New Member No Crank (2004 Infiniti M45)

[Ascot Silver]

Just purchased 2004 M45 and drove it across the country. It's quite nice and I was amused by the laser speed control.

This past Saturday a curious thing happened to the vehicle. It would not crank.I thought the battery might be dead so I jumped it and still no crank. Lights were OK. I tried another set of jumper cables and a second vehicle to jump. I checked the voltage at the M's battery and it read 13.8 volts with the jumper cables in place and other car running. Still no crank. I checked voltage at M's battery without jump and it read 12.5.

I had car towed to dealer. They said the vehicle needed a new battery and installed one at a "pro-rated" price of $40. Have you ever heard of such? So far it is cranking OK but then it did that for almost 3 weeks and about 2500 miles since I've had it.

[auditech10]

The voltage could have been ok but the amperage could have been drained, so to speak. Yes, this is common for this to happen to a battery, in my experience.Cheers

[szh]

Welcome to NICO!

Yes, car batteries do have a service life. Generally speaking, 5 years is about the right length of time after which a cell or two inside the battery might no longer hold any juice - yours apparently went a little sooner (not necessarily unusual). Cranking becomes difficult, if not impossible, although other electronics may be fine.

And, yes, sometimes an accidental complete drain of the battery can decrease this service life - this can damage cells inside older batteries.

BTW, most batteries come with pro-rated warranties after some initial period.

My car battery (four+ years old now from the date of manufacture) is working normally, but I expect that it will need replacement within the next 6 to 12 months. Perhaps sooner.

Z

[szh]

By the way, if you get a new battery and replace it yourself (it is not tough), make it a point of checking the date of manufacture and get one that is less than 12 months old - ideally less than 6 months.

Z