In august I experienced my car struggling to start. It seemed like something was draining it, but I thought nothing of it. The battery then died. I had it jumped and took it to a mechanic. My maxima received a tune-up and the mechanic suggested maybe the battery was a dud. He replaced it and tested the altinator. Everything checked out okay. I had no further problems for a month. I drove it to college and then left it in my parking lot for about 5-7 days since I did not need it to get around. I go to start it one day and the battery is completely dead again. It's been sitting for over a month in the lot, but recently I put another new battery in. Now I know its not just the battery.
I noticed back in Aug that when I would close and lock all my doors, the security light would continuely flash and the alarm would never set. All my doors are close, as the interior lights go off. I never thought anything of it, but after talking to a few mechanics this weekend, they say that could be draining my battery. Does this sound correct? At the local dealership- they suggested taking out the 4th from the top fuse on the left side of my fuse box. I have done that and the light stopped blinkin, but did that really fix the problem? I've yet to see, since this only happened a few days ago. I need a long term solution anyways, since the fuse controled radio, some interior lights, selt belt and just makes everything act a lil tweaky. Most shops have steered away from wanting to disable the system, due to the complications of the wiring. One company was willing to do it, but is there a simplier solution? Also, could anything else be causing this battery drain? Thanks

 

Darklink,
There are 6 points that could cause your car security light problems. It is in either one of the four doors, the trunk or the hood. My guess is if you open your hood and go over to the left hand side of the engine and locate the hood security switch, it will need to be adjusted so that it activates the security. It is located right next tot he rubber grommet that adjust the height of the hood when closed. Check it to see if it needs replacing. You can do this by compressing the switch with a pair of vice grips then lock the doors. I'll bet either that switch is bad or not making contact.

As for the electrical draw, here is a suggestion. Buy a tester with a light. Disconnect the ground. Clamp one end of the connector to the negative post of the battery and connect/contact the other end to the negative battery cable. When the light comes on, start pulling fuses to trace the draw. When getting set-up to do this, you need to do a few things first. Make sure the battery is charged. Open the drivers doors and remove the door/interior light switch and disconnect it, down at the bottom of the sill. Start the car, and shut it off. Leave the drivers door open. With the door/interior light switch removed, you will not reactivate the TCU(Time control unit). It does pull a draw on the Battery for about 30 secs after activated. Wait the 30 secs and make your test lamp connections. If you open the passengers door, you will have to start the process all over again, The TCU is very touchy. Now it is a waiting game. When the test lamp lights, the draw has begun. If I could offer a suggestion, try the fusible links by the battery first. Try the first one for the Battery/Alternator. If the light goes off, order new alternator. For some reason the Bosch or Mitsubishi Alternators, Nissan used on these cars have diodes that go bad. When the car is running, every garage will tell you that the Alternator is charging fine, but when one of these diodes goes bad, they work fine when the car is running, but create these draws when the car is idle. It took me three days to finally realize the draw on my car began 2 hours after it shut off. If I started the car the next day and ran it for a few hours, it would buy me another day. BUt usually within 3 days the battery was dead. I would recharge the battery and same thing would happen. A quick way without pulling the fusible link would be to pull the solid white wire connector apart where it connects to the battery. This wire leads to that fusible link and is easier to get at. Finding this draw is not fun. IF you find it is not the alternator, then start pulling the fuses one at a time in th efuse box. If it still doesn't go out, you will need to start pulling the relays above the fuse box, or those in the engine to find out which one is bad. I'm guessing your problem will e the same as mine. It cost about 150.00 for a new Bosch Alternator with a 69 MM pulley and about another 20 bucks for the capacitor to reduce the engine whir fronm making it into the electrical system. Replacing the alternator takes about 30 minutes once up on jack stands. Good luck.

 

thanks for your reply and I'll check

but I'm pretty sure its not the alternator because I checked it with a voltage meter when the car was running. It was producing about 14 (volts?). This is what its supposed to be putting out, right?

 

it should be putting out between 12 and 16 yes, but usually 14 exactly, I had the problem with the secruity light flashing, i went to nissan and they said it was ok to let it flash for small periods of time, but not mulitple days. Everytime i got in my car actually i would put that fuse in, and everytime i got out i would remove it, I did not want to spend hundreds or thousands fixing this, plus it wasn't that big of a deal for me. I'm curious as to where your power problem is coming from though? Do you have any auxilary things hooked up to your car? system, radar, portable cd player?? Something is draining the battery, or just not recharging it, so take that fuse out everytime you get out of your car for a while, then the next week, don't take it out, thats my only suggestion.

 

the alternator will charge fine when the car is running. Mine did also. It wasn't until I did what I explained that I was 100% certain it was the alternator. I have not taken the time to research the "why" this happens, but I hope you take the time to track it. I hjave had new battery and alternator in the car for about a week now and it starts everyday without an issue. Did you check the hood latch for the security light? When I got this car about 5 months ago, the security light did the same. I had other issues with the car which led to replacing the hazard switch, the directional switch and the directional relay under the dash. While I was at the junkyard I found another hood switch in good conditon and replaced the one I had. After replacing those items, the blinking stopped.

 

It may not help solve the problem, but my Maxima has an extended storage switch in the fuse panel. When I turn it off, it saves battery power by not operating the dome light, clock memory, power seat belts, etc. Your model should have the same thing in the fuse panel. Maybe trying this switch will help keep your battery from draining until you isolate the problem.