Hi: I have a 2012 Maxima, fri night I believe I left my car on, after finding out my phone charger was working, thought I push to off, it's the brake to start push type, this morning I go push to start, nothing, now the brakes are locked up, any suggestions on how to get it started?

 

You will more than likely need a new battery. I actually did this once at work, I got it started from a jump and it took about 5 minutes of the other vehicle running before it would start. On the way home I had it checked with a tester at the auto parts store and found out the battery was toast.

 

You may be able to get a replacement battery from the dealership, especially since this is a common problem.

 

He could try and hit the dealership for another battery since they're crap to begin with but he says he left the start button in the "on position" overnight and that would be his fault.
When I left mine on at work all day it was an Interstate that I ruined.

 

My battery lasted 4 1/2 years, then started acting funny and finally wouldn't start.

 

That is actually very good service from the 550 Cold Cranking Amps battery that is OEM on all Maximas. 550 CCA is definitely not ideal for the Maxima. Nissan has a 700 CCA battery available for $114 ($128 minus $14 for trade-in of old battery) that is giving me excellent service.

I bet the 8th gen Maxima will have one of the new AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) batteries, which are not only sealed, but do not have liquid electrolyte sloshing around inside.

The AGMs are supposed to be a better power source for a vehicle that has lots of power demands, such as power seats, heated seats, air conditioned seats, heated steering wheel, heated mirrors, etc, etc. AGM batteries are supposed to last longer than the current 'flooded' type battery, and allow a deeper drain cycle.

But, as with any new technology, there are folks who are pro AGM and folks who are con AGM. I lean pro AGM at this time, but will reserve any final decision until I have used the AGMs for several years.

 

I had the 550CCA battery on my 2012 Maxima and just had it replaced at 36000 miles. Had the car for about close to 2 years and its only died once.

The Dealership was nice enough to upgrade me to the 700CCA whatever that means

 

So what happened to Nissan battery quality? I have a 10 year old Nissan Frontier with the original battery which is 490 CCA. It still works like a champ. I sold a 2000 Maxima GLE in 2010 when I bought my 7th Gen Maxima and that old GLE still had the original battery in it. My 2009 Maxima had to have the battery changed out 2 years ago. Nissan must have change battery manufacturers as the previous generation of batteries with small CCA's are sure outperforming the newest batteries that Nissan is using.

 

I had the 550cca battery, my cars a 2010 but bought it preowned last May and just about 2 months ago had to replace it due to not starting, so it lasted about 4.5 years assuming it was never replaced since new. Also I bought a interstate 800cca in it's place, and have to say so far I'm impressed and we've had some cold mornings in boston this year

 

The problem is partly because Nissan kept the lesser CCA batteries in the Maxima, when every Maxima generation was adding more and more electronic devices. This 7th gen Maxima has many times the electrical requirements that ten year old Frontier. Yes, I used to get 7 years on a battery in my Datsuns, but there was little electrical draw on those things.

I had no problems with the 550 CCA OEM battery in my '09 Maxima in four years of driving, but knew I was on borrowed time with a 550 CCA battery. So I upgraded to Nissan's 700 CCA a year and a half ago, and suspect it will be working fine for five to seven years. Not that I will have the car that long.

In a nutshell, with all the electronics involved in the 7th gen Maxima, Nissan made an error in judgement to equip it with a 550 CCA battery.

 

^ya the maxima is a fine made car, but nissan certainly did cheap out In a few areas and the battery was one

 

My 98 Maxima had all the same demands that you listed above except cooled seats. The items you mentioned are not even on when you are sitting there listening to the radio in the car. My 98 did not have any issues even with a crappy department store battery. I left my lights on for four hours and the car would still start easily.

Is the battery the problem or is it that the car for some reason draws too much current in assy or on mode. If the issue is with the car a new battery would not help much.

