Minnesota killed my X5

[Hisenberg]

It all started when I decided to drive my Integra in sub polar temperatures in Minneapolis. A week ago, I started my car and the battery was shot. I replaced a brand new battery and after starting the vehicle the BATTERY light came on and then went away. the light kept coming on intermittently.

I started the car two days ago and drove it around and every thing appeared fine. I decided to drive the car this afternoon and started it up. I left the car running and came upstairs to let it heat up. After 10 minutes I found the car to be dead again.

I connected the jumper cables to jump start the battery. As soon as I disconnected the jumper cables, the car died. Additionally, my automatic suspension inactive light is on. I understand that could be due to extreme cold temperatures that a leak may have been caused.

The truck only has 70,000 miles. Can any one suggest what kind of issue it may be? Perhaps, an alternator problem? What about an estimated cost to fix it? Is it DIY?

On a side note, I have spoken to a Warranty company by the name of AutoAssure. Anyone with any sort of feedback on them? They appeared to be a reputable company. Upon my conversation with them most of the stuff is covered besides the typical wear and tear....

Any help ,feedback and suggestions are appreciated.

Hizenberg.

[pezho405]

Youd have to get codes read, but they are probably being caused by electrical power issues.
1- alternator may be out, when its going it it sometimes spikes voltage and stuff and the car begins to do crazy things such as trans failsafe mode and suspension etc..

2-Check your battery, get it tested. While battery testing they can also test your charging

[Brandon002]

Sounds like alternator problems to me. Most of your symptoms are exactly what I went through right before replacing my alternator.

Seems the car deactivates things it doesn't need to conserve juice. Suspension Inactive, trans failsafe, ABS, DSC, 4x4 lights all come on along with the battery light.

[Hisenberg]

Brandon, you are correct on those illumination of mentioned lights. However, I never had any symptoms such as variable voltage on Radio or head lights. My second thought is either its a parasitical drain or the battery needed to be registered with the car. I had a new battery put in just a year ago and did not encounter any issue until recently.

Does any one have any though on the aftermarket warranty? I can certainly lower my fix up cost If I utilize such warranty to fix these problems.

[Doru]

Alternator at 70k miles is not "normal" wear & tear. Battery might.
What kind of an X do you have? the 3l or the 4.4l?
Seems like there is a flurry of 3l with shot alternators lately. Not sure why.
Personally I own an e39 with the M54B30 engine, and I have no problem with the original alternator. There are numerous e39 owners that have NOT changed the alt, and they have significant higher mileage than I have - some getting close to 200k or over.

It "might" have something to do where the X is build. The e39 were built in Germany - hence German Bosch alternator (or Valeo) throughout the life cycle. The X is built in USA and they have the Mexican Bosch alternator. Maybe this is the reason why

[upallnight]

Don't know of any warranty in which pre existing condition will be covered not unless you sign up for Obamacare.

[Brandon002]

Battery registration isnt needed on E53 cars.

[JCL]

Cold could have killed the battery originally.

Jump starting it could have caused subsequent problems.

[motordavid]

AutoAssure gets some sketchy reviews via the net...many after mkt companies do also, but the 'bigger'/longer in biz names tend to not get hammered as much as AA appears to.

Any 'conversation' you have with these operations is from a call center sales person, and they can suggest about anything to you, in terms of comfort.

Having had an aftermkt warranty, (good coverage, seldom used, wasn't worth the price), ask for their covered and non-covered items in writing. And, 'wear and tear' is a hole big enough for a 1st year law student to drive a truck through...

Agree with upallnight and Brandon: no company will cover pre-existing, many companies will require a cursory inspection, most won't cover anything in the first 30 days, etc. And, your X doesn't require 'registration'...new alt maybe, or drain or?
GL, mD

PS: interesting nom de plume, though both of your spellings aren't the way Ol'Werner Heisenberg or Walter White, spelled theirs.

[TerminatorX5]

since you are in E53 forum, you probably have an E53... on the other hand, you are talking about battery registration, so, you might have an E70... it has 70 K miles, so, it could be a 2007 E70 or 2006 E53... or, 2000 E53... or, 2011 E70... all of which are outside of warranty...

before rendering any suggestion, other than a generic "don't warm the car in driveway", it would be beneficial to clearly identify your ride - you did say Integra, so - is it an Acura?