Anyone weigh their OEM Nissan battery yet? (if there are any left)

 

The replacement batteries like;

Interstate MTP-24F - Mega-Tron Plus - 85 Months - 800 CCA weigh 45 pounds.

Interstate makes the OEM battery for the Maxima, so it weights between 40 and 45 pounds.

 

On the subject of slow drain, there is a build in cuircuit called "INTERIOR LAMP BATTERY SAVER CONTROL" that will shut down most lights if a slow drain is detected for more than 30 minutes after ignition key is off. A slow drain is possible with aftermarket accessories not connected to the battery saver cuircuit.

One big enemy of batteries is heat. It does get quite hot under the hood. After I replaced the 16 months old (dead) OEM with a 24F Interstate, I could see 'sweating'. That tells me lots of heat or possible overcharging. I do 90% city driving.

With my 26R, I used stryrofoam between the plastic cover and the battery on the engine side.

 

Yeah styrofoam seems like a great idea or maybe some of that heat reflecting silver foil that is foam backed will do the trick without making it look ish.

 

Well, the BOSCH proved to be DEFECTIVE after only two weeks. From a conversation with a tech I understand now that BOSCH makes the worst batteries out there. He used to work at AutoZone and said they were getting returns constantly.

I guess its time for an OPTIMA

 

With a name like Bosch I would have expected an excellent battery

 

I was thinking the same way. Being an european and having great experience with tools made by BOSCH I didn't hesitate buying it at all. My eyes nearly poped when they told me that the battery was defective (after 2 weeks).

 

Seems like OEM batteries for Maxima's like to die well before the warranty expires. I've owned an 83, 97 and now an 05 Max. My last two have had the batteries replaced after 2 years and 31,000 miles of driving. Man, Nissan has the 2 year battery down pat.

 

Well I saw all the dead battery postings last week and as it turns out the battery in my 2005 SE died today @ 29.5K miles. It worked absolutely flawless until the moment it died. I went to 7-11 to get the Sunday newspaper, was inside for 2 minutes, and when I came outside and tried to start my car - nothing happened. Completely dead just like that. Not ever did it give me a starting problem. I did notice some white stuff on the negative battery cable but I cleaned that off months ago.

It is interesting in that when the battery is dead you cannot move the shifter from park to neutral (to say move the car to a more advantageous spot for a jump start) and several times I was unable to remove my keys from the ignition switch as the switch wouldn't go past the accessory position.

 

I had the same thing happen to me today, fortunatly at home because an hour earlier I would have been at a mall. Got in, dead as a doornail, no crank, couldnt even be jumped. Put in a Duralast for $80. The mileage is 75,000 and I live in Buffalo where this battery has been used in subzero temps. Let it die is my opinion, dont change it if you have 30k, you guys just had bad luck. I also dont have any aftermarket system in the car.

 

I had stopped at the dry cleaner and when I restarted the car it cranked once and the lights, everything went dead. Lucky for me, I borrowed a portable jumber battery at the gas station next door to get there, and they installed a new battery. $$$$. I had 17k on the car.

I was under the impression that the button next to the 'Park' position is a manual override to unlock the steering and shifter. It possibly needs electricity to work.

 

you know, I read this post a long time ago and found it hard to believe a battery would just go like that with no warning, but sure enough today it happened to me. Had driven some durring the day, went down the street to the hardware store for 5 minutes came back out and battery dead. I got to stop reading these forums, everything I read here happens to my max
04 with 65k

 

 

wow you guys are making me feel bad...i killed my battery in about 13 months or less...

i was installing something and had the car running on ACC...that was right when i got the GPS navigation added to the main HU...and it's on the manual as one of the things NOT TO DO! sooo, when i went to turn on the car, chk chk chk it wouldnt come on...

so now i'm more careful. next time my battery craps out i'm getting an optima....do they make them in blue? or can i paint it blue myself? (want to keep the blue engine bay theme i have going on)

 

I think blue is the marine battery, they make a yellow and then a red top.

 

Only get the blue battery if you live in New Orleans

 

Guys where can i get that red cover for positive terminal battery?

 

Junk yard or Stealership (aka dealership)...

 

Hey folks...doing some research for a friend...

2005 Maxima...on the third battery...OEM battery at every replacement...and under warranty...has anybody figured out why the Maxima is chewing batteries like they are free rather than finding the longest lasting replacement?

I'm more interested in the cure rather than the quick fix...

Don't get me wrong...I've used many a quick fix over the years of owning a few cars...3 of them Nissans...but this is a very inconvienient issue and I see a lot of posts for fixes and no cures...

 

Also...owner lives 70 miles outside Houston TX...so the cold winter issues don't apply...

 

A battery typically drains if the alternator isnt charging it. Check alternator and or voltage regulator first. Also, make sure the battery is clean. A dirty battery can slooooooowly drain it until it dies. Finally, make sure nothing is left on which is killing the battery, like interior lights. And is it an OEM stereo or aftermarket? Also, lots of short trips can sometimes kill a battery. Make sure the car is being driven a bit.

 

I don't think that most 6th Gen Maximas are "chewing batteries." My original battery lasted 4 years and about 60 K miles. It did not fail, but a test showed that it was weak. Given its age and the test weakness, I choose to replace it on my own schedule, rather than wait for a full failure.

Deus, in his post above, has given you some good advice.

