cbak

I'll start off by apologizing if this is in the incorrect section.

So, I have an 09 G37 that I recently bought used with roughly 46k miles on it.
Around 6 months ago, I was hanging out with a friend in my car, listening to music for quite sometime, and the battery died to point that I need it to be jumped. Fast forward a few months, everything seemed fine after that one event, but one day after I was finished washing my car, the battery would not start again. I had to get it jumped once more. I was able to get a good deal on a new battery, so I replaced it. I installed the new battery with no issue. A month or so after installing the new battery, I came back to my car after work and the doors unlocked fine, but once I sat inside no lights were showing on the dash or even the courtesy lights. The fob would not unlock my car or lock it. I placed it into the slot near the trunk latch and it still did nothing. A family member dropped off the spare fob and it worked fine for some reason.

From that point on, intermittently the car would not start or recognize the key fob. It would sometimes crank but then die, and all my radio preferences, dash information, and any general settings were reset (this has happened multiple times). Yesterday was the most bizarre. I parked my car, opened the door, and all the lights went out, the dash lights were off, and the car would not respond to the fob even when placed in the manual slot. After a few tries, the car locked and I went into my home. Later that night I come out and the car unlocks, I immediately place the fob into the slot and push the push to start button. Lights are on, it cranks, then all the power goes out. I unlatch my hood and check the battery terminals. I pushed the positive down to ensure it was secure. I restart the car and it starts up, but the odometer lights are flickering. I start driving and the hand brake light and two other dash lights show up, the car stutters, and I pull over. Turn off the car and restart it. It got me to where I needed to be and didn't have an issue after that. Also, after the initial battery replacement, the key fob battery level has been showing up as low.

I'm not sure what the problem is, but I would appreciate any feedback, advice, or suggestions. Thank you for reading, sorry for the long post!

TL;DR: intermittent power loss, key fob battery low, settings reset randomly, terminal seems to be loose, but it has been tightened, battery keeps dying, this is a new battery. wtf is happening.

alrockaz

Did you check the negative terminal? Any looseness is bad - neither one should be moving at all.

cbak

I tightened them both when I initially replaced the battery. I also checked for looseness after each incident, neither seem to be loose. I figured with all the settings reverting back to default, it must be a connection issue, but like I said, they're pretty tight.

WillCo1

What kind of bettery did you get?

Was it from like an Auto Zone or whatever?

I can remember at least a couple times having to return close to new batteries to places like auto-zone, etc because the battery turned out to be crap.

I would go back to where you got it and tell them you are having problems, so they will at least test it.

Also, have you washed your engine/engine bay ever?

cbak

I got a costco brand battery. I've used them in the past with no issue, so I went with it again. If there are no other possible explanations, I will definitely go back to them.

I have not washed my engine bay ever, I've only cleaned it down with a microfiber.

The other odd things was that the cover for the battery compartment was completely off and laying on the engine bay when I checked the battery last night, when I had that starting issue. Months ago when I replaced the battery, I was having trouble anchoring and securing the J metal rod that holds the battery in place, so opted to leave it off. EDIT: I secured the J metal rod that is on the rear of the battery, the one that is on the front side was left off. I'm wondering if there could be some correlation between this. Maybe the battery is bouncing around in there? I don't recall going off roading, so I don't see how it could move easily.

alrockaz

That battery needs to be secured. If the cover was off that's evidence that the battery was moving around. Heck, would you feel good if that battery was sitting in your back seat and you slammed on the brakes? You know it would go flying.

If it is banging around and bouncing the internal plates could be broken too. Get the battery tested. You may also be creating a short situation if that positive connection is hitting the body of the car causing all sorts of issues like you are describing.

cbak

Haha, I understand. I was having a very difficult time attaching the front J rod. Not sure how you guys anchor it. This was the first time the lid was off, so tomorrow I will try to go back and reanchor that rod. I havent noticed any particular sounds or odd movements that would indicate that the battery is moving. I also haven't had a particularly bumpy route in the past week or so. At least nothing to the point where the battery would fly up or bounce around. You're probably right, but I wanted to see if there was any other possibility, or see if someone has had a similar issue.

WillCo1

Also, make sure that when you get your battery tested, make sure the battery is correct for the g37 in the first place. You shouldnt of had any issues getting the new battery secured down properly. Unless it is the wrong size, Or you dont have the proper tools to install it.

Also, since it seems that you tend to hang out in the vehicle with the electronics running, you might want to consider going with a better battery all-together. Maybe an Optima or something.

cbak

I'll get it checked out! The issue with anchoring that rod was that I couldn't seem to find a spot where it hooks on. The DIY write up for battery replacement did not go into detail about rehooking that J rod.

I've only "hung out" with a girl once in my car, I'm sure many have learned that there is not suitable space to "hang out" in a g37, so it won't be happening in there anytime soon. I'll look into an Optima though, seems like brand names have been better than no names.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, I really appreciate it!

Dough1397

You could just keep the car on when "hanging out." I mean, you might need to keep it cool in there somehow. Alternatively, you could heat things up in there...

edit: note this, is not environmentally friendly or responsible.

cbak

So, this morning the car would not start. It recognized my key FOB, but when I pushed the push to start button it clicked and then all the power went out. I popped the hood, barely touched the negative terminal, and then I heard like a click, went to the drivers seat and started the car as usual. This is so weird. The rear rod is holding the battery in place pretty well. I jiggled the negative and positive terminal and neither of them seem to be loose. Not sure what is happening here!

It was not the ideal environment, so I don't think I'll be doing any similar activities in there any time soon.

User 111021

iTrader: (2)

Far as your keyfob it has happened to me, when my car battery died to such a low low level sitting for months that all times of codes popped up and one of them was about the security system, meaning it couldnt recognize the fobs..

If your battery problem gets fixed all the other things will automatically fix itself, they are all related to low battery.

Do you drive less than 10 Miles to work? Have you had the TSB Done regarding the Valve?