RKnight

I was waiting in line for a car wash when my car just died. When I went to restart the engine it took a few seconds of cranking to fire up when it normally fires up almost instantly.Also the SES,VDC OFF, and SLIP lights all stay on permanantly. Took it to West Covina Nissan and the codes they got were for Cam Position Sensors and low battery voltage. They tested the Cam position sensors and they were fine so they took one look at my Braille battery and said that is the problem. I asked the mech if he had seen problems with aftermarket batteries and he said yes the ECUs in todays cars are very picky about the voltage they receive.So I go back in today to let them put a new OEM battery back in but I'm not expecting it to fix the problem. Anyone else have problems with lightweight batteries like Braille and Odessy?

Audible Mayhem

iTrader: (48)

its not the battery. its actually that a lot of the new nissans draw .2 to .4 amps while sitting so your battery is constantly being drawn from overnight. this will cause the battery to slowly breakdown.


give braille a call, they actually make remote battery cutoffs that will kill all the power to the car every night and will eliminate this issue for you in the future...

Z04

iTrader: (15)

that is what happens when you put a racing battery into a daily driven car

coachk

iTrader: (21)

WOW...I was told that Blake was a straight up guy. Interesting thread

gothchick

iTrader: (12)

+1

I have a new Optima Yellow Top battery. After letting my car sit for nearly two weeks, the battery was so drained it almost didn't have enough amperage left to crank the starter motor.

SpoilsofWar

iTrader: (39)

Braille batteries suck. I have one, and it is trash. The only reason I tolerate it is because mine is a track car, and so I just leave a smart charger on it most of the time and disconnect the ground cable.

They look nice, they are light, the mount is cool; everything else about them sucks.

RKnight

The battery comes in three sizes and the I have the middle size. Never had a problem with cranking power and the only time I had drainage was when I went on vacation for two weeks and forgot to disconnect it.Jeff at West Covina Nissan told me he had a Optima and was having drainage problems they couldn't track down so they put a OEM battery back in and no more problems.

Blazemaster

iTrader: (24)

so what do you guys recommend for a lightweight battery?

dikspiel

iTrader: (70)

Z1 Performance

iTrader: (564)

none if you actually use the car. For a track car, a lightweight battery can be nice. For a street car, it's a waste. The weight savings are not worth the potential inconvenience.

JAM3Z

iTrader: (17)

Even if you use the remote cutoff, you'd lose your radio presets every night and have to reset your clock .

anotheraznguy

iTrader: (14)

i have the braille had it for a while now....
reason for going braille was cause i ended up putting the coolant reservoir in the battery location..
i daily drive the z
and have not had any issues with it not starting...

Hoooper

iTrader: (5)

if you drive it daily its not really a problem cause it charges everyday. but if its like a twice a week enjoyment car, not a track car, it drains and dies

SpoilsofWar

iTrader: (39)

Thats probably exactly why you dont have any issues with it...

Let the car sit for a week and let us know what happens. Which size do you have? the 6lb, 11lb, or the biggest one (forget what it weighs)?

I have the 11lb, and if the car sits with battery connected for about 3 days, it will be completely dead. Not just slow to crank - no crank at all. It has done this since new. After two times of it happening I learned my lesson and started disconnecting the ground cable after I race the car, and will put a smart charger on it from time to time.

When I had the stock battery in, the car sat for a month once, connected, while I was TDY. Came back, turned the key, it fired right up.

But for my uses, the weight reduction is worth the drawback. So I suck it up.

anotheraznguy

iTrader: (14)

i have the 15 lb one...
you do know that they sell battery tenders for them right...
my roomate has a stock m3 that is his "weekend" car
with the stock battery it tends to die from time to time...
so in the end he bought a battery tender and now it works juuust fine..

RKnight

Okay so I just got home from West Covina Nissan.They let you in the shop so you can stand right there as they work on your car. Mec. replaced the Braille battery with a OEM and started the car and no more VDC OFF and SLIP lights staying on but still took a lot of cranking to get it to fire so he said yeah it must be the cam position sensor. Hooked up the code reader and it confirmed faulty CPS passenger side. Installed a new one and the car fired right up like it should and no more codes.
So in the end the Braille battery was half the problem.I had checked the voltage of the Braille and it was 12.62 volts so I don't know how it caused the VDC OFF and SLIP lights to stay on.

Netko350Z

iTrader: (8)

Braile...FAIL

dragon11689

iTrader: (3)

If you let it sit that long, is it possible to recharge it with one of their chargers or does it have to be completely replaced?