I have a 2006, Nissan, Altima, 3.5se. The vehicle has about 75k miles on it, and is driven about twice a week. I have had no issues until recently. The problem is the vehicle will not start. About three weeks ago I notices one of the bulbs in the headlight and fog lamps had gone out so I replaced them. (I only share this because it is the only thing that changed. Shortly there after I would go out start the car, drive a short distance, park, turn off the car, and come back 15-20 minutes later. When I went to start the car there was no electrical activity . The battery was completely dead. I had the battery tested, and replaced, thinking this was the problem. Nope still does it. Next I changed all the fuses, thinking a fuse might be going bad, nope issue is still there. I had the new battery tested- it is good, I had the alternator tested 2 different times, it is running and charging the battery. There is nothing left on to drain the battery, as I have turned off the auto door light, unplugged all the phone chargers, and it still does it. When the car won;t start there is no electrical activity. When I go to jump start it it jump starts immediately. It does not cut off while driving. The problem is only when I go to start the vehicle. The alternator comes to mind, but it doesn’t cut while the vehicle is idling or driving. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
You really need to have the complete elctrical system analyzed. That includes starter, charging system, cables, wiring, etc. A good electrical shop can do that for you. From where we sit it’s hard to speculate what might be the matter.
ok, will do. I was hoping there might be a simple solution I was missing.
Is this something I need to take to the Nissan Dealer, or can other repair shops diagnose the electrical problem.
We had a similar problem with our Nissan Sentra. It turned out both the battery and the starter circuit. No, you don’t need the dealer, but you need a good independent shop that can diagnose problems rather than just replace parts. Walmart, Firestone, Sears etc., probably don’t know how to do this.
If there is no good independent shop available, I would go to the dealer and explain exactly what you have done so far, and what problem you have.
A good mechanic will find the problem quickly.
General mechanics can perform a “battery draw test” and isolate what is drawing power from the battery with the car off.
Are there ay aftermarket devices on the car like radio or navigation?
I would not be shocked after all is repaired to find it was a faulty body control module.