Nissan Qashqai battery/alternator issue

[k9myp]

Hi guys

Have a 2014 J11 1.5dci QQ with 62k on the clock.

I was driving it last week then I noticed Chassis System fault error appear on cluster.

Car still drove fine and I was able to stop and Start car ok.

The next day driving the car and I had every light possible appear on the dash and lost power steering. The car then shut down so pulled over. I was unable to apply parking brake so had to put foot on brake until RAC arrived.

Battery and alternator test was carried out even though battery was only measuring less than 11.5v. The RAC concluded there was no output from the alternator. In other words it was measuring 0v.

Read many posts about dodgy batteries on 2014 models as well as possible exhaust sensor issues as well as damaged wiring looms as well.

Was also told that there could also be a communication error hence why alternator is failing to provide sufficient voltage.

Does anyone have any ideas what could be the issue?

[calnorth]

Did the RAC man obtain the error codes (DTCs) from car OBD? How old is the battery and what type/make

Check Battery status and charging with System Status menus - drive car and check voltage rise on menu screen and at least 13.5v or more:

[k9myp]

Thanks for your reply.

He didnt read codes from the car.

As far as the battery its doesnt tell me the make I can just see Nissan badge on it. So I am not sure of make tbh.

When the car is ideal the car battery is measuring 11.5v. When I turn car on the battery voltage is dropping to around 9v. The minute I turn it of the battery goes back up to 11.5v.

I still appear to have the full range of lights in the cluster.

[calnorth]

Thanks for your reply.

He didnt read codes from the car.

As far as the battery its doesnt tell me the make I can just see Nissan badge on it. So I am not sure of make tbh.

When the car is ideal the car battery is measuring 11.5v. When I turn car on the battery voltage is dropping to around 9v. The minute I turn it of the battery goes back up to 11.5v.

I still appear to have the full range of lights in the cluster.

Likely a Nissan Battery...best ones are German Varta AGM type (to fit your Qashqai)

9v is far too low if starter motor is not running. Should be about 11.5v to 12v minimum at all times. Check the menu/display above when driving to see if alternator takes it above 13.5 for at least 45 mins or more.

[k9myp]

The model number on the battery is KE241-70E01-EF anyone know if this is a FIAMM battery?

I have whipped the battery of the car today and battery was again measuring only 11.5v. Gonna charge battery overnight and see how I go.

I have attached a picture of the actual battery.

[RiveriaMan]

The battery in your photo is what I think Nissan originally started to swap out to from the Renault-Nissan FIAMM batteries when the battery issues first surfaced. Can’t comment on how much better that is or not to those original Renault Nissan Batteries, but the EF in the part number stands for Enhanced Flooded so an EFB.

But when I had battery problems Sept last year then the RAC roadside assistance man swapped it out under Warranty for a Varta which is AGM technology as mentioned by Calnorth above and have had no issues at all since.

[k9myp]

Thanks for the reply ReveriaMan!

Can you remember what issues you had with the previous battery you had fitted?

The Rac man fitted the same Varta battery to get me home got to say the car drove so nice like never before.

This is the state of the dashboard atm.

[RiveriaMan]

Mine was the Renault-Nissan FIAMM not the EFB one in your photo.

But with me it was simply car would not start, keep in mind then and now not much car use, but would go to start car when I did need it and it wouldn’t start so would charge it with a Charger & then after few hours go out for my necessary drive then come back and leave the car on charge over night and it would be ok for a few days till next time it eventually would fail to start again. Crunch time came when I had charged it and had been out driving stop start working ok and been used several times but on the final time needed to stop at traffic lights so stop start cut engine, but when lights went green again engine would not start back up again. Luckily on a hill and at front of line so could roll down road and then pull over into safe parking space. But no matter how many times I tried with a complete manual restart the engine would not start. So hence called out RAC and now have my Varta.

[calnorth]

Testing a 12v Battery correctly requires a current capacity test. Level of current delivery at 12v approx for a specified time. That relates to a graph of performance curves and likely at different temperatures. The RAC man has a capacity tester for that which will gain authority to condemn a battery and in the case of Nissan under warranty will exchange it FoC. Garages should have similar.

Domestic Charging and testing with a voltmeter is somewhat hit and miss. If a battery is about 4 years old its becoming an unreliable energy source..as a rough rule of thumb.

Unlike current Ev battery systems the old 12v car battery doesn't incorporate individual cell block monitoring. so you can't see any internal degradation. The cost of that kind of thing would be looney tunes based on the over pricing of current ordinary types. I usually buy a spare when battery troubles begin....or sell the car...

[PDH]

The dashboard warnings/messages you are seeing are probably unrelated to the battery. Take a look at this YouTube video

If you are getting the same messages then the solution is explained in the video.

P