Those who upgraded the battery. Was the car able to provide assy power for a longer length of time and still be able to start the car or was it about the same? I'm no battery expert but it's probably the batteries reserve power that is more important here than CCA's.

 

Idk what batteries you guys had in your 4th and 5th gens but in my 4th, I was changing the battery at least every 3 years

 

Strange all my batteries last at least 4-5 years. They probably would have lasted longer but I change them at that point regardless. Those batteries were nothing special.

And the poster who indicated that he ruined the battery by discharging it completely. Most batteries can handle a total discharge and will continue working without issues.

That's like saying that anytime someone leaves their lights on and drains a battery completely they need a new battery. We all know that is not the case.

 

Save yourself some time in the long run and just replace your battery with a yellow top.

 

I was unaware the '98 Maxima had a heated steering wheel (which I have on six months of the year).

But I digress. It has been very evident from back in summer of 2008 that the 550 CCA battery in the 7th gen Maxima was OK, unless any kind of stress was put on it. Mine was still fine when I replaced it with a Nissan 700 CCA one after four years, mostly because of the scary things that had been reported here.

But those with the OEM battery who left the radio on without the motor running were quickly in trouble. But, like Nopike, I can attest that this was not the case in the Maximas I owned during the 1980s and 1990s.

I think, like Nopike suggests, there may be more to this problem than simply CCA. And, as he also suggests, reserve power would be one of the first places to look.

The easiest solution is to simply get a good battery before trouble arrives, and avoid being left in subzero weather in rural Montana or the heat of Death Valley with no way to start our car.

 

Once the car is running and the alternator starts charging battery drain from the heated steering wheel and any other items are not an issue so I do not understand lightonthehills logic.

If the assy position current draw in the Maxima is excessive even a good battery will not help. Have we really established that the current battery is inadequate? CCA is not the issue. The battery is manufactured by Johnson Controls I would expect that their batteries are well made.

Maybe Nissan as a responsible auto manuafacturer should examine and correct this situation as it's been going on for five years. There must be some Nissan employees that monitor this site in an effort to improve their products. Perhaps they can chime in.

 

As I stated in my post, the heated steering wheel thing was a digression, and I did not mean to suggest that would actually be involved in this battery problem. Like you said, this will be in use only when the car is running, and will have nothing to do with the battery problem.

I have wondered from back in 2008 if there may be some sort of excessive draw on the battery when the Maxima is parked. We know the security system is always drawing current, but that should be a very minimal amount. Maybe something else?

 

Ok...Nissan batteries are crappy. I have a '12 SV Sport that literally hit 30k miles and was serviced on Saturday...everything checked out fine, including the battery. Fast forward to this morning (3days later) and car didn't start. Mi jumped it with wife's car to drive back to the dealer. After testing everything, they determined it was the battery with a bum cell. They threw in a new weaned battery, but talk about frustrating when they literally checked it out a few days ago and everything tested out fine.

 

So this morning I had an important job interview, went to start my car and surprise.. dead battery. Took it to the dealer and surprise again no fault found. Needless to day I can't afford for this to happen again so what I was wondering from you folks was do you guys think an optima yellow top is worth the extra cost or would something like an interstate be just as good?

 

I recently installed an Optima Red top 34R. After reading these battery threads, I went ahead and just replaced it for "peace of mind". It has 800CCA. There was no 34R yellow top, so I got the red.

 

Nissan factory batteries are ****, probably ever since the early 2000's. Dura last gold top autozone working like a champ no problems two years now.

 

Good to hear because I'm concerned the battery in my 2014 will leave me stranded. It seems to have very little reserve capacity. The OEM battery is made by Johnson controls I would expect a decent product from them. But who knows.

Are you now able to play your stereo in accessory mode or turn on interior lights without having to worry that the car won't start?

 

Johnson also makes batteries for Die Hard, Interstate , Walmart,Sam's club and a lot more places.

The main problem is the battery is undersized at 550CCA