Battery Randomly Failing - All Tests Clean

[Flams2020]

Hello -

2011 Nissan Rogue Sl AWD, miles around 40K.

Wife calls me to say her car is dead at an open house she was having. She had driven about an hour there with no issues, then when she went to leave a few hours later the car was totally dead. A jump did get the car going and it was shut off and started multiple times that day (after the jump) with no issues. The next morning, same issue, totally dead. Tried jiggling/tightening battery cables, using the key itself and not the keyless remote, nothing worked. I jumped it and after a few chugs it started.

We took it to the dealer the first day it died (so they are still unaware that it happened again), and they said the car checks out perfectly - no issues anywhere.

The only light we had on was the tire pressure which they fixed and I see the security light blinking when we're not in there - so nothing abnormal there.

The other posts I found with similar issues seem to focus on battery cables, an old battery, or the wheel being in the locked position. In my case, we know the battery is good (according to dealer), and the wheel was totally straight when i tried this morning.

So it appears something is slowly draining the battery but have no idea what - and it's frustrating that they dealer doesn't either. Any ideas? Thanks in advance for the help, really appreciate it.

[ImStricken06]

during the condition in which you claim: "the battery fails" = can you turn the headlights on? can the radio work? does the car making clicking noises as in the starter trying to turn the engine over?

if there are no lights or power then its not the battery = its something thats cutting off the power

[Flams2020]

Hi - Thanks for the response. I will try the headlights and radio if it happens again. I can tell you there was absolutely no turnover attempt -total silence when I turned the key. I may be wrong but I didn't think that the jump would work if it was a system/power cutoff? Again, I will post back is it happens again.

[ImStricken06]

sometimes an increase in current(due to battery booster) causes a relay to flip and allow your battery too supply current. its weird.

[Q451990]

I'd bet it's a bad battery... my wife's G had a similar issue. She was at a dinner party and looked outside to see the car with one headlight on. She has automatic headlights, so she didn't leave them on... the car was just acting weird due to low voltage. She called roadside assistance and they boosted it... and then I put it on the charger overnight when she got home.

The next morning, the dealership techs checked it and said everything was OK, but then "topped it off" with too much water and it started leaking - so it got replaced the next day. Batteries take a lot of abuse during the pre-sale process at the dealership and while the car is being transported... long cycles with the car off with several short drives (moving the car from one space to another) which sometimes damages them because they're not able to fully recharge in the course of a normal drive cycle. Car batteries are designed to be pulled down a little, and then topped off - not "deep cycled"

You might try checking the battery with a voltage meter and see what readings you get during one of these no-start episodes. The battery should be reading about 12.5VDC with the car off. Drop a bit during starting, then around 14.4VDC at idle. With a bad cell or two you will usually see the 12VDC while it's sitting, but it'll drop way down under a load when try to start it.

Heath