The Sa Wasteland

[rhys5169]

that woulda hurt, and hurt the waller majorly

[Dohmar]

*sigh*

well some weird stuff is goin on with the GTR. I suspect its the battery causing it.

Engine cranks over but the electronics in the car dont - not initially anyhow

when i put it in 1st and drive past 2500rpm for the first time, all of the instrumentation comes back on, the windows and aircon, indicators and internal lights start working again, but with the ABS, Hicas and 4WD lights all flashing.... then after a while all bar the Hicas light goes out and I'm back in action - albeit with a twitch hicas

I suspect that the lack of voltage in my battery (it was 12.5 last nite so I'm pretty sure its shagged - charged to 13.4volt overnight) is causing the electronics to stay off until they have enough power to run, and then they switch on. Its strange behavior but it would make sense in a way.

In either case, I've just bought an Optima yellow D51 battery. Hopefully that'll make the issues disappear - I'll know if thats the case or not later this evening.

Not cheap tho. $350. I know I could have got a standard batt but I've heard real good things about these yellow tops

-D

[CRoNic...]

Alternator issue?

Have you replaced the light switch on the dash? I'm serious... mine melted and caused all the electrics to do crazy things. It's a common issue with the 32 GTR's.

[Dohmar]

Alternator issue?

Have you replaced the light switch on the dash? I'm serious... mine melted and caused all the electrics to do crazy things. It's a common issue with the 32 GTR's.

Nah its not the light switch, and definately not the alternator. I get a 14v constant when driving. It dips when I turn the aircon on, for half a second, but I think its def the battery... it might have the voltage but not necessarily the amperage required.

-D

[CRoNic...]

Hmmm yeah sounds more like a battery issue.

If your new battery drains in 60 minutes of driving, it'd be the alternator!!

Same thing happened to my mates Leopard. All of a sudden, things started to die, lights didn't work, started doing crazy things. Replaced the battery and bam, all good! An hour later, everything's dead again! Turned out the alternator just wasn't charging the battery.

[Dohmar]

Hmmm yeah sounds more like a battery issue.

If your new battery drains in 60 minutes of driving, it'd be the alternator!!

Same thing happened to my mates Leopard. All of a sudden, things started to die, lights didn't work, started doing crazy things. Replaced the battery and bam, all good! An hour later, everything's dead again! Turned out the alternator just wasn't charging the battery.

Yeah I had alternator issues in 2007 just after I bought the car. The voltage gauge in the GTR dropped from the std 14 to 12 and the hicas cut out (hicas needs 13 volts to run).

Considering the instrumentation isnt coming on when the engine is off, but comes on when the alternator has put a bit of oomph on the current, its powering up a system that refuses to power up on a lesser current/amperage (not sure how theyve based it). I know the battery has been in there for longer than two years, and possibly longer than that (I'll have to check with writeoff if that batt came with the car - if its lasted more than 3 years then that kinda explains it)

-D

[CRoNic...]

On average, are car batteries meant to last for 5 years?

[Dohmar]

i thought that it was 3-5 years

Ideally yes, but the battery has been drained below 12 volts on several occasions - once you take a battery below 12volts, it very rarely comes good again, even the sealed gel batteries (which is what I have). The deep cycle batteries specifically can handle complete drainage (hence deep cycle) which is why I've decided to get one - so now my stereo hopefully wont interfere with the running of the actual car ;P

-D

[Krishy]

On average, are car batteries meant to last for 5 years?

i thought that it was 3-5 years

[CRoNic...]

Yeah once my current acid battery kicks the can, I'll get a gel-sealed deep cycle item.

Although, I'm not even running a head unit! Can't be bothered getting a CD player for the car. I'm quite happy with the sound of the RB26 with the windows down!

[Krishy]

Ideally yes, but the battery has been drained below 12 volts on several occasions - once you take a battery below 12volts, it very rarely comes good again, even the sealed gel batteries (which is what I have). The deep cycle batteries specifically can handle complete drainage (hence deep cycle) which is why I've decided to get one - so now my stereo hopefully wont interfere with the running of the actual car ;P

-D

Sheesh over the last 3 years that i have had the car for, the battery has gone below 11v many times lol

still going good though so hopefully still will be good for another couple of years.

[SLED]

Ideally yes, but the battery has been drained below 12 volts on several occasions - once you take a battery below 12volts, it very rarely comes good again, even the sealed gel batteries (which is what I have). The deep cycle batteries specifically can handle complete drainage (hence deep cycle) which is why I've decided to get one - so now my stereo hopefully wont interfere with the running of the actual car ;P

-D

I've got 3 batteries in the truck with a combination of a high cca battery to start and 2 deep cycles to run my gear.

The deep cycle ones definitely do recover better than the cranking batteries but a deep cycle will struggle to turn over a hi-comp motor once it drains a bit whereas a high cca at the same voltage will turn the motor faster.

I've attached an article that my wife's Uncle gave me, he's a huge boat fanatic......haven't had a chance to read it yet but I will now.

EDIT: Tolerating low temperatures is not as much of a concern in cars as it is in marine use so the AGM battery probably would suit both worlds of cranking & house use over the Gel type......just a bit more expensive unfortunately.

[Krishy]

good read there sled

[Dohmar]

I've got 3 batteries in the truck with a combination of a high cca battery to start and 2 deep cycles to run my gear.

The deep cycle ones definitely do recover better than the cranking batteries but a deep cycle will struggle to turn over a hi-comp motor once it drains a bit whereas a high cca at the same voltage will turn the motor faster.

I've attached an article that my wife's Uncle gave me, he's a huge boat fanatic......haven't had a chance to read it yet but I will now.

EDIT: Tolerating low temperatures is not as much of a concern in cars as it is in marine use so the AGM battery probably would suit both worlds of cranking & house use over the Gel type......just a bit more expensive unfortunately.

Yeah, the Yellow Optima is an AGM dual purpose battery. I've heard of these things being left connected to a car for a year and then cranking over the first time (tho why you wouldnt disconnect a battery is beyond me). They also have a decent amount of CCA and a nice chunk of AH... so it should withstand my driving habits a bit better (I tend to do many short trips, so the battery doesnt always get its charge back - 15 minutes to and from work doesnt really charge the battery, especially when I have the aircon and the stereo cranked)

-D

[Nightcrawler]

.... Also some one please buy these

http://page8.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/h126723405

They would look pure porn on my R34

How much can u land them here for Luke?

[RubyRS4]

Woohoo! Got my new gold chain for the Brutale today!

Fitting it tonight when I get home then going ofr a ride to show off the new bling!

[Dohmar]

Woohoo! Got my new gold chain for the Brutale today!

Fitting it tonight when I get home then going ofr a ride to show off the new bling!

Man who do u think u are, Flava Flav on a bike? hahaha ;D

-D

[SLED]

Woohoo! Got my new gold chain for the Brutale today!

Fitting it tonight when I get home then going ofr a ride to show off the new bling!

Man who do u think u are, Flava Flav on a bike? hahaha ;D

-D

You know what time it is Roo!

[Madaz]

Lol pete i thought you would of found one when he used to wear a big wall clock around his neck

[r33 chris]

YEEEEAAAAA BOI