I've owned my 2007 G35 X for about 3 years now and it's a certified preowned car. I absolutley love it but lately have been having some issues with the car. The car has about 45,000 miles on it and the battery has compltely died on the car a few times after not being driven for a few hours. I.e. went to a driving range, hit a bucket of ***** for a few hours, came back to the car to have the battery be dead. I would get a jump and the problem wouldn't occur again for another 12 months or so.

But recently it's been a bigger issue. About a month ago, I found my battery compeltely dead after sitting there for a full day and tried a jump but didn't work. Checked the volts and it was down to about 2.50 V so ended up replacing with a brand new one. I switched my tires over from winter to summer ones yesterday and the car was driving fine at about 7 PM. Then went to turn on the car this morning around 6 AM and battery is completly dead and voltmeter is showing roughly 7.60 V.

Any one else having a similar problem at all? Could it be the TPMS? (since the winters didn't have the sensors, then again I dunno how to explain the times this has happened with the TPMS sensors on my summer tires). Also, I should mention that the radio has been acting wierd latetly. The frequency seems to switch automatically and sometimes goes back to the station I was listening but not always. Couldn't this be an indication of a electrical problem with my radio and the possible cause for a battery drain?

 

Do you leave a phone charger plugged in?

 

hmm that's a good question. I've had one in there for about 2 weeks, I barely use it. I guess that could be the problem but not sure why the battery kept on draining before that?

 

Damn don't know then. Maybe something electrical not turning off then...

 

If you're positive that there were no accessories left on to explain the power drain, and you had a brand new replacement battery die within a month, I'd efinitely get your car in to have the electrical system checked. Static testing of the alternator might turn up something, but a dynamic test while in the car is much better. You can always DIY the part they discover to be bad and just pay them for the diagnostics.
btw, I don't see any way the TPMS would have anything to do this your symptoms, as that system is totally off when the car is off.

.02

 

Yeah I am pretty sure except for the cell phone charger that's been plugged in for 2 weeks nothing else is on. I was thinking I'd exchange the battery as it should still be under warranty and if it dies again then look in to taking it to the dealer?

 

Yeah, I guess as long as you have the warranty you could try it one more time just t be sure. If you do end up taking it in to a shop, I think I'd try one that specialized in auto electrical before going to a dealer. They'd be cheaper and probably even better.

 

A few of us have had issues with power drain. Even some early G37 coupes have had issues. They have a TSB on theirs whereas we do not. The dealer checked my car out, didn't find anything wrong, and suggested I disconnect the battery when not in use (WTF?). I went through 2 batteries on warranty. When it happened again, I just got an aftermarket battery and then changed the EVAP vent control solenoid that was mentioned in the G37 tsb. Have not had an issue since.

 

haha the suggestion was to disconnect the battery when not in use! Wtf is wrong with them....Thanks for the suggestion, I'll look and see if I can figure out how to do that. The Battery I installed a month ago was an after market one so I am going to go exchange it today as it should still be under warranty.

 

You situation may be different. Mine was related to drainage when not in use. It manifested itself usually in the winter. I do not drive my G35 every day normally. I do have an Escort radar detector that outputs voltage on the display, so I knew the alternator was not a question mark. If you park it for a few hours and find it dead, I suspect your charging system is faulty like vqsmile suggested and not some parasitic losses.

 

I'd be curious how your car behaved with that solenoid unplugged (assuming it's got plugs) during an extended period of no use. Might be worth it to see if you notice any difference in battery performance (after a long sit) before you go buying the part.

 

That is exactly why i got the solenoid (I think a $50 part). Not only is it in the G37 tsb, you'll find it in a bunch of tsb's for other Nissans. I think intermittently, it is draining power when the car is off but not all the time. I used to take a multimeter to my battery when parked while this was going on. Sometimes battery voltage would be down, sometimes it would be fine. I too used the trickle charger in the winter as a temporary fix. Not any more.

 

Hi guys. After 3 years I've decided to finally fix my battery drain problem rather than always jumping it and scamming AutoZone out of new batteries under their warranty (they keep giving me replacements even though I tell them it's my car's fault).

So my battery will go dead if I don't use it for a few days. I go through a new battery every 6 months to a year because the problem seems to get worse the older the battery is.

My car is no longer under warranty. Is taking it to Infiniti the best option? I should tell them it could be this vent control valve? I remember reading a while ago that it was the satellite radio that was draining the battery and that people had success fixing this problem by having a switch installed that turned the radio completely off when the car is off. I'm not finding any information about that now.

Any advice on what I should do?

 

What sort of troubleshooting skills do you have?

When i had a drain, this is the method I use to troubleshoot. You need a digital multimeter capable of measuring DC amps up to 10A or more.

Disconnect one lead of the battery and hook the meter up in series. You should see less than an amp of current draw with the car shut off. Usually if you have a drain, you'll see 2-3A or more of drain.

At that point, to help narrow down the affected circuit, i'll start pulling fuses. If i pull a fuse and see the 2-3 amps disappear, i'll know there is a draw on that circuit.

From there, you can start to narrow down the problem.

Just an idea for troubleshooting. Not all multi-meters have the capability of measuring a,ps in DC. And some only measure under 1A

 

None. I don't know anything about cars, nor do I have any tools.


I'll pass this on to the mechanics if they're stumped. Thanks for the reply.