I was unable to find my original post about my dead altenator, but for those of you who didnt read it, my altenator died and Nissan replaced it under warranty. But the same symptoms are starting to show themselves again! The battery charge and the brake warning lights have started to flicker on and off on occasions and the battery looses charge.

Ive booked the car in at Nissan again to see if they can fix this issue properly.

FYI When I got it back last time the button on the center console that opens the area for the TV had been scratched and im getting Nissan to replace the button or door at their expense.

 

I doubt you've had two faulty alternators. More likely it's something else but given the amount of electronics in the Zed I couldn't tell you what. Make sure they do something other than just throw another alternator at it as you don't want to be going back time and time again for the same problem.

 

Yep I had come to the same conclusion based on the fact that no one else is having altenator problems and its very unlikely that I would have 2 die.

 

Bummer.

Quick question though. Do you have a after market amplifier/stero in the car? I have seen some instances where when the headunit switches off the amp does not which slowly drains the battery.

Otherwise get a auto elec to see if there is a drain in the system.

 

No I dont have an aftermarket headunit installed. I had X2 12" 1000W Sub, 4 Channel V12 500W Amp, Kenwood Headunit, and 4 speakers in my Celica with it pumping most of the time and I never had any charge issues.

The problem in the zed is that it looses ALL charge from the altenator and as our cars needs electricity to run just driving around drains the battery very quickly and as soon as the voltage drops below 10.5v the engine will cut out and die.

 

I'm sure they checked (well actually given it's Nissan I'm not that sure) but could it just be a faulty battery not taking and therefore not holding the charge properly?

Also how about aftermarket alarm? My old car had to be driven every 3 days minimum or the alarm would drain the battery. Even now I notice if I leave the Zed for a week it'll only just turn over.

 

same as my fuel pump... had one very noisy one replaced under warranty and the current one was quiet for about 1 week and had become noisy since then again.... and they told me it is the nature of the large fuel pump and didn't replace the current one with the quieter one.. just don't know what they were thinking when they replaced my first noisy fuel pump...

Guess it is something wrong with the car, ask them to check out the whole car thoroughly... I guess APS might be correct, the alarm actually sucks quite a lot of power from the battery!

cheers,

richie

 

With my first altenator when the car was operating normally the voltage was sitting on 12v. But under normal operation with the new altenator it sits on ~13.5 -14 volts then the warning light comes on and the voltage drops straight to the batterys voltage ~11.9v then from there it will gradually drop to 10.5v over 5mins if you have the head lights on or 10-15mins if you dont have them on.

They replaced the battery as well last time and I dont have an aftermarket alarm. The total for the warranty claim was around $1500.

 

Nissan have called me back and they think they have found the problem - loose battery terminals. Which is their fault as they were the ones who put the battery in. I dont think this was the original problem as I had Peter and a NRMA guy check it out before I took it to Nissan.

When I took it there today I had to show someone else the scratch again and he was like, 'Im a bit hesitant about that one(the scratch).', but what he really meant was hes a bit hesitant about me, he had no reason not to believe me, he was just being a dick. If they had refused to fix it, I would have seriously let them have it. But they are fixing it and they will have the part tomorrow.

 

I have my car back with the issue fixed, for the moment, and they've replaced the bit with the scratch BUT I swear they have made another scratch when trying to remove the center console!!

How the fÙck am I going to argue that they have scratched it again. I dont like my chances of getting this one fixed. I hate it because it just makes me feel like im being a d!ckhead.

Im going to have to start taking photos of everything before I take it in from now on.

 

Next time ask them to wear a gloves

 

It's simple. When you take it in you ask the service manager to inspect the car with you and note any existing damage on the job sheet. When you pick it up BEFORE driving away you go over it completely. Anything not listed on the job sheet is their responsibility to fix.

So, what did they replace this time?

 

They replaced the middle console door and button which was scratch. And tightended the battery terminals.

 

I might go and check mine. Lately a couple of times I turn the key to start the car and the dash lights go out and that's it. Nothing else happens. I need to hold the key on for a couple of seconds before it'll turn over but it then starts right up. Seems to be becoming more frequent. Might just be the battery low as I haven't driven much the last few months.

 

I think you might just be turning the key too quickly? Try turning it slower so everything has power before the starter motor gets told to start?

If your battery is low your voltage meter will tell you, it gave the exact same readings as the NRMA and Peter's handheld meters gave.

 

Yeah, mine are OK. Voltage seems OK but I'll check it in a few days, maybe it's losing charge quickly. BTW anyone know, or want to test, what the normal charge is with the motor running. Just checked mine and it showed 4.2 which seems a little high IMO. I'm more accustomed to seeing 3.8 to 4.1 but the Zed is electronics heavy so maybe 4.2 is normal.

You could be right about the key but I do it the same way everytime. Often I'll wait until all the little noises have stopped before turning it to start. What bothered me today was it did it first thing in the morning, I then drove an hour, stopped for 2 hours and when I went to start it did the same thing again so I was sure the battery voltage was OK at that point. Then again drove it an hour back and just started it then (again about a 2 hour stop) and it fired up normally. Anyway I'm starting to ramble now so I'll stop.

 

could it be the clutch not absolutly floored??
I had trob starting mine sometimes, but I know its due to the clutch. if is not on the floor, even 1mm off, it wont start

 

Could be but the fact that if I hold the key in the start position for a few seconds it will work makes me think probably not.

Hmm, wonder if holding the key to start for a few seconds overrides the clutch switch? Anyone want to gice it a try and let me know? Remember to take it out of gear.

 

not sure if holding the key for a few sec will start the car with clutch out, but I know if you hold the key in start position then press the clutch, the car will start as soon as the clutch touch the floor

 

FWIW I think I've found what's going on, it's mostly theory but I think it's sound.

1. I don't do a lot of driving as evidenced by the fact my Zed only has 11.5k km on it after a year.
2. The alarm sucks a lot of juice. I knew this from my previous car. I just checked after not driving for 2.5 days and the voltage has dropped by 0.5v
3. The periods of not starting allow all the capicitors etc in the vehicle to disipate their residual charge. When I first insert the key all these need to charge up again before anything will happen which adds a couple of seconds and so I'm turning the key too soon. If I wait an extra 5 seconds after initially turning the key to acc it starts right up.

I think what I need to do is at some point replace the battery with something that's not only maintenance free (it's a bit of a pain to get some of those caps of) but with a larger reserve and something that doesn't mind the cycling as much as a more traditional battery. For now I'll just keep an eye on things.