Looking thru the owners manual I noticed that you need to keep an eye on the water level of the individual battery cells. My local Nissan service advisor was as surprised as me that the battery was not sealed. Most car batteries have been sealed/no maintenance since the early 80's...anyone know why the Mo battery is designed this way and how often one has to check the water level?
Murano Battery
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Simple - its cheaper for Nissan to sell cars with less sophisticated batteries. Most VQ equipped Nissans come with the same non maintenance free battery. However, I have seen maintenance free batteries on 4-cyl Nissans.
The stock Nissan battery in my 97 Maxima lasted less than 3 years. even though I checked the water level frequently - it was not a very good battery.
The stock Nissan battery in my 97 Maxima lasted less than 3 years. even though I checked the water level frequently - it was not a very good battery.
Have the place where you get your oil changes done check it for you. That is the easiest and best way to do it.
When and if you need to replace it, replace it with a maintainance free one obviously.
I am surprised a vehicle in this price range has a battery like this.
As consumer we need to make a list of items we are unhappy with and email this to Nissan so they now we are aware and unhappy.
Maybe myslef or someone else cna start a thread on this.
Chez
1)The wipers not working very well to clean the window would be a good start.
2)Then on to the door locks locking on you when you least expect it.
3)CVT cover issue
4)fill in yours
When and if you need to replace it, replace it with a maintainance free one obviously.
I am surprised a vehicle in this price range has a battery like this.
As consumer we need to make a list of items we are unhappy with and email this to Nissan so they now we are aware and unhappy.
Maybe myslef or someone else cna start a thread on this.
Chez
1)The wipers not working very well to clean the window would be a good start.
2)Then on to the door locks locking on you when you least expect it.
3)CVT cover issue
4)fill in yours
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I have the same battery in my 2000 Maxima and it's still in excellent condition as it enters it's fifth winter.
I think the advent of all the power saving automatic shut offs on cars over the last 5 years have made a significant increase in the expected battery life. (My Maxima has 139,000 miles on it now to!)
I think the advent of all the power saving automatic shut offs on cars over the last 5 years have made a significant increase in the expected battery life. (My Maxima has 139,000 miles on it now to!)
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contrary to popular believe batteries last longer in cold climate. So I am not surprised that yours lasted so long. I had a least 2 batteries dead that were approximately 3 years old. Both in semitropical climate. So I got to a habit of replacing batteries every 3 years. Even in Atlanta, not very place, a battery (maintenance free) lasted only 3.5 years.dklanecky1 said:
Just my 2c for all folks living South.
I had an Optima red-top in my other car and it was in there for 4 years and running here in the Vegas hot climate. I ended up selling it with that same battery in it. Granted they may be more than your normal battery but they will pay off in the long run. They retail for around $120.
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487 Posts
Something that I've been wondering...
The regular scheduled maintenance intervals... do those include checking the battery water? Considering we have service guys being surprised to find a water battery in the MO, does it mean they're not checking them when they come in for scheduled service?
The regular scheduled maintenance intervals... do those include checking the battery water? Considering we have service guys being surprised to find a water battery in the MO, does it mean they're not checking them when they come in for scheduled service?
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Despite Nissan's claim that all their technicians are "factory trained" the dealership service department usually only has one or two Nissan Master Techs. The rest are the oil change guys who aren't familiar with the specifics of each vehicle, and items like the battery that requires maintenance.
You can almost guarantee that when you go in for an express oil change they don't do more than the oil change. I also have Ford Certifications. Do you really think they check your tire pressure and everything else they say they do?
Like I have said before. I was an ASE Double Master Certified Mechanic and have worked in some really nice places. Although I will say most of the other mechanics are labeled as "helpers" or other titles. They are the ones that do the oil changes and other "minor maintainance" duties.
So the answer is probably not.
Chez
Like I have said before. I was an ASE Double Master Certified Mechanic and have worked in some really nice places. Although I will say most of the other mechanics are labeled as "helpers" or other titles. They are the ones that do the oil changes and other "minor maintainance" duties.
So the answer is probably not.
