Long time owners: check that battery!

[Bubs daddy]

My Versa will be four years old in December. I noticed that when starting the car lately, it was sluggish. Doh! That battery is 4 years old. Replaced the battery and all is well.

So Kimber Kenobi, She who loves her Versa and some other long time Versa vets, keep an eye on your battery. Don't want to see you stranded.

[iluvmyVersa08]

LOL!

Thanks for the update ... car will be 3 in March; I'll keep an eye out!

[Atx_Versa]

Haha! Funny how you say that...My battery just died on me last week! Changed it and cleaned up the terminals.

[NODES]

I was going to replace my battery with a Kirkland Costco brand this weekend.

[Bubs daddy]

I'm always on top of maintenance but this one just slipped on by me. It was amazing when I installed the new battery. Barely turned the key and it fired right up. I got the Autozone Duralast Gold.

Extreme cold and heat can really affect a battery's performance. Out here where we get 60+ days of over 100 degrees, that can wear on a battery.

What a maroon. I'm just glad I caught it before I was way out somewhere when it wouldn't start.

[srellim234]

Thanks for the tip. Ours was delivered with a defective battery in July 2007. Replaced after getting stranded three weeks after we bought it. That means we have just over 40 months on our battery. Probably a good time to look at replacing it before it becomes a problem.

I haven't looked at it, but the OEM battery is probably only a 36 monther, isn't it?

[williamk10]

I will be replacing my battery soon as well.

[Bubs daddy]

probably only a 36 monther, isn't it?

That's what I'm thinking.

[NODES]

watch all our problems go away with a new capable battery

[Eemrek]

Do you guys use any type of battery terminal cleaner & brush on the leads when you swap batteries? Curious if it's even worth doing it... I bought my '07 back in early-August 2006. It's probably due for a new battery.

Cheers,
Eemrek (Kermee)

[Bubs daddy]

Mine were pretty clean when I swapped batteries. I still took some sandpaper to them before installing the new one.

[viet510racer]

was curious as to which battery brands did u guys went with??

one stated duralast gold.

[williamk10]

I am going with Optima Red Top.

Might as well go with the best.

[NODES]

I am going with Optima Red Top.

Might as well go with the best.

Costco (Kirkland brand) batteries are good for the price you pay. I have never had one fail in our family and we have been through a lot of cars/different batteries through the years.

[Eemrek]

Costco (Kirkland brand) batteries are good for the price you pay. I have never had one fail in our family and we have been through a lot of cars/different batteries through the years.

That's probably what I'm going to end up doing too. Might swing by Costco on the way home from work today...

Cheers,
Eemrek

[NODES]

Costco (Kirkland brand) batteries are good for the price you pay. I have never had one fail in our family and we have been through a lot of cars/different batteries through the years.

That's probably what I'm going to end up doing too. Might swing by Costco on the way home from work today...

Cheers,
Eemrek

let us know if it makes any difference in the way the car runs.

[srellim234]

Questions: If I have someone like Costco change the battery for me do I need to worry about any of the electronics? Other than the radio presets and possibly the bluetooth is there anything affecting engine functions I should concern myself with?

[Eemrek]

Questions: If I have someone like Costco change the battery for me do I need to worry about any of the electronics? Other than the radio presets and possibly the bluetooth is there anything affecting engine functions I should concern myself with?

I think the Bluetooth "might" (i.e. pairings, contacts, saved voice-activations) survive a battery disconnect. I think it's basically the clock & radio presets. All the other ECU/BCM functions should be fine; they're all EEPROM (flash).

Cheers,
Eemrek

[Eemrek]

let us know if it makes any difference in the way the car runs.

Will do!

Cheers,
Eemrek

[NODES]

The BCM will get reset if it is unplugged for longer then a couple of hours, a battery swap should only effect clock and radio.

[Eemrek]

Costco - $56.99 + Tax (WA State)
$9 Core Charge. Refunded upon return of old battery -- READ: Means next time you go to Costco and blow hundreds of dollars there because it's so easy to do so, you get your $9 back!



Car definitely turns faster when starting from cold. Other than that, lights (both interior and exterior) definitely stays brighter when I start. The OE battery is on its 51th month in service so I just called it "preventative maintenance" for about $60 and change.

