13Maximasv

Tonight after softball a guys 2011 Max woudn't start. I tried jumping him with the ( fully charged ) battery pack I carry in my trunk and car to car via cables with no luck

He called AAA and he got it started using his super duper battery pack but he had to leave it connected for a few minutes before it would turn over.


The AAA guy said he sees it all the time with newer cars, anyone had this experience ?

I wonder if I am carrying this charged battery pack for nothing, it worked on my dads 2002 Maxima a few weeks ago.

Maybe the guys car has some other issues as I find it odd for a car less than 3 years old to die.

Maxgig

iTrader: (5)

I had the same problem when I got my 2010 Maxima in Feb of this year. I killed my battery while playing with my radio. my fully charged battery pack was no good and I had to use my wife's car to get it started. Turns out my add water battery was the problem. My dealer gave me a battery with a bigger CCA one. The battery problem is well know and documented by Nissan and they should change it for free.

STARR

iTrader: (1)

With a completely dead battery its harder for those little battery packs to jump start cars

silberma

With a dead battery the booster battery has two jobs to do. First to charge the dead battery and secondly to start the engine, that is why the booster battery needs to stay connected to the dead car for a few minutes to partially charge the dead battery. After a few minutes more power will be available to the starter.

lightonthehill

Well worded, silberma. This is a situation where patience is rewarded.

trailer54

It really depends on the condition of the battery, how your buddy uses his car(if the vehicle sits for extended time and/or short range driving which doesn't give ample to time to recharge it) also the stock dealership batteries are junk(mines not even maintiance free)! Those battery boosters usually won't be enough to recharge a very depleted battery!! My buddy works for Battery Systems, he supplies used batteries to Quality Nissan here. They in turn put them in the brand new cars, very shady if you ask me!! I'd get an Optima and call it a day

Richard66

SHADY?? --- I would think that is illegal. If Nissan Knew about this they would probably shut them down.

Maxgig

iTrader: (5)

I had to re-read that to be sure I understood what you were saying. Man that is illegal.

Richard66

I'm not a laywer so that why I said "I would think". I'm also not an expert at auto dealership practices. Just my opinion.

jeffislouie

I'm a lawyer. Selling used batteries as new is definitely fraud, which is illegal. Especially since new cars ship with new batteries installed. It might not be illegal if these reconditioned batteries were being used to replace a defective battery (if they disclose the use of a used or reconditioned battery), but even that is likely fraudulent, and therefore illegal.

If Trailer54 is right, and his buddy does know this, he might want to start blowing the whistle because he is a party to fraud if he knows he's selling reconditioned or used batteries to a dealership that then represents them as new and might share some liability....

My last car was an Accord. A month into owning it, the battery died and even though I could jump it, it wouldn't recharge. It turns out the factory battery was defective. It was replaced under warranty with a brand new battery.

On a side note, it appears people should avoid buying cars from the ironically named "Quality Nissan"....

13Maximasv

So does a 13 Maxima have a battery that you have to add water to ? I thought those were long gone and (I'm at work now) just figured mine was maint free

The battery pack I could see but it wouldn't even start off my car with it running, as the other poster said I should have give it some time

lightonthehill

As info, around a year ago, Nissan finally accepted the fact that the OEM battery they had been putting in the 7th gen Maxima from the beginning was not adequate to the task, so they switched to a stronger battery with over 150 more cold cranking amps. The 2013 Maximas should have that better battery as OEM equipment.

My 2009 Maxima OEM battery never gave me any trouble, but I replaced it with the newer more powerful Maxima battery last fall because I cannot afford to risk being left in the dark a thousand miles from home on a holiday weekend.

The switch cost me $114. The new Nissan battery is $129, but I got $14 off in return for giving them the old battery. Now I don't have to worry about my battery.

Richard66

I had dead battery problems on my 09 SV Sport about a year ago and the dealership replaced the battery with a bigger OEM battery (CCA 700). The new battery is not maintenance free.

