Hi. The weather here in Connecticut is not conducive for driving my new Z. So, I put my new baby in the garage, disconnected the battery (negative side) and put a car cover over the car. I've read were computers in some cars get all messed up if you disconnect the battery. Any chance the computer in a 350Z will not function properly after I connect it? Be really interested in what anyone else does when they "winterize" there Z's. I know that you have to be careful to not close the door if the battery is disconnected. Does anyone, after two or three months, charge the battery and if so, do you charge it with the negative wire off the battery?

Thanks in advance.

 

I have had my 350 sitting in the garage since Christmas. I disconnected the negative battery cable (with door open!). I have reconnected it and started the car a couple of times with no problems.

The only caution is with the door windows. Open them before connect/disconnect!

C'mon Spring!

 

Thanks for the reply. When I disconnected my battery I closed and locked all doors than disconnected the battery. When I reconnect my battery, I understand one is supposed to unlock the drivers side door, pull the hood latch to open the hood, don't close the drivers side door, reconnect the battery, power down the window on the drivers side, than close the door and power up the window. What are your thoughts on this way of doing it?

 

I hope you put your windows down before you removed the battery and locked the doors. Otherwise, how are you going to open the drivers side door if you have already closed & locked the doors, disconnected the battery & closed the hood? You can not get the window down to allow the door to open. I don't understand how we are supposed to ever jumpstart this car when the battery dies!

 

I think it's important we straighten this problem out. The manual that came with the car says, to reconnect the battery you unlock and open the drivers side door but don't close the door. Open the hood. Connect the negative terminal. Close the hood. Fully open the drivers side door window. Close the drivers door and window.

I think the window is all the way up when you open the door. So it can't hurt the window or door when you open it. The window goes down slightly after you open the door and closes completely when the door is finally closed. It's perhaps the window being up that would be the problem.

What do you all think? I'm no expert here. Are there any experts out there that know the answer?

 

The wording in the owners manual is confusing and incorrect. There have been other postings here to this effect.

Simply, OPEN both doors which drops the windows a bit, THEN disconnect the negative battery cable. Now you can close the doors and they will remain open a bit (which aids air circulation inside the car anyway).

When I reconnect the battery, I again OPEN the doors FIRST. Once connected, you have to run the drivers window down then up to re-set the auto window lowering function. THAT'S IT!

If you disconnect the battery with the doors closed, they will not lower and they could hang up on the door jamb and cause damage. I wish Nissan was a bit more clear on this!

FWIW

 

So how do we jump start these cars? If the battery dies (left the lights on, etc.) with the windows up you can not open the doors, the hatch or the hood.

 

Unlock the door with your key. This should allow you to open your rear hatch with the exterior hatch button. Crawl into to get to the hood release. That avoids actually opening the door and messing with the window.

I've also read other posts that suggest manually pushing down the window. I don't care for that idea very much.

I'd suggest you verify the exterior hatch button will work without the battery connect and do some crawling if it works.

 

FYI, the hatch release is also electrically powered, so the only way to open the hatch with no power is by the manual release string on the rear strut bar INSIDE the car(who the heck thought of that??)!

It is not impossible to open the doors with the power off. It is possible to move the window down with your fingers just enough to clear the roof and open the door. I think the key here is that care must be taken when doing this.

By the way, the gas door is ALSO electrically released!

BUY A GOOD BATTERY!

 

*sigh*

 

Since I started this thread, I decided to go out to my garage and try what the manual said about connecting the battery. I had previously disconnected the battery by: (1)opening the door and closing the windows; (2) opening the hood; (3) closing and locking the doors; (4) disconnecting the negative battery terminal; and (5) closing the hood.

So, after reading all these threads I really dreaded going out there and placing my key in the drivers door lock. But here's what I did: (1) I unlocked the drivers side and slowly opened the door. To my surprise, the door opened perfectly fine. There was no binding. As a matter of fact, the glass window appeared to be on the outside of the rubber insulation nor did it rub on the top of the roof. It just opened real smooth; (2) opened the hood using the hood latch; (3) connected the negative terminal; (4) closed the hood; (5) fully opened the drivers side door and powered down the window.

Apparently, the real danger comes if you were to close the door while the window is up and the battery is disconnected although I still don't see the reason why.

If your battery is dead, I think it would be ok to do a similar procedure: (1) unlock the drivers side door and keep it open; (2) use the hood latch to open the hood; (3) charge or replace the battery; (4) close the hood; (5) power down the windows and off you go!

Because my door opened so smoothly, I still don't understand how you could damage your window or car if you were to close the door with the window up and the battery unhooked. I won't try it of course, just still don't understand.

 

A great way to avoid this hassle and keep your battery in line is to go get a Battery Tender. I've used one for years on my BMW bike, NSX and now the Z.

http://www.batterytender.com/catalog...products_id=69

You can find it cheaper than the $60 retail price.

 

You can not drain the Z's battery by leaving lights on. The Z automatically turns off all lights if left on after 5 minutes (30 minutes for the interior spot lights).

 

It is interesting to note that after I remove the battery tender for 15 minutes, and reconnect it, it recharges again for a while. It would seem that the alarm, alarm LED and other semi-quiet functions all drain some life from the battery.

In reality, you could probably just let the Z's new battery go all winter and it will start fine in the spring, but I'm not sure if this is a good practise in the long run. I figured it was worth the $30 - then I dont have to think about it!

 

I will not belabor the topic of how to disconnect the battery without harming the car windows or roof any longer. This will be my last thread on this subject.

I am convinced that the gentleman who suggested making sure the windows are slightly down before disconnecting the battery, is correct.

This goes against the stupid manual that comes with the car that says otherwise.

From now on when I disconnect my battery for winter storage, I will open my doors and let the windows go down as they do; disconnect my battery; and close the hood and doors.

When I want to connect the battery it is simply a matter of opening the doors, unlatching the hood, attaching the battery, lowering the windows to reset and I'm good to go!

 

I have had problems leaving the Z sitting and the battery draining too. I bought a "Battery Tender Jr." from Pep Boys for $32. Works great.

 

The battery will never die completely... Might not start the car but thier should be enough to unlock the doors or pop the hatch.

 

I have stored my Z for the past 3 winters (got it in Nov 2002) and I followed the owner's manual exactly for the first 2 winters. When you open the driver's door to access the hood release, the window goes down slightly. All you have to do is make sure you don't close the door before you disconnect your battery. Once the battery is disconnected, you close the door, which won't bind because it is still in the door opened, slightly down position.

On a related note, I didn't disconnect my battery last winter, but I started the car a couple of times during the winter, and I had no problems in the spring.

Sherman

 

If you are storing your car inside and have a cover, why wouldn't you just leave the hood unlatched. This way you can simply re-connect the battery and open the doors. pretty simple.