My wife’s 2010 Nissan Altima doesn’t get driven very much. The actual current mileage is 19240 miles!! The problem is that something is draining the battery so that the 2-3 week hiatuses in her driving results in a dead battery. I am embarased to ask my local mechanic who is only 3 blocks away to bring his portable charger. We’ve replaced the battery twice and it seems the battery is going dead much earlier than it used to. My mechanic says there is nothing drawing any current when the engine is off, but clearly something is. What can we search for??
With such limited use you should have your own battery charger and recharge the battery every 2 to 3 months.
There are a number of computers in the car that draw a small amount of power to maintain memory, perform self tests and remain on stand-by, you want the doors to unlock when you push the button on the remote for example.
A battery shouldn’t go dead in 2 to 3 weeks but with your driving schedule the battery will be in a very low state of charge and won’t last 2 weeks.
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Chances are when it is driven, it is not driven enough to fully recharge the battery.
I hope you are performing routine maintenance on the time rather than mileage schedule.
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When she does drive it, how far does she drive?
Use like this will kill batteries in short order. Long time sitting with the car running down the battery a tiny bit at a time. Short trips that don’t recharge the battery fully. More sit time. You are lucky if the battery lasts 18 months like this.
Buy a Battery Tender (brand name) or similar float charger, have it wired to the car with a charging plug and plug it into the charger when parked. It is the only way to keep the car ready to drive. And batteries will last longer.