Chio

running late for work i get in to start my 09 max and click click click is all i hear. this is the second time that it is dead nothing was left on and i just drove it yesterday. this sucks

Nightshifter

had that problem with an 05 GTO .. battery cable was loose...
that car had a nice motor, but too heavy... 0 - 60 4.8 brakes weren't great because the car had a curb weigh of 3900 lbs .. blah! 09 max is 3590, but handles much better ... much better!

rays01se

What was the problem on the first occassion?

lightonthehill

The clicking means either the battery is too weak to turn the motor over, or there is a bad connection that prevents the full power of the battery from reaching the starter.

If it is the battery, and you drove the car yesterday, either you have a bad battery which won't hold a charge, or there is a problem with your alternator system which prevents the battery from receiving a charge, or or you have an electrical drain somewhere in the car. In any event, this should be a warranty issue, as batteries normally last at least three years unless they are abused or there is a problem with the car.

airwolf09

I have this happened to me too, not from driving. I leave my car in the garage for 3 weeks without starting it then it's completely dead, unable to start the car. Once I hook up the battery jumpstart, it starts right away. I start the car and unplug either the positive or negative terminal from the battery, I can tell that the alternator kick in and the car is still running. So that tell me that the alternator is good and good cable contact. the only thing left is the battery which I have not able to test.
Anyone has this type of problem?

G9Max

You can do an alternator chec by jumpstarting your vehicle than disconnecting both negative and postive cables, if the car shuts off you know its ur alternator. should shut off imediately.
let us know. IMO i think you have a defective battery

lightonthehill

Do you really think anyone here with a shiny new '09 Maxima will be leaving it in the garage untouched for three weeks at a time? Unless they are on an extended luau with Kate Hudson in Hawaii, or spending a month with Jennifer Anniston in a chalet in Monaco, or are on an African safari with Halle Berry?

I would expect the Maxima to start right up if left untouched for two weeks, but three weeks becomes more 'iffy'. We know that there is ALWAYS a very slight drain on the battery for the onboard security system (I'm sure you notice that little red light blinking every few seconds). We also know ALL batteries gradually lose their charge over time.

If your car is in an enclosed garage (no wild temperature swings), I would hope your Maxima might still start after being untouched for three weeks. One thing you might do, you could remove your battery, have an auto shop make sure it is fully charged, then let the battery set for a week. If, after a week not hooked up to anything, the battery is not still almost fully charged, it is probably not holding a charge as it should, and needs replacing.

papasuede

Take a volt meter to the battery terminals. If it is under 10 volts it may not have enough juice to start the car.

Likewise, If the car is running, measure the terminals again and it should be over 12 volts if the alternator is charging the battery. Probably between 13-15v.

09Maxima_Sam

DO NOT do that, it can be damaging to the electronics in the car.

2young2retire

I have had mine for a couple of weeks and just went out to do the "new car bolt tightening". I always break out the tools and check all bolts I can get to for tightness, you would be amazed how many are loose. Anyway I found the negative battery cable clamp was loose, the nut was only finger tight. I had no problems with the car but was surprised to find it so loose.

lightonthehill

Not surprising to me. I usually check and retorque my wheels as soon as I get a new car. Alloy wheels should never be torqued over 90 foot pounds, yet on my '00 Maxima, I found one torqued to 117 foot pounds. On my '04, one was torqued to 96 foot pounds. The '09 calls for torquing to 85 foot pounds, and mine came with all wheels torqued between 83 and 89 foot pounds. I retorqued them all to 80 foot pounds, as that is the tightness I have always used on my Maximas, and have found will never warp anything, and yet never work loose. My son uses 70 foot pounds on his TL, but that seems a little loose to me.

Chio

i gave it one more chance and 3rd time was a charm!! bad battery took about 30 min at the dealer!!

Mihomax

I had that same thing happen to me twice on my brand-new 09 Maxima. And I swear both times I did NOT leave anything on in the car (i.e. radio, lights, etc.). The dealer tested the battery voltage, etc. and said it's all fine. They don't know what could have caused it. I hope it doesn't happen again...

Max Jack

Sounds like the alternator to me.

PrntRhd

Our 2009 Maxima has done the same dead battery thing twice now. The Dealer charged and checked the battery and the charging system and found nothing wrong, detailed the car and returns it. Of course we also know getting it flatbed towed to the dealer each time is covered by the warranty and jump starts are not and if it keeps occurring several times the dealer may finally figure out it costs more for the tow charges than eating a battery.

lightonthehill

PrntRhd - Out of curiosity, could you give us months you have driven the car, and total mileage? Having this happen twice during a year's driving with 10K to 20K miles on the odo could mean a different approach to diagnosing the problem than if it happened in one month with one thousand miles on the odo.

I am sorry you are having to deal with this problem.

PrntRhd

We got it in September 2008. It has 11,000 miles.

NCSUpilot

I have just begun to experience the same issue with having a dead battery. I noticed a few weeks back I washed my car and had the doors open while doing the interior (about 45 mins) and that killed the battery. Then the last few mornings it has been in the low 50s and the car has been noticiable slower on start-up. Come Friday morning, it won't start...nothing plugged in or left on. I jumped it and took it to the dealer and of course they couldn't find anything wrong. They said next time it dies to call a tow truck and have it towed in. But from the sounds of it most dealers aren't doing anything about it?! I have had the car for 6 months ~15k miles and it was manufactured in Sept 08. For those that experienced this, what ended up happening?

Adamax

There seems to be a trend here. Four cars with the same or similar problem. I wonder if all four of you have the same options and equipment in your car. It sound like something is staying on after you leave the car and draining the battery. Maybe the pushbutton start is not turning everything off?

NCSUpilot

I have a SV+Prem. It doesnt seem like anything is left on in the car.

