Infiniti G37 dead battery again.

[LittleBill21]

the meter you linked is prolly even over kill, 99% of most testing can be done with a 10 dollar meter

have any of these bad battery's been tested? killed means alot of different things

also what is a cheap battery?

generally only the alternator can kill a battery that quickly, its either overcharging or undercharging, does the battery still have water in it when its dead?

alot of ways to go before throwing another battery at it

 

[N80]

the meter you linked is prolly even over kill, 99% of most testing can be done with a 10 dollar meter

have any of these bad battery's been tested? killed means alot of different things

also what is a cheap battery?

generally only the alternator can kill a battery that quickly, its either overcharging or undercharging, does the battery still have water in it when its dead?

alot of ways to go before throwing another battery at it

Cheap batteries is what I've been getting from AutoZone or Advance, I don't recall. (Its a whole other story, just realized after several years that these had to be replaced more often than supposedly higher quality in various other vehicles. Neither of the cheap ones were completely dead but just wouldn't keep a full charge and would require a jump more often and then wouldn't jump at all. They'd eventually take a full charge with the trickle charger but it wouldn't last. I still use one of them for a portable chainsaw sharpener.

Plenty of water in them. But remember, these are not dying quickly per se. The current one is 8 months old.

I'll test as azclan recommended and get back to you guys once I get a multi tester.

I'm also going to get one of those emergency starter batteries to keep in the trunk. It has only stranded my wife once but that is too much.

 

[RNeumann]

Cheap batteries is what I've been getting from AutoZone or Advance, I don't recall. (Its a whole other story, just realized after several years that these had to be replaced more often than supposedly higher quality in various other vehicles. Neither of the cheap ones were completely dead but just wouldn't keep a full charge and would require a jump more often and then wouldn't jump at all. They'd eventually take a full charge with the trickle charger but it wouldn't last. I still use one of them for a portable chainsaw sharpener.

Plenty of water in them. But remember, these are not dying quickly per se. The current one is 8 months old.

I'll test as azclan recommended and get back to you guys once I get a multi tester.

I'm also going to get one of those emergency starter batteries to keep in the trunk. It has only stranded my wife once but that is too much.

Both of those Auto Parts places should have a Midtronics tester to verify battery function.

 

[triptester]

There are a few things that can drain a battery that are often over looked. Loose glove box and trunk light switches that don't always shut off. Phone chargers left plugged in, the circuitry often uses energy even when not charging a phone.
I pulled the wife's new car out of the garage to do a project and left the key in the ignition about 8 hours later the battery was dead. Some vehicles energize circuits once the key is inserted before starting.

 

[tjkubota93]

You said it is driven every day but not many miles put on it. If you don't run the car long enough to recharge what was used starting it, the battery suffers and fails after a while. Short trips aren't good for anything on a car. I only use ac delco batterys or something of equivalent quality. Get the most cca for your application. And do the draw test and ac ripple test.

 

[aczlan]

Both of those Auto Parts places should have a Midtronics tester to verify battery function.

If you are near an Autozone, take the car there and have them test the battery and charging system. They have a tester that will check that the alternator is working as expected and they don't charge to use it (they want to sell you a battery/alternator after all).
Then you just need the amp draw test to see if it is being drained when it is off.

Aaron Z

 

[LD1]

Some very good advise given thus far.

I agree that its unlikely that your previous batteries were truly killed.

Dead and needing a jump start.....and a totally killed battery are two different things.

And as others have said....either the alternator isnt working properly....or something is drawing juice when the car is off.

Regarding a meter to test current draw......a note of caution....

You are typically testing for something in the milliamp range. And meters usually have two options for testing inline current....one is 10a fused....and the other is usually 2a fused to test milliamps.

Start on the 10a setting. Unhook battery cable.....then hook meter leads up to battery cable and battery post to complete the circuit again.

Make SURE that key is off, doors are closed, hood light unhooked, etc. Cause those will give false readings.
If nothing registers....or is below 2.....go to the milliamp setting. 50mA or less is considered normal. anything more.....start with accessory fuses and pull them one by one. Like interior lighting, cigarette lighter, trunk lighting, etc.

 

[N80]

Thanks for the continued good advice guys. We have had the battery tested at AutoZone (or Advance, I don't remember). Both times they indicated that the battery needed to be replaced. On one of those they pro-rated the price since the battery was still under warranty. I have no idea if they tested the alternator.

I ordered the multimeter. It should be here in a few days and will test as you guys have described. May also take it back over to AutoZone and see what they say about the alternator. The problem is that it is usually my wife who has to do this so I'm never there.

With the initial diagnostic steps that you guys have described I'm not sure why the dealership didn't want to do the work. It is a Nissan dealership and the car is an Infiniti but Infiniti is just a Nissan brand and share many if not all major components.

Another possibly stupid question: Wouldn't an alternator issue throw a code? I have a code reader and it is clear.

 

[zzvyb6]

A battery needing to be replaced means to me that there is something wrong with the charging system: alternator, voltage regulator (usually self contained). Here's what I do:

Park car in a garage and wait for complete darkness. That's where you can see the single mirror light on by mistake. Same for other lights: under-hood, trunk, glove box, driving lights.

Then start the car and disconnect one battery terminal. Car runs OK or not?

The connect the ammeter across the disconnected cable, key off and measure any residual current. When cable is reconnected, and motor running, measure charging voltage (should be over 13v.

Anything plugged into the lighter socket (Garmin, camera, phone charger ?) On my truck, the socket is always hot. On one of my cars, the socket is dead with key off, on the other the socket is also hot all the time.

Any builtin radio sources present (On-Star, etc?) On my truck, On-Star is always reporting mileage and service needs whether truck is running or not. Kills my battery after a month of non-use. My insurance company (State Farm) is also always checking mileage because I'm getting a low mileage premium 'discount'. I think they check Average Speed per miles interval, too (Yes On-Star can do that), plus many other secret features (like turn on the microphone to listen for sounds: we used to use this feature at work (GM) to locate snow covered cars in storage lots. We blow our horn and On-Star tells us when we are close to the vehicle we are looking for).

I also recommend pulling the key out after use. When I leave the key in (switch 'Off', my battery will be down after a week. Something's enabled with the key fully inserted. Same for our car. Now we pull the keys and no more problems (except for the On-Star snitch).

 

[N80]

Thanks ZZ. Good idea about checking for lights in the dark. This car has push button ignition. Lighter sockets are off when ignition is off. (In my F150 lighter socket is always hot).