Battery dead today

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Gumbey

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Left for a week, battery is dead

I left on vacation for 9 days and when I returned I wanted to take my QX to the store to pick up a few items.

Well low and behold, the thing wouldn't start. It had some power, but it was extremely low and it wouldn't turn over. With each successive try the power was dwindling.

I had to call Roadside to come give me a boost, and it started up right away. After it started I noticed the 4WD light was on, which I though was weird as I hadn't even driven it anywhere at that point.

I took it for a 5 min drive to ensure the battery got charged up and brought it back into my garage. I restarted it and the 4WD warning light disappreared, so maybe it was an issue with the battery being drained.

This is not the only problem I've had with a bad battery. About 8 months ago this happened and Roadside could not even get it started with a jump and it had to be towed over 400 kms to the nearest dealer. Once they looked at it, they determined the battery was bad and changed it out under warranty(that was a really expensive battery!!!) So now I need to call the same dealer and ask what they think may be the issue.

Second issue is the battery itself. Now that it was virtually drained do I absolutely need to get a new battery? I hear and read different things regarding a drained battery. Some say change it out as it will never hold a full charge again, others say its still good.

Finally, why in 9 days did my battery die / fail ? Yes it was in my garage, it was also locked with the FOB like I would do anywhere. I don't believe 9 days is an unreasonable timeframe to keep the battery from discharging completely. However, according to the rep at roadside it was too long...WTF.
 
how old is your battery? is it the oem factory battery? they only last 2-3 years and that is best case. some more, some less.

the battery is not maintenance free so its possible the prior charges could have damaged a cell in the battery and having it sit could have pushed it over the edge. :)

the BCM , after a certain time (days), will shut off other functions in the car to prevent further drainage. there is also a fuse that can be pulled (it is pulled when it leaves the factory in japan and the stealer engages it when it lands at their place) when the car is to be sitting for a length of time, so next time perhaps engage this. i do think this is something the end user can pull.

now if its a 3rd party battery, you may have some gremlins running amok inside the dash. :D
 
The battery is not that old, as I mentioned it was replaced (under warranty) at the dealer about 8 months or so ago. The battery is a Nissan battery I think, from the dealer - so OEM.

Not trying to be difficult here, but in any of my vehicles I have had previously, never had I been forced to remove fuses or specifically ensure that the battery is not going to be drained after 9 days or so. That to me, is unreasonable and in a vehicle of this stature / value not very good.

The vehicle was locked with the FOB and while I am aware that the security system was armed this using slight power monitoring the vehicle, that shouldn't have been the system that drained the battery.

Can the dealer verify the power load on the system when it's shut down and locked? I would be interested to see if there is something there that can easily be caught.
 
whoa, slow down boss! ;)

I am only trying to help. dont shoot the messenger.

There is a fuse that is disengaged when these leave the port. its so the battery does not get drained or that the systems dont malfunction. its a feature and not every car has this, hence why you have not seen it on some previous models.

and it does not matter how old or new a battery is, it can still fail. anything can cause it to happen, and its worth a stress test at your local autozone or stealer do check the charging system.

so yes, the stealer does have a machine that can put a load and test your charge system. you can also hit up autozone or any comparable shop.
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I wasn't upset at you dude, don't worry.

I was trying to wrap my head around having to pull a fuse every time I go away for longer than 3 days and not drive my QX. Seems like a bit of inconvenience to me.
 
I went on a trip and didn't drive for 7 days last month. No problems when I got back.
 
gumbey,

that fuse is really only intended when the car is leaving japan. once it gets here to the states, the dealer engages it and it should, in theory, never be disengaged again.

its not something you need to do; i apologize that i made it sound that way. you should not have to remove anything if the car sits for a while.. i mean, thee cars sit on car lots for days at a time and they have no issues starting up, no? ;)

my point in all of this is, either your battery is defective or there is a gremlin working it way through. the only way is to do a DTC test to see if the car gives any codes. if not, check the charging system...
 
Battery

Yeah, I think there is a significant load on the battery while the QX is parked. I generally use a battery tender, trickle charger.
I find that if the QX hasn't been driven for three or four days and I connect the charger, it will take a day or two to get it up to storage level 13.5 volts.
There is a load, seems heavy compared to my other vehicles.
Mine has the original Nissan battery. Its two years old now, as we picked it up Labor day 2011.

I have always heard that auto batteries are hurt when drained completely and recharged. I haven't proven that theory. Marine batteries are supposedly able to handle those deep cycles.
If you don't trust the battery, I suggest get it replaced on warranty, its probably prorated after 12 months, but it help reduce the cost. I hate that feeling wondering about the battery reliability.

