hold down bar can't hold down and the battery can't take the torque well what a 4wheel deal needs to be put in?

cornholio

iTrader: (1)

sounds like your dealer way overtightened it when they put it in. did you tell them to follow the fsm torque specs?

maximatech12

Upon carefully tightening this bar down myself I was concerned with cracking the plastic top.
I can't determine whether IB needs to reinforce the top and posts or Nissan could offer a bit more attention to the battery location.

cornholio

iTrader: (1)

why did you tighten it down so much?

how would a different battery location have prevented this?

Derrick2k2SE

iTrader: (3)

Interstate batteries are generally pretty good. We used to sell them. The Megatron battery looks pretty stout.

There's nothing wrong with the battery tie down design. It doesn't have to be very tight at all to keep the battery in place. You tighten it till you can't move the battery by hand and stop there. The nuts wont feel torqued and the battery won't be deformed at all. It could easily be tightened enough to crack the battery.

It sounds like you way over tightened it and broke the battery. If you're seeing dents in the top of the battery it's been over torqued. If you're even feeling concerned about breaking it you've over torqued it. If you think it needs to "take the torque" then I think we've found the problem.

You can try warrantying it but they'll probably look at it and say the same thing.

maximatech12

I'm in agreement but I didn't overtighten. If it was something I did well I'd want to know so I can live and learn.
It was snug and firm not over tightened.

maximatech12

could it have been from replacing engcont1 15amp fuse with a 7.5 amp fuse?

maximatech12

Ok got my new battery in and realized the rubber stopper broke off of the barke pedal assembly.

This drained the battery. I argued with IB about the drain creating heat that caused the split and just got nothing but a crock of crap.

I took out the mods too just to be able to rule that out if something else happens.

So I'm happy to be back on the road!!

Thanks for the input fellas

Derrick2k2SE

iTrader: (3)

There's no way the draw caused the battery to crack.
It sounds like they gave you a crock of truth.

maximatech12

I'll take your word for it. I don't know what it could've been. Maybe I need the battery cover that came with this car.

When I bought the car it didn't even have a hold down not to mention a battery cover.

It's only 53 bucks.

Derrick2k2SE

iTrader: (3)

I'm pretty sure these never came with a battery cover. Just the tie down and the red cover on the positive terminal.

Child_uv_KoRn

iTrader: (7)

Aside from OP being a troll, I'm pretty sure all of mine had a cover when I bought them.

Derrick2k2SE

iTrader: (3)

Just looked it up and you're right. I've never seen one that still had it in place.

I can't imagine paying 53 cents for one let alone 53 dollars. It's certainly not going to keep the battery from cracking.