09Maxima_Sam

I noticed that the manual states to check the fluid level of the battery. Has anyone done this on their car? All cars I have had before this were maintenance free batteries. But I noticed that the Maxima battery may not be the case. If I am wrong here please someone set me straight.

Here are the two pages that got me thinking in the owners manual.

mkaresh

Nice find in the manual. Has anyone here actually checked the fluid level in their battery? I haven't heard of anyone doing this with any new car in years, maybe even decades.

Compusmurf

Yes, actually I do, especially here in Florida where it's hot all the darn time. The electrolyte is sulfuric acid and water. Never add tap water, mineral water, etc. ALWAYS use distilled. Maintenance free really isn't. Just usually means low evaporation rate.

lightonthehill

Another factor is that it is as hot under the hood of these '09 Maximas as any vehicle I have ever owned. I expect to be replacing the battery within three years. By comparison, my '78 Datsun 200SX still had the OEM battery in it when my daughter let it go eight years after I bought it.

PrntRhd

I am pleased to report that the issue has not reoccurred since the last tow to the dealer and subsequent post, so either they found/fixed the problem or replaced the battery. Two times was quite enough.

09Maxima_Sam

So what did they do to it? Replace battery or other item?

MaxMus

Funny I see this post. My battery just died yesterday. Sitting in the car talking with a buddy, lights off, radio at a whisper, 1 hr later, tried to start the car, I hear a click, click, click noise.

This is the second time this has happened to me. First time I was outside on a nice day washing my car. The weird thing is that the interior lights were bright when you get in the car.

I really hate my dealership so I'm debating going there now. This is a brand new car, there should not be an issue with the battery yet.

lightonthehill

The lights can be very bright long after the battery has lost enough power that it can't start the car. It takes a nice push of power to start this engine.

Leaving the radio on while the engine is off is not a good thing with this car. I wouldn't consider doing that for more than five or ten minutes.

My 6th gen Maxima stayed really hot under the hood, but my 7th gen stays even hotter. This intense heat is very hard on batteries. I would expect most '09 Maximas to need new batteries after somewhere between one and three years.

Having said all that, it may be that there is a problem with your battery, and it may not be holding a full charge as it should.

09Maxima_Sam

Has anyone checked their battery fluid levels yet?

MaxMus

Yes Light, the battery wasn't good. Dealer replaced it with no fuss (can't believe that). Crossing my fingers that this is the last issue with this car.

lightonthehill

That is very good news. Remember that you may need to reset radio stations, the power sunroof,
auto up/down windows, etc, since the battery was disconnected.

09Maxima_Sam brings up a good point, in that the 7th gen Maxima uses an old-style #24 unsealed battery
that should occasionally be checked to confirm the electrolyte is at the proper level.

NCSUpilot

Well, mine is back at the dealer after dying for the 4th time on me. I was sitting in the car talking on the phone with the car completely off and windows down. 15 mins later went to roll the windows up and it is completely dead - not even the usual clicking. Had it towed to dealer and charging system and battery tested normal. They kept it overnight so I am hoping they might find the problem this time...

MaxMus, funny they replaced the battery with no fuss, mine refused to replace it the first time - although it may not be the issue here. Did they say what your old battery tested as?

NCSUpilot

Well........I just got a call from the dealer saying they replaced the battery. The kept it for 2 days and Nissan had them run a bunch of tests including draining/recharging battery and they finally got it to test replace! Geesh, if only they would have done this the first time I brought it in...def not a "no fuss" replacement by any means.

2young2retire

I just got back from a four week excursion from central Arkansas to Destin, FL. to Dover, DE. and back home via the Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway (4007 miles). We used the Murano as we had a lot of "stuff" to bring the kids in Dover. Anyway the Max sat in the garage for over four weeks and started without a hitch when we got back. Nothing wrong with that battery. FYI, the battery in my Altima needed to be replaced after only four years.

09Maxima_Sam

Battery replacement, sounds like a good reason to get an Optima battery.

MaxMus

That would really **** me off if they kept my car for 2 days and came to the conclusion that, surprise, the battery needed to be replaced. I'm actually surprised that my dealer had me out of there in less than 2 hours. What your dealer did was unacceptable.

The fact that you had to have the car towed in order for them to try and diagnose the issue is unbelievable. Did they at least provide a loaner car?

BTW they didn't say what the old battery tested at. I'm just thankful it died while I was on my block. It's time to get some jumper cables now. Lol.

PrntRhd

They did not admit to changing anything, just the same "we checked and tested and everything tested ok" line as before. Except this time it stayed working.

NCSUpilot

Hah, they gave me a rental car from enterprise. It was 5 oclock and they literally had 1 car left....a chevy cobalt with nothing power, no cruise..nothing including usable tread on the tires.

I am kind of debating where to go from here. What would guys do? Talk to the GM, service manager? Or just walk away knowing my car is fixed...

Mreim769

If the issue is just bad/horrible service I would call the service manager and let him know I will be taking my Max to another dealer for further service. See what he has to say from that point. As a side note, I am almost getting to that point myself.

LtLeary

I would definitely talk with the GM AND SM. It is just possible they weren't aware of how long the car was there (for a charging system check..please!!)

Personally, I've never had much luck with OEM batteries over the years, so at the first sign of trouble I'm off to the nearest Interstate or Sears to have them replaced. So far, however, no problems with mine but it is only a matter of time. The heat off the engine and the heat here in FL will make sure of that.

The good news is that the battery is easily reachable to check and service ( I used to have so much fun messing with the Jiffy Lube Techs when I pointed out there 14 point sig service included checking the battery "water" levels in a car you had to remove the front wheel, fender skirts, and act the contortionist to get at it!!) I'm glad no one's reported any charging system (read alternator/reg) issues.