Cheers,
Eemrek

[NODES]

Costco - $56.99 + Tax (WA State)
$9 Core Charge. Refunded upon return of old battery -- READ: Means next time you go to Costco and blow hundreds of dollars there because it's so easy to do so, you get your $9 back!



Car definitely turns faster when starting from cold. Other than that, lights (both interior and exterior) definitely stays brighter when I start. The OE battery is on its 51th month in service so I just called it "preventative maintenance" for about $60 and change.

Cheers,
Eemrek

"preventative maintenance" eh??? does that include changing you oil more frequently now too?


P.S What is the point of the white battery cover....why could they not use black.

[Eemrek]

"preventative maintenance" eh??? does that include changing you oil more frequently now too?

P.S What is the point of the white battery cover....why could they not use black.

LOL! Touché Though I doubt a 'dead battery' would cause me to do another engine swap

There's about 800 miles on the salvage engine now. I just checked the oil levels in it after I changed out the battery. It's still full and the oil was only very slightly colored. Hopefully this engine will last me a while...

As for the plastic cover, I think it's that color because maybe it's the cheapest 'colored' plastic they have. There is a small rectangular "insulator" (I think it was some type of rubber) that's black and adhered on the lower left-hand side of the battery cover behind the positive-terminal towards the driver. Not sure why it's there because I don't see anything that would need it to be insulated from in that general area, heat or otherwise. But I almost put the battery cover on 180° flipped where the insulation was facing the wrong way.

The BCM will get reset if it is unplugged for longer then a couple of hours, a battery swap should only effect clock and radio.

Yup. BT and BCM related stuff survived the 5 minute battery swap. -- I forgot it also reset the trip meters on the instrument cluster and forgot to mark down the mileage so now I'm going to have to backtrack from my last odometer reading to get a proper MPG calculation on the current tank of gas I have.

Cheers,
Eemrek

[Bubs daddy]

There is a small rectangular "insulator" (I think it was some type of rubber) that's black and adhered on the lower left-hand side of the battery cover behind the positive-terminal towards the driver. Not sure why it's there because I don't see anything that would need it to be insulated from in that general area, heat or otherwise.

Hmmm. That black piece of rubber was in the middle of the plastic battery cover when I changed my battery. It fits perfectly between the retaining bar and plastic battery cover when you tighten the battery bracing. I would presume it's to prevent the rear retaining bar from possibly rubbing into the battery casing over time.

[aidan80]

I'd forgotten all about the battery, when is it recommended to be changed? I'm in Florida where it's of course hot and humid quite a part of the year. Luckily I've a manual and with a push start I just might get going in the even of battery failure. Unluckily most of Florida is flat so I may be pushing for a while lol

My previous car (if a car could hate someone that car hated me, with a passion) got a whole year out of it's new battery when I bought the car used. Even the second battery a duralast gold was sagging near the end of the second year. Although that was a ford and it was on it's last legs at the time of trade in. Never so glad to see the back of it!

[Bubs daddy]

I would say 3 years is a normal serviceable time for most batteries. Mine was four years old but it was definitely not holding nearly the charge as it once was.

I noticed it when starting the car how sluggish it would turn over. Now it fires up instantly. Starter hardly even cranks and it's running.

[08versailles]

Will check battery/water soon!
got 8 years and 290000km from last nissan battery in sentra.
But i waited til it stranded me. Stalled it [manual]at a stop sign, and wouldn't restart.
That battery also led an easy life cuz of long commute with few starts.
I'm gonna start a new thread:

What voltage does your battery read on a multimeter [when engine turned off]?
How well is your V starting?

This should help everyone watch for dying battery I hope

[Tacuvito]

My startups are getting to be slugghish. I need a new battery. I will check prices at the big box places (Costco, Sam's).

[Tacuvito]

My old Jetta had a sleeve that covered the battery. Has anyone seen something like this for the Versa battery?

[Tacuvito]

Bought the battery (everstart) at Wal-Mart. Never again. How can a battery take 4 hours to replace? The techs at Wal- Mart are the worst when it comes to completing a work order. $77 dollars flat, but I will not be taking my car to Wal- Mart for service ever again.