The dealer should be able to tell you what all is using electricity when the QX is not running.
Yeah that's killer, I would guess after three or four weeks, the battery would probably be dead on mine. I use a trickle charger to avoid that.
Keep us posted as to what you find out.
Have a good one !
Parrott
2011 QX56 black on black, 20 inch wheels, new air filter.
I need to rotate the tires:D
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He probably hit the "start" button an extra time and left it in ACCESSORY mode... I've done that. Came back to the car a few hours later and my radio was on.
 
Anything is possible, but I highly doubt it was "on" or accessory mode since it was locked with the FOB.

Could it still be in accessory even though it's locked and armed?
 
It happened to me.... well, I think it did. Once u past 40 u can barely remember your wife's name, let alone leaving her locked in the car with the AC off, but the radio on!
 
Stilling in the parking lot today, talking on the phone for about an hour and listening to the radio... when I went to start the QX it just ticked ticked ticked... arrrrggg!!!! after fiddling for 10mins trying to figure WTF was wrong, I realized that while I was talking/listen the darn head lights musta been on, because they are set to AUTO, which ultimately drained the battery.

Called up road side assistance, guy plugs in his battery booster... and vroom vroom, it starts. Battery not even 3yrs old yet. Odd for it to die on a "warm" day of 50-some degrees. I looked up the warranty, appears Infiniti gives u a new one in the first 24months, but drops to 50% prorated after that super quick.

How much is a battery at the $tealer. Any preference for other brands, such as Diehard, Interstate or Energizer??
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I have a 2011 QX56 with approximately 21,000 miles. I sent it in to have the flashing ABS icon on the dash looked at for the third time! While there, the service person stated my battery failed their 'check'. Interesting to note, I've never had an issue with our battery, yet it failed during their check of the vehicle. I was still under warranty (less than 24 months) and they installed a new one. The service person stated they use Interstate but with their label. Not sure what brand is installed in at Japan at time of delivery.

I would assume a battery at the dealership would exceed $100.00 but less than $200.00. One can only imagine the labor charge they would tack on.
 
Batt

I hate that headlight switch. The engineer that decided to put 'Auto' as the first option, should have his/her ass kicked!
It should be, from off, park lights, Headlight on, then Auto.
Instead of auto, park lights, then 'on'. That jolt of power does not help those hi intensity bulbs at all if you just want park light or want to manually switch on /off.
Then when turning off the headlights the voltage jolt is there for the headlights as you go by 'auto' to off. The switch is backward in rotation to every other vehicle I have. I hate that spike, I usually turn to auto at night and turn them off, but that dam opposite rotation causes me to go backwards if I don't look at it. grrrrr

Bummer about the battery. I wonder if they were weak to begin with as a group for the QX in general? Mine sure likes a trickle charger.
I think its a group 65 series battery? I would have to look, to make sure
but most specs for a group 65 are:
Group Size:65
Cranking Amps at 32 degrees F:1035
Cold Cranking Amps at 0 degrees F:875
Reserve Capacity:150
Volts:12
I think you want something like that.
Have a good one
Parrott
 
Battery seems fine today.. Will let u know on tuesday/wednesday as it's supposed to dip into the 20s here in the Mid-Atlantic
 
I got excited for a second there when reading the title as I thought you may have been experiencing the same issue I have with the battery.

Looks like it was not the case...:)
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Battert Died (somewhat) today

well... sitting in the car this morning listening to the radio (car is 0ff), waiting for someone that was bringing me something. After he drives off, I click the engine/start button and nada!!!! freckn battery drained again... why, because I forgot that the darn daylight running lights stay on while the car is sitting with the radio on. I was waiting for about 15mins. Had to call Infiniti Road Side Assistance ... came in about 40mins

Doesn't that seem ridiculous for a battery to drain in about 15mins, that you can not start the car. Granted the darn battery is about 4 years old , but when I was at the $tealer for servicing last month, he said the battery was good.

This is the 2nd time the battery has drained on me while listening to the radio... yeah I know, turn off the AUTO setting on the lights, but who remembers to do that.

Shall I get a new battery, or just say it was just bad luck, again (last time it happened was about the same time last year) :eek:
 
I vote to replace it. Mine went earlier this year (2012 model). The only clue I had that it was failing was the "beeping" while opening the tailgate started sounding really weird. Two days later, no start.
 
These damn SUVS are killers on the battery. I think mine is starting to go bad again...this will be the 3rd one...good thing they have been free...
 
Had the same thing happen to us while pumping gas. Only took five minutes, but that was enough. Tech claimed that the car detects some kind of problem and actually prevents it from starting. Roadside assistance was estimating 90 mins for me, so I asked someone who was pumping gas if they could give me a jump start. Started right away, and the battery was fine for the next two days. Took it in for service and they replaced it under warranty.
 
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