Plague Boy wrote:
> Well, I have a new problem with the Nissan. It's been snowed in, and
> with temps near zero, I figured even if I dug it out, I would probably
> just drain the battery trying to get it to start.
>
> Yesterday, after work, I dug the car out and tried to start it. Temp
> about 14F. It *did* start, after the symptoms describe in the "cold
> start" post. So, I let it idle for about 15 minutes to warm up, with the
> heater on max and rear defogger.
>
> When I drove it, I noticed the dash lights seemed a little dim. I
> drove it about a mile, tried to keep RPMs up to charge the battery.
>
> I got to the shopping center and was pulling into the parking lot
> when...it died. Engine stopped, warning lights came on. Car would not
> start, even when I shut all electrical off. I had to push it to a
> parking spot.
>
> After sitting for a few minutes trying to figure out a course of
> action, I turned the key. It fired right up like nothing had happened. I
> revved the engine and thought it over. I shut it off. I restarted it
> with no problem. So, I got my groceries, came out and started the car
> again, no problem. About two blocks later, I stopped for a stop sign.
> Oops, car is dead. Would not restart, just "click click". A passing
> motorist gave me a jump, and I tried to drive home without stopping.
> Didn't make it; trying to push through an intersection at low speed car
> stalled again and would not start. However, I was at the top of a hill,
> so I pushed it through, coasted and bump-started. No problem.
>
> At this point, the car started losing power while driving at 15-20
> MPH. I found out that if I turned the headlights off, the car recovered
> power *instantly*. So I drove the last miles home turning the lights on
> and off to keep the car going while I ran every stop sign. I slammed
> into the driveway, cursed the car liberally, and brought the groceries
> inside.
>
> So. What is wrong? I'm not sure. I know the guy I bought the car
> from had electrical problems in boston last year. He had a garage
> install a new battery and alternator (Nov '06. When I got the car, I
> installed a new battery tray and hold down, cleaned the battery and
> added a little distilled water, cleaned the terminals and clamps and
> sprayed with anti-corrosive. I switched that battery for another one I
> had purchased in Feb of '07 when I ran it down trying to start the car
> in the last cold spell.
Electrical, like you said. You probably have a bad ground somewhere.
SInce you've replaced the ALT and BATT recently, a bit too frequently as
well, I might add, those connections must be clean, right? I suggest you
nurse the car until you get to warmer temps and replace or clean all
ground connections. For example, follow the negative battery cable from
the battery. It will ground to the chassis. Clean that. Then the cable
will ground again to the transmission or motor. Clean that. Use
something like a stainless steel toothbrush so all your contacts are
****ny.
Follow the positive cable from the battery. The cable sortof has 2 sets
of wires coming from it. One side goes to the fusible link/fuses box.
Clean that. The other side goes directly to the starter, I beieive.
CLean those to.
When cleaning the assumption is that the battery is dis-connected and
sitting outside the car to give you room to reach all these connections.
>
> I also checked the alt connections this summer while working on the
> car, and they visually looked good. I noticed the starter connector
> looked corroded, but it looked had to get at so I didn't clean it,
> which would be my usual "new-to-me" drill.
>
> After removing the battery tonight after work, I noticed the
> negative cable is green and corroded between the lug and the insulation.
> This looks like a "single point of failure" to me so I am going to
> rehab/replace it tomorrow. I have read many posts about bad grounds in
> Nissans.
Bad grounds are a car thing, not Nissan thing. Another thing to do after
you've totally cleaned everything and put back the battery, all
connections are tight and snug . . . .coat the + and - connection with
vaseline (petroleum jelly) The vaseline provides a protective coating to
prevent corrosion from getting to the terminals.
>
> I'm thinking maybe it's a "perfect storm" problem-cold temps,
> battery discharge, heavy alternator demand. I realized later that
> letting it idle with the heaters on probably didn't do it any favors.
Leaving the heater on shouldn't hurt anything. The fan causes minimal
battery drain unless it on full blast. Defogger and headlights, now
that's a battery drain. Got foglights? even more drain.
>
> Any specific advice from anybody?
>
>
>
CD
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