Engine sluggish to turn over

[daltonvol]

I've only had my Rogue for a little more than a month, but I've noticed something that, I think, is strange when starting the vehicle. After is has been off for an extended period of time (e.g. over night or in the afternoon when I've been at work all day), when I turn the ignition switch the engine seems very "sluggish" to turn over. However, if it's only been off for a short time (e.g. when I've gone in somewhere to eat lunch), it fires up very aggressively...similar to how my wife's 2011 Maxima always starts when she pushes the "Push to Start" button.

Any ideas? Is this normal? If not, what do you think might be the issue? I'll be going to the dealer in the next month or so for first (free!) service. Do I need to take it in before that?

[ImStricken06]

FACT:
1. the programming in the CVT makes the engine drop the RPM to save gas.
2. 60a alternators are only putting out half power at 1000-2,500RPM
3. the alternator sustains the car's electrical power, and tries to recharge the battery with the rest of power it makes.

CONCLUSION:
if the programming in the transmission is designed to keep the engine RPM down, by switching to its final gear ratio faster than normal and the driver doesnt push the car to keep the RPM high, when does the alternator have a chance to produce enough power to recharge the battery?

i think thats part of the problem with this car, and why i stated: "the population demanded BETTER FUEL ECONOMY - and the nissan engineers over reacted by placing MAPs in our car to drop the engine RPM(thus using less fuel), thus increasing the stress on our transmission - which creates a new set of problems" in this thread: post6490388.html#p6490388

[ImStricken06]

i have a brand new battery, and myself have experienced the exact thing you have. i dont often push my rogue to hard, and often drive like a grandma, and often will experience sluggish turn over. you just gotta push the throttle a tad, get those RPM's to reach over 3000rpm, and get some highway time in there.

[daltonvol]

Well, obviously, I'm no expert and don't have the technical knowledge like you. But from a logical perspective, I would think that if the alternator is diminished because of doing what it's designed to do while the car is on/moving, it seems like it would have less "juice" to recharge the battery in the short-term situations (and, conversely, more time to recover and charge the battery overnight or during the day).

[daltonvol]

i have a brand new battery, and myself have experienced the exact thing you have. i dont often push my rogue to hard, and often drive like a grandma, and often will experience sluggish turn over. you just gotta push the throttle a tad, get those RPM's to reach over 3000rpm, and get some highway time in there.

I tend to drive exactly like you've described. So, you say I should try to get the RPMs over 3000 at least once each time I'm in the car? I'll give it a try!

[ImStricken06]

short trips are not enough time to recharge what you just took out by starting it.
true story: i once dated a girl that lived 3.2 miles from her job. she had a toyota solara. the streets that took her to her job were about 1 mile of 25mph, 2 miles of 40mph, and about half a mile or so of of 15mph-25mph. her battery would die on her constantly. to make things worse, i always drove my car to/from places lol

With manufacturers being in a MPG crunch now a days, they are trying to find ways to try and use engine/transmission programming to keep engine RPM's down. unfortunately that places the alternator in a state were its not optimal.

to make matter worse our car (those that are equipped with inteli-key) will be using more battery power by having the intelli-key system in the car always hunting to the key-fob. that too places a larger drain on the battery, then cars before(not equipped with such a system)

like i said before: you just gotta push the throttle a tad, get those RPM's to reach over 3000rpm, and get some highway time in there.

[daltonvol]

OK, I'll try. I get plenty of highway time (not Interstate, but highway) where I'm able to keep the RPMs between 1000-2000 and keep MPGs at a pretty high range. I'm very cautious to accelerate from stops pretty slowly. I'll try being a little more aggressive there to get RPMs up.

[TrevorK]

What I don't understand if that the theory of the alternator being too small is correct then why would it matter how long the car is turned off for? The battery wouldn't lose charge that quick to cause a problem so it doesn't seem like it not being charged fully is the issue.

The fact that you say this only happens after long periods of inactivity would make you think it has something to do with that; the charging of a battery by the alternator (which occurs during driving) should not be a factor.

[ImStricken06]

what i was saying is that the low rpm that our cars are programed to operate under to save fuel, isnt enough at times to allow any alternator produce enough juice recharge the battery.

some more side notes:

ALTERNATORS ARE NOT BATTERY CHARGERS. 
Alternators are designed to supply current for the accessory load and maintain the charge of the battery. Most alternators can safely charge at only two-thirds of their maximum rated output.

ALTERNATORS MUST TURN THE PROPER RPM IN ORDER TO FUNCTION 
Just because the alternator looks like it's turning, doesn't mean it's turning fast enough to charge. Most alternators do not start charging until they reach 1,000 RPM alternator shaft speed. 5,000 RPM alternator shaft speed is normally required to reach maximum output. If you're not sure what the alternator shaft speed is, you can determine this with the pulley ratio. Measure the diameter of the crank shaft or drive pulley and the alternator pulley. Divide the crank shaft pulley diameter by the alternator pulley diameter. This figure would be the engine-to-alternator RPM ratio. A normal ratio would be 2.5 to 1. For example, let's say we have a 7 inch diameter crank shaft pulley and a 2.75 inch alternator pulley. We would divide 7 inches by 2.75 which equals 2.54 to 1. If the engine was turning 1,000 RPM we would multiply 1,000 by 2.54 which would give us 2,540 alternator RPM.

[kerrton]

Regardless of the theory and guesswork, if it were me I'd get the battery load tested right away - most battery shops will do this for free and it takes about 2 minutes. If the battery is good, then you can move on to considering other possibilities. You can have your entire electrical system tested to ensure everything is working correctly, including output from the alternator, and from the starter to ensure its working properly.

I have had my Rogue for 5 years and have never had a sluggisth start, ever, and I drive a TON of short trips pretty much every day, several times a day, and I drive conservatively. Many of these short trips are less than 1 mile, with as much as 4 start/stop cycles in an hour, so I'm talking really short and frequent. Whether the car sits for 10 minutes, overnight, or for several days it always starts with the same enthusiasm and I've never had a sluggish start except in extremely cold weather, and I mean it has to get REALLY cold before I notice some sluggishness to the engine start.

I'm sure everything stated above is true, but I just had to chime in and answer your question "do other Rogue owners experience this". My answer is a strong "no".

[ImStricken06]

another thing we didnt go over: when you say "sluggish" are we talking a half a second to a full second longer to start the car - or are we talking about: Rev, Rev, Rev, Rev-Rev-Rev-VROOM! ? lol

mine will take about 1 second longer than normal. most folks wouldn't even notice it (but experience does)