Nissan 370Z Forum - View Single Post

Vaughanabe13 · 04-08-2013, 12:22 PM

Stored my Z for December-March. This is the midwest, so it can very cold in the winter, though this year it was milder. I had it connected to a battery tender trickle charger, as recommended. I was storing the car at a relative's house and he told me the trickle charger was pretty much always in the red state, which means it's charging and hasn't reached close to fully charged. I didn't think much of it, because in late November the battery was fine at my pre-storage oil change.

On the other hand, my Z is an 09 and I haven't replaced the battery as long as I've owned it (< 2 years). Assuming it has the original battery, that's going on 4.5 years or so battery life from the factory. Only 18K miles though.

So anyway, I went this weekend to pick up the Z and it was totally dead. The starter could only get a few clicks in before it just quit. On each click I saw the LCD briefly flash on/off so clearly the battery was dead and it wasn't the steering lock. I tried jumping it with my jump pack and that was taking too long, so I switched to cables. I had to rev the other engine for a good 20+ minutes continuously before the Z would finally start.

After driving it for a couple hours, the battery seems recharged again and the car starts up fine. The voltage on the triple meter looks good while the alternator is charging - a solid 14.5V or so. I'll check the battery voltage with my multimeter later, but I've also got an oil change this week so I'll have them run the test anyway.

My first question is, why did the battery tender seemingly not do anything while the car was in storage? Is there a point in the battery's life where it is discharging faster than the battery tender can charge? Thus the battery tender was always struggling to keep up? Or is it possible the battery tender wasn't properly connected? The only thing I wonder about is whether or not you're supposed to connect the negative clamp to the '-' battery terminal, or to the engine block. I used engine block.

Is the battery getting close to needing a replacement? I tried searching the forum and it seems like there isn't really a consensus that I could find as to when the battery goes. 4 years seems like pushing it but I'm not sure.

Thanks.

04-08-2013, 12:22 PM	#1 (permalink)
Vaughanabe13 Enthusiast Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Iowa Posts: 387 Drives: 09 Nissan 370Z M6 Rep Power: 14	Battery dead after winter storage Stored my Z for December-March. This is the midwest, so it can very cold in the winter, though this year it was milder. I had it connected to a battery tender trickle charger, as recommended. I was storing the car at a relative's house and he told me the trickle charger was pretty much always in the red state, which means it's charging and hasn't reached close to fully charged. I didn't think much of it, because in late November the battery was fine at my pre-storage oil change. On the other hand, my Z is an 09 and I haven't replaced the battery as long as I've owned it (< 2 years). Assuming it has the original battery, that's going on 4.5 years or so battery life from the factory. Only 18K miles though. So anyway, I went this weekend to pick up the Z and it was totally dead. The starter could only get a few clicks in before it just quit. On each click I saw the LCD briefly flash on/off so clearly the battery was dead and it wasn't the steering lock. I tried jumping it with my jump pack and that was taking too long, so I switched to cables. I had to rev the other engine for a good 20+ minutes continuously before the Z would finally start. After driving it for a couple hours, the battery seems recharged again and the car starts up fine. The voltage on the triple meter looks good while the alternator is charging - a solid 14.5V or so. I'll check the battery voltage with my multimeter later, but I've also got an oil change this week so I'll have them run the test anyway. My first question is, why did the battery tender seemingly not do anything while the car was in storage? Is there a point in the battery's life where it is discharging faster than the battery tender can charge? Thus the battery tender was always struggling to keep up? Or is it possible the battery tender wasn't properly connected? The only thing I wonder about is whether or not you're supposed to connect the negative clamp to the '-' battery terminal, or to the engine block. I used engine block. Is the battery getting close to needing a replacement? I tried searching the forum and it seems like there isn't really a consensus that I could find as to when the battery goes. 4 years seems like pushing it but I'm not sure. Thanks. __________________ 2009 Nissan 370Z Touring, w/sport, 6MT, chicane yellow/black. Last edited by Vaughanabe13; 04-08-2013 at 12:30 PM.