[moneyjohn]

Hello folks,

This question relates to 2006 Sentra 1.8S Special edition. This is used car and I do not have servicing records by the previous owner (but according to my current mechanic, the car is in good shape).

Today, I left my headlights on for about 20 minutes or so and after that period, the car won't start. That gets to me the question, should the battery discharge in just 20 minutes of headlight use (when not running)?

Secondly, after one helpful fellow helped me with his car and jumper cables, I managed to start my car and then it started pouring like never before. Since I had to drive for about 30 minutes to charge the battery, I did. At one point, I stopped at a light and then car won't pick up acceleration in Drive gear (not even 5 mph), so I put it in second gear and pulled it till my housing block. I have absolutely no clue what happened there. Once at home, I put it in drive gear and it worked without any issue. Any guesses here?

A related question, I have been lazy about buying jumper cable. Now, I learned my lesson. A quick search on Amazon gives good options. What gauge is best? A quick google search gave many answers. What place will sell me best bang for the buck cable?

Many thanks in advance.

 

[Black B15]

It really sounds like the battery and/or the alternator. If your battery is dead (or almost dead) and you are driving your alternator should be able to recharge your battery. If you alternator is dead too...than the car is sucking power from the battery and the alt at the same time and eventually everything dies.

As far as jumper cables...any gauge is better than nothing. Get some kind of jumper cables. If you are constantly having issues you may want to look into a portable jumpstarter...they are fairly cheap ($40-$60).

I would say have your battery and alternator checked, they can do it by hooking up to it at an autoparts store. Good luck.

 

[i68k]

yea, sounds like your battery died, if your battery is old just get a new one. otherwise make sure the voltage is over 12v before you put the key in the ignition.

once you get a new battery, or one with over 12v, get your car started, your battery should have 14v now, otherwise you have bad alternator or bad eletrical connections.

make sure the battery terminals are super tights, and ground has bare metal contact. do NOT wait to fix this, you will eventually ground your coils, and then after sometime will fry the ecu. your car will not drive correctly because many sensors are voltage specific, and you lost battery voltage, meaning those sensors were losing signal from lack of electricity.