My wife called me and said here 04 Max was stuck in the street and wouldn't start. Some guys pushed here into a parking lot until I got there. Jumped the car and it went 40 yards and died again. Took the battery out and had it charged and put it in and drove it home. Car will be 2 years old this September. Could this be an alternator or do you think the battery just lost its charge over time? Either way, after 22 months there should be no problems.

 

sounds like something causing the battery not to charge. sounds like dealer time...

 

Nissan had a bad batch of batteries. The best you will get is a pro-rated deal from the dealer. Look in your manual for exact details. I don't recall what it is, but I think you will pay 50% of what a new battery would cost. If the alternator would be bad you would get a dummy light to come on and stay on.

 

thanks for the info, I'll check with Nissan tomorrow.

 

My battery has died numerous times, not while driving but if I have the stereo on a for even a short amt of time. It has also happened randomly when I was out of town for a week, came back and dead as a door nail.
I'm planning on upgrading to a better battery soon anyways...
Do you guys think it could be anything more than battery drain in my case? Should I have it checked out or just buy a bigger battery to support my electronics?

 

jsmithsole - I was reading your post thinking 'this dude drained his battery listening to Eminem while the motor wasn't running'.

But when the battery goes dead while the car is parked and you are out of town a week, it can be one of three things:

1. - Battery is not geeting good charge from alternator (could be bad alternator, bad voltage regulator, bad cable, or bad battery post connection).

2. - Battery not capable of holding a charge (could be bad battery, or acid could be very low in the battery).

3. - There is a constant drain on your battery (either a wiring short due to missing/worn insulation; someone is sneaking in and using your radio without running the engine; or someone hooked a wire up incorrectly; are you a 'modder'?).

Between 1949 and 1978 (when I left Big Three vehicles for Datsun/Nissan), I experienced every one of the problems I listed here several times each. But I have had very good luck in this area in my 27 years with Datsun/Nissan.

 

Depending on the voltage draw of your electronics, it more than likley could have caused it...and from the sounds of it, if there really was a bad batch of batteries (how's THAT for alliteration?!), you should upgrade. I highly recommend looking into either an Optima Yellow or Red top - they are among the most (if not THE) highly regarded batteries you can buy.

 

I'm not sure if it's true today but for a few years boosting could cause computer damage if done incorrectly.

 

light, as always very good feedback, thanks.
And I can safely say that you are correct on #1 (at least one of the times, and probably right about Eminem too!) #2 could be, everything I've done electronically has been profesionally installed, I know that doesn't mean it's flawless though.
Thanks for the input!

And thanks Metal Max, I was planning on upgrading to the Optima Red top here in the near future actually. (same battery as Ramberg)

 

You need a Optima yellow top.

 

Why yellow?

 

Solid advice, if it does turn out to be the battery, recommend a battery from the Optima power line, charges twice as fast and has twice the life of a normal battery, depending on the amount of added electronics in the car, you may want to consider like ramber said, the Optima Yellow Top. Good luck

 

**Threadjack OFF** Glad I could help you get your problem resolved in my thread.

The car started up this morning and she drove it to work. Going to watch it a day or 2 before looking into having iot replaced. I would say it is definitely the battery.

 

Sorry Burny, but it seemed based on your #4 post that you were satisfied!
Sorry to hi-jack your thread...
By the way it seemed like we were having the same problem and a lot of the info posted after was most likely helpful to you and anyone else having battery trouble...

 

You have to give yourself more credit, it was your thread that not only helped solve your problem, but others. Some people may not want to post a problem similar to yours or have symptoms like yours and are not aware they are about to have a problem, so your thread may have helped others that we don't even know about. Good post

 

One thing I noticed after getting the 2005 Max is that there's a heck of a lot of electric drain on this car. There's so many things to drain the battery down, such as the memory seats, dash displays, auto dim mirrors, high draw stereo, heated seats etc.
One problem with the heated seats, if you have them, is that it's impossible to see the indicator under the arm rest. I remember one car we test drove, that had to be jumped to get it started and the seat was feeling very hot. Turns out the heated seat was left on. Hope this helps.

 

You can get a red top like I have. But with his system he might need a yellow top. Warren

 

I was having a similar problem with my 04 sl. I took it to sears and they ran a check on it and told me the baterry was on the way out. The guy told me that it needed to have distilled water added to it and to keep an eye on it. He told me if I did change the battery to get a maint. free battery. I went to the dealership and raised a lot of hell and they gave me a battery to shut me up. When it is hot I just check it to make sure the fluid level is good. Hope this helps and good luck. I know dealers don't want to replace anything but I had bought three cars from them before.

 

bad alternator. being replaced under warranty tomorrow.

 

Car audio amplifiers draw off the alternator when the car is running...If you have a system you MUST get a capacitor to handle the wattage the system will draw. I lost a battery and an alternator in my old car, got stuck a few times...because of a 750W sub amp...thats why no system in this car, dont feel like risking any problems ona new car.

 

no amps on this one. 18K and 22 months old and it must have been a bad alternator. Just glad they are doing it for nothing. I think her rotors are warped again too. That's another story.

 

it doesn't sound like a bad battery problem, more likely a bad alternator.

 

VT, it is a bad alternator being replaced today under warranty. I graduated from VT in 1982. Thanks for posting.