Chez
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Well, I wasn't talking about an oil change... I was talking about a specific maintenance interval, where the required checks include things like rotating tires, checking fluid levels and belts... etc. Not just an oil and filter change 
I imagine that "checking fluid levels" would mean they're checking the battery, but... eh. Maybe not. How do I check this sucker?
I imagine that "checking fluid levels" would mean they're checking the battery, but... eh. Maybe not. How do I check this sucker?
I just checked the service manual, for the inspection, it says "Check the fluid level in each cell. It should be between the “MAX” and “MIN”
lines. Vehicles operated in high temperatures or under severe conditions require frequent checks of the battery fluid level."
So in order to see the lines on the side of the battery, you will have to find a way to remove the side cover over the battery.
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lines. Vehicles operated in high temperatures or under severe conditions require frequent checks of the battery fluid level."
So in order to see the lines on the side of the battery, you will have to find a way to remove the side cover over the battery.
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All you do is unscrew the caps and make sure the fluid level is up to the top. If not, fill ONLY with distilled water. Otherwise tap water has "metals" in it that are not good for your battery. As that is how a battery "dies" is when the metals off the plates falls off and fills the bottom of the battery, in essesence "shorting" the battery.
As to heat and batteries. When I was in Saudia Arabia, one of the iussues we had was keeping the vehicles running due to the batteries dying after 6 months, sometimes less due to the EXTREME HEAT. It would be 140f on a thermometer in the sun, so under the hood it would be WELL over that. Vehicle running or not, thisis bad for the battery and we had an extreme problem with that. We were replacing literally thousands of batteries.
And batteries aren't cheap, especially the Hummer batteries. Which we had hundreds of hummers to take care of.
Chez
As to heat and batteries. When I was in Saudia Arabia, one of the iussues we had was keeping the vehicles running due to the batteries dying after 6 months, sometimes less due to the EXTREME HEAT. It would be 140f on a thermometer in the sun, so under the hood it would be WELL over that. Vehicle running or not, thisis bad for the battery and we had an extreme problem with that. We were replacing literally thousands of batteries.
And batteries aren't cheap, especially the Hummer batteries. Which we had hundreds of hummers to take care of.
Chez
just did it
just did the service myself. took me about an hour. i was doing it first time so i guess it was not too long
i used a straw from mcdonalds to add water to the battery cells. all you need to do is fill up a glass with distilled water and then dip the straw into the glass all the way to the bottom, then press you thumb against the opening on the top of the straw, then take the straw out of the glass and put it over the cell opening and release the thumb..
each cell was missing about the same amount of water (after 1.5 years of use) and it was about 5-6 "straws"
just did the service myself. took me about an hour. i was doing it first time so i guess it was not too long
i used a straw from mcdonalds to add water to the battery cells. all you need to do is fill up a glass with distilled water and then dip the straw into the glass all the way to the bottom, then press you thumb against the opening on the top of the straw, then take the straw out of the glass and put it over the cell opening and release the thumb..
each cell was missing about the same amount of water (after 1.5 years of use) and it was about 5-6 "straws"
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Re: batt.mainenance
What is the purpose of trickle-charging your car battery? I am curious, why do you believe it will last longer?
-njjoe
dborla01-dborla01 said:Hi Homer. I also periodically put MO in garage and put trickle charger
on it overnite. Theoretically batt. will last longer. PS. hope life is smoothing out for you and your family. Darrell.
What is the purpose of trickle-charging your car battery? I am curious, why do you believe it will last longer?
-njjoe
trickle charger?
Hi, Joe. Keeps it periodically at full charge.
If we do infrequent driving, MO just sits there discharging slowly. So...I put it in garage and while doing maintenance, keep the charger on it at trickle.
I used to keep a charger on my motorcycles when in storage. A habit I learned there. Motorcycle batteries can be ridiculously expensive, so they theroretically last much longer when not allowed to go "dead". Darrell.
Hi, Joe. Keeps it periodically at full charge.
If we do infrequent driving, MO just sits there discharging slowly. So...I put it in garage and while doing maintenance, keep the charger on it at trickle.
I used to keep a charger on my motorcycles when in storage. A habit I learned there. Motorcycle batteries can be ridiculously expensive, so they theroretically last much longer when not allowed to go "dead". Darrell.
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