1995 Maxima electrical/starting problems

1995 ALL OTHER MAKES ALL OTHER MODELS
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HERESONEFORYA
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My 95 Maxima had 150,000 miles (just turned over 84 miles ago) and I have had barely any problems with it. Yet ever since I bought it, roughly 3 years ago, it has had trouble starting in the dead of winter.

Over the years the problem has gotten worse- at first the lights came on when i opened the door, and the engine would struggle a little, but 3 years later-- in fact, this happened tonight-- now the lights dont even come on and the battery is completely dead when it gets cold out.

I routinely have to have it jumped in order for it to start, and we have checked out the entire electrical system, done numerous battery checks/replacements, etc. all to NO avail. I am out of ideas on how to fix this problem. Replacing the battery works, but only briefly. I thought maybe replacing the alternator would help, but that hasn't happened yet, mainly because if the body shop says the alternator works fine (and they do) I dont want to replace it.

HELP!!! any suggestions on what I should do, or has anyone else had this issue?? Thanks
Feb 24, 2007 at 8:06 PM
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KIN CHAN
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yee yee .....just kidding..from what u described ..it is a very basical electrical problem..if u wanna repair it urself...u must have basic electrical knowledge...know how to do a voltage drop test ..know how to take measure value and plug into equations on hands and make decision what's n which components is the offending fault cpts ...now i'm or we here to explain and resurface the truth in present problem..aint no way i can turn a person from a novice to a professional level and fix a particular problem over nite so u won't have to pay a professional to get the job properly done..are we clear with each other?...
okay...do what I said...charge up ur battery have it test that it is fully charged at max level operational condition..stick it back in ur car and start it..then disconnect the battery overnite @ the -ve side terminal of the battery ...try to start it the next day..if it started right up ..u can bet ur last $ u have a parasitic electrical drain...find a shop and fix it ..thats all it is to it..
Feb 24, 2007 at 8:29 PM
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HERESONEFORYA
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hm, thanks, i will definetly try that. unfortunately right now I'm at college and I lack the money/time/supplies/space to do it. I will keep this, and do it when it get home in 2 weeks though. thanks!

In the mean time, does anyone else have any advice?
Feb 25, 2007 at 1:54 AM
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HERESONEFORYA
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One day, I suppose out of sheer frustration and desperation, i pulled out the power cord for my SIRIUS sattelite radio from the fuse box to see if that would fix my parasitic problem. suprisingly this fixed the problem. the car now starts after being turned off for a few days with no problems.

my dad and i had installed the radio ourselves, so perhaps we put the radio in the wrong fuse, or maybe the radio was just too much. either way, it's fixed now, and thanks for your help
Mar 20, 2007 at 7:34 PM
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