My coupe is starting to show signs of pending battery failure. I’m ready with jumper cables of course, but after watching the TV show Motorweek last Saturday I’m concerned that my old jumper cables may mean trouble for my ECU, as shown below:

MotorWeek: Auto Basics: Goss' Garage

Should I buy a set of these “smart” cables or will the old ones still do in a G37?

 

I've heard this as well and I believe it! You should definitely use one of the Jumper Packs and not just jump off of someone elses battery.

I would never do that with my G due to all the electrical components.

 

I never knew about these smart jumper cables. That's cool and I'm gonna get rid of my crappy old cables now and get these. Thanks Mr. Chekov!

These are only $35. I've seen regular cables cost the same or more. This is a no brainer.

 

I've used regular jumper cables on the G several times and never had problems. Just make sure you follow the directions in the manual in connecting them right. I'm pretty sure it goes +on dead car, then + on jump car, then -on jump car, then ground the - on the dead car. It says to place the ground on the metal tab right by the dip stick.

 

nice find Chekov I had never even heard of these but now I think I will be adding them to my emergency kit

 

Just bought some for my wife's car. I might buy some for my son and myself after I have a chance to examine them.

 

hmmm never thought about it...

these are a good idea tho.. imagine using like a truck to jump a 4-banger

 

Haha I saw these on Motorweek too and thought the same thing. Definitely not a bad idea. Due to the infamous Infiniti battery issue, I had to jump my car several times and always used old school cables and never had any problems from it. But that does not mean it cant happen.

 

Well, I took the advice of experts here and bought a set of the Michelin 5100 smart cables today for $30 at Pep Boys (Amazon.com wanted $48). I hope my ECU appreciates it.

 

Hopefully the only time you will have to break them out is just to show everyone your nifty hi-tech cables.

 

Nissan has extremely high standards for the companies that provide their electronics. They actually require that they be able to survive a dead short for a specific amount of time. Whenever an electronic component fails under warranty Nissan charges the supplier.

I have no hesitations in using "standard" cables on my G or any other G. These cables look very gimicky. I've never heard about anyone damaging a car from simply jumping it. Maybe it's happened, but I've never heard about it.

On the positive side, at only $35 as long as they are heavy gauge cables then why not?

 

As I now see it, another factor to consider is if I am asked to be the donor to another car (i.e., being the charger rather than the chargee). If the other car is not so well protected, the surge protection feature of my smart cables could save the day.

 

It's not just the G that this can happen to, it's any car with a computer. With that being said, been using regular old cables all my life and will continue to do so. Just hook positive to positive and negative to negative and make sure not to short anything out and you'll be fine.

 

I thought negative on the engine block?

 

That's fine too. In general, it's safer than directly connecting to the negative.