Hi

I had a weird problem last evening, it happened twice.
I was able to drive the car to my destination which is an hr away and turned off the engine. Immediately after stopping the engine, the car lost power, I couldn't even unlock the doors from inside the car(usually the doors unlocked by itself). I can't even turn the engine back on. But if I give it like 10-15 mins, it got the power back and I am able to turn on the engine. While driving after I turn on, I felt something weird with acceleration. Like it's jumping the gear or not getting enough power to move(it could just be my feeling).
I got the battery and alternator checked at Autozone and they both are fine. I am not sure if it's the starter or ignition problem. This is 2012 Infiniti g37x all wheel drive.
I haven't done any maintenance on starter , ignition or spark plugs after buying brand new. It has around 75k miles on it.

Appreciate any help.

 

It's "loses" power, not "looses" power; sorry, it's a pet peeve of mine on par with break and brake.

Are you sure it's not the alternator? Autozone isn't exactly the pinnacle of automotive diagnosing experts. If you can't even open the door after the engine shuts off, then that means the engine is the only thing keeping that battery going. That wouldn't be a starter issue. How old is the battery?

 

Ditto to the Autozone comment. I wouldn't rely on their diagnosis as the truth to your problem, but more of a check. I assume you had them check your battery after driving there, so your car had some juice in the system and probably read the right voltage. Have you replaced your battery since owning the car? In terms of power supply, the battery holds the power, the alternator helps generate power to be used and stored in the battery, and the Starter uses power to turn the engine crank.

My guess is a bad battery. Start there since it's the cheaper of the repairs. There can be other factors too, like a bad ground or some accessory you have that may be draining the power. Also, you have been driving this car daily, right? You didn't let it sit for a long period of time because that can also diminish your battery's life too.

 

Battery is about 2 years old. And he said about 60% of Battery is charged at the time of checkup and no cells are damaged

 

Battery is about 2 years old. And he said about 60% of Battery is charged at the time of checkup and no cells are damaged

 

I got it replaced 2 yrs ago after the original manufacturer one died. I drive it almost daily but not long distances. Recent long distance 45 mins one was when this happened. One thing I did different that day is, I changed my android phone with the USB inside the storage box. That actually didn't charge my phone but drained it. I tried charging my phone for like 20mins. Not sure if that drained the engine battery and taking time regain the lost capacity but it should have picked up because I drove back another 45mins back home after engine came back up.

 

It just happened today after like 4 days. I drove for 2 hrs with few stops at different stores, no problems. Left the car on driveway under the sun at home for like 4 hrs. then It doesn't start, no power at all. Used a jump start and the car starts. Then immediately after halfway to moving the car into garage, engine lost power in the drive mode but it let me move to park mode. Then did jump start again and put it in garage.

 

I just tried to turn on the engine again. It got the power. Moved to 'on' status on push button then tries to crank and dies half way of start and entire car lost the power.

 

I tried to turn on the car again this morning and the push button got flashing light while trying to turn on. The 2nd time when I tried to turn on, I hear a few click sound trying turn on the engine but failed.. Then I used the jump start to turn the car on, which let me start the engine but after driving local roads for 15mins, suddenly my acceleration meter got to zero and "break" "Abs" errors flashed on the dashboard for a quick split second and again the engine got the power back and was able to drive the car back.

 

​​​​​​Usually when the (break) abs and possibly some other light depending on the car. It means the alternator is dying.

That happened to me in a 07 camry.

Was driving home from work when those lights flashed and the car literally died while driving.

Lucky it was 1am and no one was around so I pushed it to a local hotel. The car wouldn't start it would just click click and nothing all the electronics died.

Finally got my step mom to help me out by swapping batteries with her car and drove the camry to AutoZone where I purchased a new alternator and problem solved.

I know it's a completely different car and electronic wise but the principle should still be the same.

Do what I did and swap batteries with someone that has a functioning charging system.

If the car acts normal after swapping batteries then you know for a fact the alternator is failing

 

Pkolla, Did you fix it?

 

yes, autozone did a bad job at testing my car battery
I went to O'Reilly and then confirmed a 25% battery life. Luckily my battery is from costco and got a replacement for $20 for price difference and got new one.. that fixed my issue.

 

Something similar happened to me, but not exactly the same . For reference, I drive a 2010 G37x. I pulled into a store parking lot and when I pushed the button to turn the car off, everything went dead. Car doors didn't unlock, the seats didn't return to full back position....nothing. I couldn't use the power locks or even the trunk release. I hopped out, tried the key fob and nothing. I then popped the hood and took the battery cover off to check the negative battery terminal cable. It was tight and I couldn't wiggle it even a little. Positive terminal was fine too. Closed the hood and was going to close the door to lock it and call AAA and....I heard the familiar beep. The seats returned to their full back position, the steering wheel rose to full height and I could use the fob again. Went into the store, shopped and when I came out, you'd never known there was an issue. Well, except it reset all my trip meters, my AC was off and it reset the display in the dash to the default (I usually keep it on outside temp). Oddly, it did feel like the braking was better and the it seemed to run a little stronger...probably in my head though. No issues starting or running the car in the two days since, so I'm hesitant to call this an alternator issue.

I'd really like to know what caused or causes this because I don't want to be left out in a worse situation next time. Anyone have any insight or a similar experience?

Thanks

 

mine was a battery issue. So got the battery replaced and it worked fine after. But the one I replaced was fairly new, so costco got me a replacement with just the price difference..