I didn't realize it but my battery was in need of replacement recently. I went on a couple of business trips and each time I came back (gone 5-12 days), I would find the battery had died.

The way one finds out, however, is by trying to turn on the car--right?

WARNING: Attempting to start the car on a low battery can have disastrous consequences!

Needless to say, after trying to jump/recharge the battery, somehow an excess amperage draw (when current drops, amperage rises) fried the main airbag control unit (roughly $500-600). So now I have a permanent red flashing airbag light that WILL NOT RESET (although I have tried five times using the press-on/off start button method).

If you find you have a low battery, do NOT continuously attempt to start. Charge the battery properly or replace.


You have been warned...

 

Might want to read the diagnostic code from the flashes to see what is the error. I have never heard of a low battery causing any control unit to go bad.

 

Thanks for the heads up.

I have already read the code, multiple times... 7 flashes = malfunction in airbag control unit. It is fried...

 

Hmmm...interesting! Were you told by an Infiniti dealer this was the cause?

 

Amperage and current are the same thing. It's likely that the jumpstart attempt is what fried your control unit, not cranking at low voltage.

 

What would have gone wrong in the jump start process that would fry the control unit?

I did have to do that once when my battery was too low to start the car, luckily everything went smoothly with no issue.

 

Good 2 know stock battery sucks anyways. hopefully warrenty kicks in. why did u keep trying lol

 

thanks for the warning but the only time I have heard of this is when someone tried to charge the battery when the battery was still connected to the car.

I worked in an auto parts store for 3 years and this was the only time I saw this happened. Usually happened to older ladies.

 

I think that if the jump start is done properly with good cables there is no danger of damage.

It is possible that a very low battery voltage caused a temporary fault condition in the airbag controller, and now what the OP is seeing is the record of that fault. Putting the car in diagnosis mode and back to user mode might clear the fault. The procedure is outlined in the service manual.

 

I've heard of this happening, and experienced this myself in the past due to issues with battery chargers. I had the digital display on an aftermarket (Sony) stereo in my car permanently damaged after a battery charging. You should always disconnect the battery from the car before charging it (which I didn't do). The problem is that many battery chargers have high ripple (inadequately filtered) DC voltage that can wreck havoc on digital electronics in a car.