New car, battery already half dead ???
 

:confused::wtf:One morning it was really cold outside -4 F which is the equivalent of -20 C here in Canada, it was cold, and my car was inside the garage having spent the week end there without moving, no lights left on really nothing abnormal.
I had a hard time cranking the engine, took me 5 times to get it going, no juice to turn the engine like a dead battery so finally I got it going and went to the dealer after my shift to get it checked and they told me that my almost year old battery was half dead but since it passes the Nissan criteria just borderline they couldn't replace it. What a bummer, a 2014 with a **** battery.
I called Nissan and they said same B.S., sorry sir it meets the borderline NISSAN criteria so now I have to buy a new battery.
Anybody had this problem ? That question is probably for the guys who drive their car in the sub zero temperatures !!

Stuff fails, but I'm amazed they didn't warranty anything out... I thought the battery was covered in the 3/36

how long does the starter crank when you press the button? 5sec?

Battery, 12month/12,000 miles factory warranty the last I remember. Been a while though.

My 2010 still cranks at 3F tested this year, no prob here. Ur car might be an 2009.

It is under warranty but when they tested it they said it was good enough to past their criteria, Is was border line good enough on their gauge. Honestly it's not a full good battery, they should have replace it. Now I can't trust it, I'll have to buy another one just for peace of mind.

Starter was cranking no problem but you could tell that the motor wasn't turning very fast due to the lack of CCA. I never had a problem like this with any other cars even after 5 years old battery, just a bad battery from the supplier but Nissan should have replaced it, especially when you pay a lot of money for a car like this, they are not cheap here in Canada !

No it's a 2014 bought brand new still smell new !

how long is your daily drive? might be too short to charge the battery... or did you have a remote stater, alarm, or stereo installed?

I do 22 miles one way and have no other gadgets than the stock equipment in the car. I had a few new cars like two Camry's, Mini, Veloster, doing the same trip and it never happened.

i c. 22 miles is plenty. hummm.. hope your new battery holds up.


when your engine is running wat does your voltmeter say? 14v+?

Tip: Turn on your headlights for a little bit before cranking when it's real cold.

Amazing how Nissan has a borderline rating UNLESS you're out of warranty, then they want to sell you one of their crap batteries.

to really kill it? :ugh:

No. It gets the battery "warmed up". Gets the chemical reaction going so there is a better chance of getting a better crank.

:icon17:

id rather be using the starter to 'warm up' the battery if first try doesnt turn over.
honestly draining the capacity is risky business on a very cold day. you only get a few tries to start the car.

a lot of folks crank too short and kill the starter and try a re-attempt while it is better to just keep cranking it for up to 10sec or so in one shot. (i suppose it will 'warm up' the battery too while doing so)

not sure how long the cranking duration is on the Z since it's a push-start..and i dont drive the z in the winter. :confused:

I have heard this before in the past. I don't buy it, but some do.

Its the extreme heat or extreme cold that kills the batteries and some arent that great brand new. It sucks I know but I would get a new one if I were you or buy a trickle charger if you dont drive it for a few days.

At -10F mine only turned over a few more times than normal with an Optima. OP's battery sounds weak rather than dead.

My 2009
 

I remember getting my Z in January of 2010 and everything seemed normal, but in the spring I inspected all the cells and only one was low and starting to sulfate a bit so instead of putting distilled water in I poured some extra battery acid I had from a motorcycle/lawnmower fill container into that one cell and hear it is 5 years later. This winter it started to show some weakness and I haven’t driven in a few weeks so I may put it on a 4amp charge for about 6 hours to boost it up. I plan on replacing it early this summer if it holds up.

Cars sitting on the lot for some time can kill a battery with the quickness. Once it goes dead once, it is hard on the battery. You may have got a lot lizard. LOL

i work at a ford dealer, so maybe there is some similarities with what nissan does. but we have handheld battery testers and a big Rotunda battery tester. Ford will only pay for a new battery if the battery fails the rotunda tester. many times, the battery will fail the handheld tester and then pass the rotunda tester. in which case, there is nothing we as the dealership can do to help, unless you are a preferred customer and we fudge the results. but obviously we do not use the rotunda tester when it is out of warranty as there is no reason to. so, my advice would be to just wait for a while longer to give the battery more time to die and take it back. perhaps nissan has the same warranty claims process on batteries as we do.

Alternator is charging 14V +, no problem there, cheers !

Looks like it will crank for a while until the battery goes dead, It's like holding the key to the "on" position as long as you want.

I was thinking about going back later in the year to another dealership and get them to check it again in case I'm lucky and they change it but my wife said:
Don't waist your time and buy another one.
I don't trust this battery now so I will replace it before I get stranded somewhere with no help in site, thanks guys for the replies I just got a bad battery, lucky me !

i c. thanks for the info. but yah, that's how it should be done. one long attempt is better than a few short attempts and kill the capacity.

that's a wise decision. battery is cheap and easy to replace.

Batteries use to be cheap. They are stupid expensive now. :eek:

really? not sure what battery you're looking for, but you can get a good one for under $100.

I would just use the battery you have until it dies and you can get warranty on it. Keep one of these with you, I have one like it and it works great!

Where? You can buy a pos one with 500cca for right at 100 bucks. They are 130 plus now at most if not all part stores

Interstate battery from Costco. Z uses an ordinary battery you can find at most places cheap. If you are looking for batteries for the BMW's and the like, then it is harder to find and cost quite a bit more.

IMO, even $130 isn't that much considering that it will last 4 to 5 years. Most good batteries have 3 years free replacement warranty.

Nissan let me down !
 

I saw that charger on the internet. The guy was cranking a motorcycle many times and after would go to a truck and start it and go back to the motorcycle again and crank it up several times and that thing still had power, wow. Amazing tool and compact too.
I bought a SOLAR battery tester and my CCA was 400 but not enough to get a new battery because Nissan said it was border line acceptable. This is so much B.S. from Nissan. They can't replace a stupid $100.00 battery after I spent all this money on a brand new fully loaded Z.