13Maximasv

I don't have the car tonight but Cars.com says the 2013 Maxima Battery is 550 CCA. I'll check tomorrow and see what my car actually has in it

13Maximasv

I'm 44 and had one battery in my life I had to add water to (1981 380SL). Can someone tell me why anyone would want a battery that is not maint free ? Is there some advantage over a maint freew Diehard or Interstate ?

I had a Diehard Gold North that lasted 10 years ( 2 in Connecticut and 8 in Minnesota) and I replaced it because I knew eventually it would leave me stranded not because it went bad

smokin5s

my battery died recently, I got it charged back up, but when starting my car now, the battery seems low. I did not realize that we didn't have maintenance free batteries in these cars, I'm going to go out after my shower and take a look at it.... that is bull**** if we have to add distilled water to our batteries in a new freaking car... I would expect that out of a 1956 car, not a 2010+ car

gizzsdad

I'm not a battery engineer, and I didn't stay in HIE last night, but my theory is that the concept of a maintenance free, ergo "sealed" battery has proven to be problematic.

First, all batteries need to be vented, which gives the electrolyte an opportunity to evaporate.

Second, and more importantly, any damage to the battery structure can aggravate the electrolyte loss. Damage you ask? How about over tightening a battery cable clamp or hold down clamp (trust me - both happen a lot).

If they at least give the ability to add water, the battery can be carefully salvaged.

JMHO

13Maximasv

I have had dozens ( used to change cars a lot) of Main free Diehards in the past 25 years and not one has given me a problem or died early, the Mercedes battery which did need water) failed at 3 years

I'm really hoping the battery in my 2013 is Maint free, I'll check when I get the car back later today

kruegs

I have a 2013 and it is 550 CCA and is NOT Maint free. I'm not saying they are all that way, but mine is. It was built in Dec of 2012.

13Maximasv

Just checked, same here. Want to bet I don't get 10 years out of it living in Minnesota like I did with my Diehard Gold North ?

MaxMus

you'll be lucky to get two. IMHO, this is the last Nissan I will be purchasing. They changed my battery to the 80 month battery 1 year into owning my car. Thinking I was good with a brand new battery, 1 year later, bam, it dies suddenyly at the gas station while filling up. No more than 5 minutes and I go to start my car to pull out and the battery gave me the middle finger. Then a few months later, i'm stuck in a traffic jam in the middle of a suspension bridge, god know how far up, and I think to myself, let me turn the car off completely without the radio for a few minutes. 20 minutes later I go to turn it on, and another middle finger was given to me. that was the worse place to get stuck at, and it was embarrassing to have to ask someone to give me a jump.

and that's just one thing in a long line of things that this 7th Generation Max has given me.

13Maximasv

Hopefully I make it 36 months then I'll get a diehard

sonomamax

I am on my 3rd battery in 3 yrs. All of them showed bad when the car was in for service, They did a battery check a recharge and a recheck and then changed out the battery. I bought me a 3 way jump starter and hadn't needed it yet. It has been about a yr since the last change out so if it lasts that long, am going to get a oil change in a month or so. The last 2 were the latest and greatest 80 month.

lightonthehill

There HAS to be something like curent leakage going on in your car. I kept my OEM battery four years with not a whisper of trouble. That included an awful summer when we had 108 degrees at our home in middle Georgia several days running (Atlanta Airport had 106 degrees those days). Based on scary reports here on maxima.org, I did upgrade to the 80 month 700 CCA Nissan battery after four years. But never any hint of a battery problem in five years with my '09.

Of course my good luck may be tied to the fact I let my dealer do all my maintenance, and there are 40 things on the list he always checks each oil change, one of which is to clean the battery terminals and make sure the electrolite level in the battery is correct.

He also does such things as record the psi, tread depth and brake pad condition for each wheel, which I compare with my readings. Just gives me a comfortable feeling about how dependable my car is. No problems of consequence in five years. I never had that kind of dependability in my Chevys, Oldsmobiles, Pontiacs, etc.

Just based on the many battery problems I have seen on this site, I must say Nissan may have 'under-batteried' the 7th gen from the get-go. I will be very surprised and disappointed if Nissan allows this battery situation to continue into the 8th gen Maxima.