Armada not starting, seems to be weak battery?

[smdjax]

My Armada truck just started acting up this evening, it would not start and was acting as if the battery was weak, i jumped it and drove for about 30 mins, then turned it off and tried to turn it off again, but it did not start up, any clues?

[Socaldiablo]

possibly a bad IPDM. Was it turning over at all or just clicking? What year is it? The IPDMs have been failing left and right on the Armadas, Titans, and QX56s and when it's bad, the truck will stall and may or may not restart. If it restarts, it may run rough and stall again until this is fixed. Research the web on this to find a fix for it. It's easy enough that you can do it yourself.

[smdjax]

Its a 2006. It was attempting to turn over, but this morning it has like a slow start, meaning when i turn the key it acts like it dead then comes on, then all the gauges flicker up and down for about 5 sec before going back to normal. Whats a IPDM, and you say its very easy o do?

[C-Kwik]

Check your battery voltage. Should be about 12 volts. Probably slightly higher if the battery is good. If voltage is good, check both terminals to make sure there isn't 'corrosion' on them. If enough corrosion builds up, there could be too much resistance and the car won't start. To clean it, you can get a battery terminal cleaning tool and/or dissolve some baking soda in water and clean it with this solution. The baking soda will neutralize the build-up. Just don't douse the battery with the solution, especially if the battery is not sealed as it can neutralize the battery acid. If there was build up, your local auto parts store should carry some felt discs that go around the terminals that help to prevent this build-up from forming.

IPDM = Intelligent Power Distribution Module. I would not worry about this just yet. Rule out the simpler and most obvious things first.

[Socaldiablo]

Its a 2006. It was attempting to turn over, but this morning it has like a slow start, meaning when i turn the key it acts like it dead then comes on, then all the gauges flicker up and down for about 5 sec before going back to normal. Whats a IPDM, and you say its very easy o do?

smdjax,
Like the other poster said, check the voltage and battery terminals first since it's easy and will be obvious if corrosion is present but my suspicion is that it's your IPDM. Your truck's symptoms are spot on with what happened when my IPDM crapped out on my 2004 Infiniti QX56 about 9 months ago when the truck had about 55K miles on it (and the QX56 is an overglorified Armada). It started OK but then almost immediately died, then failed to restart for several minutes. It did seem like it had a weak battery as I tried to restart it but I knew the battery was fine b/c it was only 2 years old, there was no corrosion on it, and it had initially started fine. When I managed to get it restarted, all of the gauges flickered vigourously and it was running like it wasn't getting fuel. Since I replaced the IPDM, the truck has run perfect. If you decide that this might be the cause, don't have the dealer do it ...they'll probably charge you in the $300-$500 range to fix it. The OEM part is about $130 (inlcudes shipping) through a Nissan parts company and there are instructions on the forums that walk you through the install. It's a plug and play part ...the hardest part was unlocking the 7 or so plugs from the original IPDM ...they're tricky little bastards to remove from the unit. Once you have the old one out, the new plugs snap right in and the unit itself just slides into place in its housing. I would research some of the forums for this fix to see if the condition your Armada has are similar to others who have had IPDM issues. I know many of the QX56 owners are having to replace their IPDMs. Good luck.

[Engine107]

I just had to replace the IPDM on my '05 QX56 2 weeks ago - about $400 at the dealer. I had to have them do it because I was at work and could not research it and my wife and 4 kids were stuck on the road with it. This is the second time they have been stranded by my Japanese super truck...

[Socaldiablo]

Engine107 ...your Japanese super truck is manufactured in Mississippi by good ole' union workers. That's the problem. I almost didn't buy my 04' QX56 when I realized that these trucks are built in the U.S. I had numerous "Quality" issues with mine when I first got it but most all were taken care of under warranty and since then, it has really been a great truck other than the rough ride. It's too bad the dealer got you for $400 on such an easy repair but I will say that it's great they didn't diagnose some other issue first and charge you for that only to find that it was the IPDM. My dealer hadn't heard of the bad IPDMs when mine failed so they clearly would have done a few other things first and charging me for them to boot.