Bypass Option (timer?) for seat heaters discharging battery

C

callmeDubs

Member
Location
Colorado
Hello All,

Relatively new owner of a FX45 and so far loving it. Differences b/w it and the Jeep Wrangler, are well, night and day. Finally hit my 10 posts and after some searching with no answers, offering the following:

Recently found out that leaving the seat heaters on will fully discharge the battery, even with engine off and doors locked. Guessing this was just an engineering oversight at Nissan. Was curious as to what, if any, solutions the other IS owners came up with as a remedy for this issue. Or if nothing, are folks just extra diligent about making sure these two switches are in the "off" position. Seems like a pain!
 
Thanks for your input. I'm recharging the battery today, will do some tests on the battery voltage tonight w/ multimeter, to see if the seat heaters are indeed the culprit. Car was sitting for less than a day and battery was totally discharged, so something substantial was drawing current from the battery (seat heaters fit the bill, and were in "on" position). Lights (both ext/int) were definitely off. Very odd.
 
Your seat heaters turn off when you turn off the car completely. They do not remain on.

Sounds like you have some other problem....
 
Damn. From other infiniti forums it sounded like they could remain on. It did seem like an odd thing to leave direct-connected to the battery, as a lot of folks wouldn't remember to turn off seat-heaters, esp in winter.
 
Don't think this is true, however leaving your seat heater on with the car turned to on, but not running will. I had a bike race not too long ago, and left my seat heater on for a few hours with the car off. Came back to charge my phone so I left the car in the on position but didn't realize I had left the seat heater on. Came back not too much later, maybe 20-30 minutes to find my car low on battery juice and it kind of shut off while I was waiting. It did end up starting later though.
 
Thanks for the all the advice, electrical gremlins can be a nightmare to source. Sounds like i can rule out the seat heaters at least. Car is a recent purchase, and the battery (1/11) is nearing the 3 year mark. Its an Optima yellowtop though, so 3 years seems low for it to crap out. I'll start with the battery, and then alternator, etc. Again, appreciate the feedback.
 
It definitely not the seat heater. It off when the car is off. The heater will turn on when the key is in the ON or START position. You can always pull the center console and disconnect the connectors for both seats to see if you still have a dead battery or not.

Do you have an after market radio, sub, or amp? How about any add on lights? Those are more than likely if you do.
 
No aftermarket stuff, car is stock. Ruling out seat heaters, baffling that the battery could completely drain out in less than a 24 hour period. No buzzing, no voltage for cabin lights, nothing.
 
I have a 2007 G35 that had battery drain issues. I went to my dealer since it was under warranty at the time. They found nothing wrong. It ended up being an intermittent drain. I did some digging into TSBs years later for issues with Nissans/Infinitis. Turns out that Nissan was using an EVAP SOLENOID that was intermittently sucking power with the car off. There are quite a few TSBs issued for various Nissans/Infinitis that involve this solenoid--some do not even deal with power drain. The recommendation is to use a "new style" solenoid. I bought this part out of pocket and replaced it (rear, near fuel tank) and my battery drain issues have disappeared. At the very least, I would look into it.
 
la_fx35 said:
Would be helpful if you can post the part# to the "new style" selonoid. :wink:
Click to expand...

Just did a search. This is for 2008-2009 G37 but the evap vent control valve is the one that has been causing problems across multiple Nissan lines. Check out the last page of this TSB.

--sorry-- don't have enough posts to post a link to an example TSB. Google: "ITB10-010b G37 Low Battery/No start" and scroll to last page.

Vent control valve (new part) 14395-JF00A
 
So i'm obliged to return to the thread and eat some crow. After fully recharging the battery it occurred to me I was leaving the ignition in "acc" mode rather than completely turning it to "lock" position. After testing the battery at rest this morning at ~12.6volts, a voltmeter test at 11am showed battery reading at 11.44 volts, so it discharges quite quickly while at ACC. i was using the hardkey for the first couple of weeks, which would explain why i wasn't experiencing this earlier. Feeling like the village idiot but its better than ripping this car apart looking for a phantom drain! Thanks again everyone.
 
Glad that was an easy fix. Some how you were right that the seat heater did drain your battery.:laugh:
 
Last edited:
callmeDubs said:
So i'm obliged to return to the thread and eat some crow. After fully recharging the battery it occurred to me I was leaving the ignition in "acc" mode rather than completely turning it to "lock" position. After testing the battery at rest this morning at ~12.6volts, a voltmeter test at 11am showed battery reading at 11.44 volts, so it discharges quite quickly while at ACC. i was using the hardkey for the first couple of weeks, which would explain why i wasn't experiencing this earlier. Feeling like the village idiot but its better than ripping this car apart looking for a phantom drain! Thanks again everyone.
Click to expand...

Well atleast the fix is really easy. Glad you solved your problem....
 
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