Battery died while garaged
 

Hey everyone,

My Z's been garaged since Dec. I went to start it up today and it won't start (it tries, but won't turn over). This may be a dumb question, but do I just need to jump the battery? Never jumped a higher end car before so I want to make sure that's what I should try.

Thanks in advance

Put a charger on the battery overnight. If the car starts after charging, you are probably OK although the battery may be weak. I suggest using a float charger while the car is in storage.

Yes doesn't matter if higher end or not just jump it or you could hook it up to a charger and charge the battery


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I don't suggest jumping modern cars unless you have to. It can be done without damage to the car but why take the chance if you don't have to? If you can't wait for a charger to charge the battery, go ahead and jump it but be very careful.

Thanks for the quick response everyone. I don't have a charger or cables...but I can borrow cables off a coworker if needed.

Car's computers will drain your batter in as little as a month. Invest in a trickle charger if you are going to garage a car. Keep your car hooked up to it while in storage.

I have a trickle charger I used on my motorcycle. I'm assuming that probably won't work on a car lol

You can use it.. Amps is amps.

If the charger can be set for 12V and the car battery is in good shape, it may work. Check the current draw with the charger connected - if greater than current listed on charger label, buy a bigger charger.

Pretty much any trickle charger should be enough to offset the drain while stored. You can always check on it once a week or so and see how it's doing. Just pull off the trickle charger, wait a few minutes for surface charge to dissipate, and then check the battery voltage with a voltmeter.

Another option for winter storage is to just disconnect the negative battery cable completely while stored. You may *still* need a trickle charger or an occasional hit with a real charger (because lead-acid batteries lose charge slowly on their own, but AGM or Gell-Cell do it much slower), but you definitely won't have drain. Only real downside is it resets the ECU, so you have to deal with that (mostly: you have to reset the window motor controls by running them down then back up + hold for several seconds, and take it easy for the first few miles while it re-learns fuel trims).

Jump-starting the car is just as fine on a 370Z as it is on any other car. ECUs have been around a long time and they're in pretty much every vehicle on the road these days. As long as you don't do something stupid that's as likely to cause a fire or electrocute you as hurt the car, nothing will go wrong. I jump-start mine constantly in the cold now (with one of those portable jump-start battery pack things) because its tiny little lithium battery never starts well on a winter-cold morning at the track.

While I'm pontificating: change the oil ASAP. Oil that's been sitting there for a season sucking up moisture and becoming acidic is no good for the car.

Currently using my buddies motorcycle trickle charger on the Z, did last year also and it was fine.

I used to always just disconnect the battery during storage. Most annoying thing you'll have to do is the 3 second window reset again, thats it.

In the future, if you're hibernating your Z over the winter months, you may want to simply consider disconnecting the battery by removing the cable from the negative battery terminal. You may need to perform some re-sets in the spring after you re-connect the battery, but the battery should maintain its charge. The alternative is a trickle charger. Right now, I'd recommend placing the battery on a charger over-night to restore the charge. I would only recommend boosting when you're stranded, without access to a charger.

:iagree: if storing it just disconnect the negative and keep it well away from battery terminals :tup:

done it for years both my Z32 and Z34 have started every spring no issues, just some resetting to be done :ugh2:

wow, search button must be broken today...

easiest is jump your car, drive for 1hr on hwy.

Float charger, not trickle charger. Latter will boil the battery if left on too long.

Very helpful. Because of this post, my car just started.

My trickle charger has 2, 12V settings...a 2A and a 6A. Which one should I use?

Once the battery is charged, used the lowest setting. As MacCool pointed out, a float charger is what you need. The charger you have may be able to regulate at the low current level required - keep a close eye on electrolyte level for a few weeks and see what happens.

Buy a cheap float charger* designed for car batteries and sleep easy at night.

* Not a recommendation for the vendor or product, just one of the first examples I found when I Googled "float charger".

So should I use the 6A setting until it's charged?

You don't want to go there.

Why not? Because I only have my crappy a** phone to access the internet these days and I wanted a quick answer instead of searching through pages of stuff on my 2 inch screen? Yep, lets go there lol

Depends on the state of charge now. If you have a few hours, I'd put it on 2A. If you are in a hurry, go with 6A. If the battery needs the extra amps, it'll take it; if it still has some charge, the charger/battery should self-regulate (if everything IRL worked like theory). But many chargers designed for charging a battery cannot properly float a battery.

