2004 Nissan Murano- Serious electrical issues

2949 Views 7 Replies 5 Participants Last post by 2ndGenMaintainer, Sep 8, 2020

Bkowalski95

Discussion Starter · Sep 5, 2020 (Edited)

I need help, I’m at an absolute loss.

Tuesday after work, my radio and AC went out. Ac came back while driving but no radio.
Wednesday started fine, but still no radio. Went to lunch, By the time Lunch was over my battery was dead. Got it jump started and went home.
Thursday had to jump start again, and started diagnosing. Terminal cables seemed a little lose so we tightened them, and jump started the car again. Worked fine, radio was back no issues. Let it run for about twenty minutes, came back and started again and it was still fine. Drive an hour to boulder, no issues and started just fine when I was leaving.

Friday go to start my car and it’s completely dead. Can’t lock or unlock my car, not registering my key, nothing. Had stuff to do so let it sit til Saturday when I could try to figure things out.
Saturday I Jumped the car, as soon as the jumper was disconnected my rpms started fluctuating up and down, lights and dashboard freaking out and after a couple minutes engine went idle like it should be and things stopped freaking out. I Unplugged positive side of battery to see if alternator issues and rpms started fluctuating again but was still running. Started checking everything else again, battery was reading at 12 unattached, checked Main grounds under battery and ground for alternator All have continuity. Belt is fine. Plugged battery back in, read at 11.5. Had to jump start again and had a hard time starting but got it going. Now my car is throwing codes, P1168 and P1148, googles issues and said something about air/fuel sensor issues. Turned off car after about twenty minutes to check out fuses, both under my steering wheel and next to my battery. Everything is fine. We erased the codes to see if maybe it was just from having battery disconnected for so long. Went to start car again, needed to be jumped and REALLY had a hard time starting, had to try a few times. Codes came back, and the second the jumper is disconnected the car shuts off. 100% no power nothing works. Im at a lost.
Update: Battery was just replaced December of this year. Was reading 1amp of parasitic draw.

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PaulDay

· #2 · Sep 5, 2020

I would say it's time to fully investigate the alternator, which now seems to be the issue from your description.

With modern cars, it's never a good idea to remove any battery terminal while the car is running or the key in any position but off.

Good luck.

Have a good day.

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Pilgrim

· #3 · Sep 6, 2020

Agreed. If the battery voltage decreases while the engine is running, it appears that the alternator isn't charging properly. At least some of the strange things occurring are typical of battery or alternator problems.

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MuranoSL2003

· #4 · Sep 6, 2020

Today's computer controlled cars don't like running with the battery disconnected... That may be the cause of your trouble codes...

Make sure your battery terminals are totally free of corrosion and snug.

Next would be to have both your battery and alternation output load tested. Even a new battery can be bad, especially after being run down to dead multiple times, it will severely shorten the life and capacity of a non deep-cycle battery...

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Bkowalski95

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 7, 2020

Pilgrim said:
Agreed. If the battery voltage decreases while the engine is running, it appears that the alternator isn't charging properly. At least some of the strange things occurring are typical of battery or alternator problems.

battery did not decrease while the engine was running. It decreased while the car was off. Alternator and battery were both tested and are fine.

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MuranoSL2003

· #6 · Sep 7, 2020

You mentioned 1 amp of parasitic draw -- how did you measure this?

Are there any aftermarket accessories installed?

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2ndGenMaintainer

· #7 · Sep 8, 2020

And the battery reads 13-14v when it was running without jumpers?

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2ndGenMaintainer

· #8 · Sep 8, 2020

only other things I would want to check first is shorts in any part of the a/c system such as fans and or radio (even the stock amp if you have bose) for parasitic draws. As far as running rough after pulling jumper cables off, that really sounds like a bad alternator of ground negative( you checked the actual bond to the chassis not just at the post terminal of battery. Fuse box?

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