 

Sort of like SilverMax_04, my '04 SL OEM battery lasted between three and four years. We had 13 days over 100 degrees and 34 days over 95 this summer where I live. With the jammed up crammed full engine compartment on the Maxima, sitting in traffic or climbing steep hills very slowly (like 2 MPH, looking at mountain homes and property) for months on end during the hottest part of the day just created more heat than OEM batteries are designed to handle.

There are devices on the 6th gen Maxima designed to prevent battery drain from such things as lights left on, etc, but aftermarket modding sometimes undercuts those devices.

Deus gave good points.

 

I think with me its a combination of very short trips and abusing all the accessories all the time. I got a yellow top (hmm or was it red) but I will take it out of the car every winter and charge it as to prevent acid stratification. I checked the alternator and keep the terminals cleaned/greased so I expect this new OPTIMA to last at least 5 years.

Now the OPTIMA is a gell-based battery so does the acid stratification even apply?

 

My battery died last night without warning. It stranded my wife in the rain and had to call a tow truck to get it started. The car has 35k miles and 26 months old. I expect to get about three years out of a cheap OEM battery so Nissan has broken new ground for cheap.

 

I guess I got lucky. I left mine in access. mode came out to an almost dead battery and couldnt even jump. Left it on battery charger all day and its been fine so far.

 

If it was dead, even with the re-charge, it will soon die again. Buy a new battery.

 

It had a little oomph in it but wouldnt start. I charged it for a couple of days straight. Its been a couple of weeks and havent had any problems. Think its time for a red top?

 

Whats the original brand of battery that comes with this car? I think mine was replaced because car was built in March 2004, and thats over 3 years of driving. Also your suppose to pull the circular stickers out to mark the date, and it was never done on this 1? Bought car in mid August.

 

Consumer Report has a car Battery review, next battery I go with will be Die Hard, easy to get and I don't want a red or yellow battery, anyways interesting fact, all batteries are made by the same 3 companies, they just make them to the companies specs/standards

 

A couple weeks ago I bought an 04 Max w/67000 miles and the battery died last week. The only warning I had the sun roof was acting a little flaky the last time I drove it before it died.

I was also worried about the Alternator being bad since the brake and battery lights were on, and the car couldnt be jump started, but it's been fine for the last week w/ a new advance auto battery.

 

mdmitch2 - Stay alert. A new battery is usually fully charged by the store that sells it, and can operate the car for some time with no current arriving from the alternator. If this is your situation, you should be seeing a red light on the dash (alternator not charging). If no red light, then you are probably fine. But I always watch closely the first few weeks after installing a new battery. Be sure and reset your seat/mirror 'return' settings if you have the Driver Preferred package. In any event, you will need to reset the radio settings and reset the sunroof.

 

Die Hard is a very good battery. Coincidently, I just got another one this morning, a Die Hard Gold. I wanted to get the Die Hard Platinum b/c I have about 1700watts of stereo power going through my car, but the cables couldn't reach the battery posts as with the Yellow Top.

For people with the Yellow Top, how hard was it to install cable extensions? I have a 2005 Max.

 

My battery says Deka on it. I assume thats a new battery then. Is Interstate the 1 that comes with the car?

 

Hate to bring up an old thread but my 2007 has died twice in the last month... 33,000miles

 

Had the original battery in my 95 Maxima till 2003, so I got another one, but that one lasted only till 2006, then I got one from Canadian Tire. Replaced the original battery in my wife's 2004 Vue this past spring.

 

I think I will set a new record here for short OEM battery life....28K miles and 17 months and it died Tuesday nite into Weds am. Dealer told me that average life of stock battery is 24-36 months. Would have gone for an Optima Red Top (I have yellow top in Corvette for 7 yrs) but since battery was in 12-24 month time slot, they charged me 50% and sucked up 50% on the warranty. So for $47.50 I got a new Nissan 7 year battery which they claim is made by Interstate.
Worst battery life experience in 48 years of car buying and driving.

 

1st of all if your nissan battery fails did you ever top it up? unless they changed they can be topped up...right?

Also i just wanted to add to this conversation that optimas are rip offs in my opinion...

optima red/yellow top 800 CCAs: $190 +
generic walmart battery over 850CCAs: under $50 bucks

there is no way one optima will outlast 3-4 generics if you ask me. in fact many members on here have gone though multiple redtops having them last a year or two tops. obviously others have good even great luck.

Talk to some audio installers for cars. Most of them will steer you away from Optima as there is better, cheaper, more reliable stuff out there. like an Exide Extreme at $150 is a far better proposition imo...

Again this is just my opinion.

From: bfulmer
"I am still an optima dealer even though I don't sell them anymore. For every 10 I sold I probably got 9 of them back within the first 2 years. They wouldn't hold a charge. I doesn't seem to matter red/yellow/ or blue. I had a yellow deep cycle in my own wrangler that was junk before it was 2 years old. It wouldn't hold a charge if you let it sit more that 2 days without starting. For those of you who don't believe me, wait until you have to try and warranty your battery. I still have 4 at my shop that I can't get optima to adjust that are all less than 3 years old."

 

I dont think the one in my car could be topped off (sealed). I opted for the Duralast Gold. Dont have any electronic loads except for my Photon Ray Gun..

 

not that i'm disagreeing with you....
a yellow top is deep cycle and not their "starter" battery.
the red top is 1000 CCA at 32 degrees.

also i agree w/ the other points that optima batteries are a hit/miss. had to return 2 red top back to the dealer. the 3rd time it bombed i just called it a day and picked up a regular battery.