The more I think about it, the more strongly I want to suggest buying a new float charger that is designed to maintain charge during storage. You can find cheap ones for $10 and better-than-adequate ones can be found for $30-50. As others have mentioned, over-charging the battery can kill it. It can generate enough heat to cause a fire (not that likely with a small charger like you have), and can even release enough hydrogen gas to be an explosion hazard (always possible, so make sure the area around the battery is well-ventilated when charging).

Not the fact that you did not search, I meant the well intentioned sarcasm.

Thank you. Sounds like I'll just buy a new charger if they're that inexpensive. I'm in no hurry to charge it, so I'll put it on 2A in the meantime. Should leaving it on this setting overnight do the trick? At least Ill have a new charger for next winter (if I keep the car).

If it's a decent charger, it will float (close enough for overnight) once the battery is charged.

The charger you have may work for storage, but why risk it when the right one is so cheap? But, yeah, the charger you have should work fine for overnight use (unless it's a POS).

I don't understand why people are so scared :ugh2:

just unplug the negative terminal on your car every year or any time you will not be driving it for 4+ weeks

takes 30 seconds to reset the windows everything else.

O wait! you will need to do the clock on the centre bezels, if you have nav that one on screen normally sets itself :tup:

^^This is also the cheaper route costs you zero$$$ for electricity :icon17:

A $40 Battery Tender is simpler. Here in Minnesota, seasonal rolling stock is the norm. I have boats, quads, motorcycles, cars, and mowers on these things all winter. In the spring, I take 'em off and put on the snowmobiles and snowblowers.

A discharged battery (less than 80% charge) will not only short the plates due to sulfation (decreased battery life), it will also freeze. A charged battery won't freeze until about -56 degrees. That's sufficient, even in Minnesota.

mah :ugh2: I've never had a problem and I am in the true great white north CANADA but to each their own :tiphat:

at work a battery not in use is only disconnected and only ever placed on charger if and when it's needed not just because you want to keep it topped up. we can have batteries sit in storage for a couple years pull them out and they are good to go.

I guess I also saved $40 minimum as I didn't have to go buy anything extra :icon17:

You want to do two things after you charge the battery. Check your voltmeter with the car running and check that it's reading ~14.5V. Then, go get a load test done on your battery. If this checks out ok, you have a current drain that needs correcting. Your battery shouldn't die after sitting for two months.

even 4-6months you should only have minimal loss…..

Yes, I'll have the battery tested after I get it charged back up. The battery is not dead, just weak. The issue seems like the car is only trying to turn over once when I press the start button. I feel like if it had a key to turn, it would eventually turn over...maybe not, but just what it seems like. Anyway, it's still to earlier in the season to get it out of the garage so I may just pull the battery and charge it in my apt.

The cost of a Battery Tender is worth it to me to avoid the hassle of disconnecting, removing, and storing a seasonal battery, then installing and reprogramming when going back into service. I used to do it that way years ago, before float chargers were readily available, but then got smarter when t hey did. As you say, each to their own. I'll pay to avoid the inconvenience.

:tiphat:

however disconnecting it is all that is needed I don't even take the battery out of the vehicle. end of season easy one step deal disconnect it and your done.

then there is only 3 steps for restart
- connect battery & start the car let it idle then while idling to warm up etc
- reset auto windows
- set clock and wait for temps to rise so you can go rip it! :driving:

It is funny how often we see these threads though, these and "oil threads" :roflpuke2:

come on people it's easy, don't be scared it's only pu$$y

And I would do it that way if the money was more important to me than the inconvenience...:tup:

Extended Storage Switch
 

Is anyone using the extended storage switch in the fuse block? Nissan expects the car to be stored winters in colder climates and knows that it has a parasitic drain during extended storage and provided an extended storage switch to reduce the drain. You just pull out the switch and it cuts power to a few electronic control modules to reduce the current drain. It is actually just a fuse with a plastic case around it with locking tabs on the side. It's on pages 8-24 & 8-25 of my 2012 owners manual.

Really?! Lol! :eek:

Sweet! :tiphat:

I am going to take a look in my manual :tup: