Nmax92

Sup guys, I need some help here. I've had issues before with my alternator and changed it. When the brake/battery light comes on I know its a dead alternator, but in this case just the battery light comes on no brake light.

I adjusted the belt, the voltage at idle was 13.5 to 14. When I drive the car the battery light came back on and the light dims in/out and the voltage dropped to 11-12V idling. I changed the battery, same result 11-12V. Can someone confirm my guess? the alternator?

I searched other threads on the topic, but hey all state brake/battery=alternator, but what is battery/no brake = ?

This is my 3rd alternator in 2 years!

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

in theory it's just a bad battery.
have your battery checked at a local retail battery place.

3 alternators in 2 years isn't terribly unusual. once the OE goes most replacements are mediocre at best.

Nmax92

I bought a new battery from sears today. I had them check it before I left and it was good. The crazy thing is that all the lights are bright, the car idles and start fine. Last night when I started the car there was a noise soon after the battery light started to come on.

AllMaxxedOut

iTrader: (15)

Did you try disconnecting positive battery terminal while car was running? That will usually tell you if alternator is good or not. Or purchase alternator tester to make sure it is properly charging the battery. Same thing happened to my 3rd gen and alternator just crapped out because it was holding charge to battery.

Also could be connections to alternator if this would be the 3rd one.

Nmax92

Ok, I'll try that method tonight.

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

If I remember correctly its the negative cable you disconnect and not the positive, anyone know exactly which one?

--Dude just pray you dont have a "little" short like I did

Greeny

iTrader: (43)

Either one,but typically the negative is removed, just be sure to NOT reconnect the cable if the car continues to run after it's disconnected(this will prevent a possible spike in amperage)..If the car dies when you remove the cable...Well, i doesn't matter then, you found your problem, a dead alternator.

BenStoked

iTrader: (7)

removing the negative is safer than removing the positive because if the positive touches anything grounded, it'll short out, maybe blowing fuses or worse.
negative touches anything, nuttin'll happen(unless you touch something electrically "hot")

Nmax92

So here is the result. I took the old alternator to autozone to get tested. It took less than 10 seconds to run the test..usually it takes a little longer because there are 3 stages the machine goes through. The old alternator didn't get past the second stage. So the alternator was no good.

Get this. before I left with the new alternator I had the sales guy test it......that one failed! The second "new" alternator was good.

now the car runs fine. I sprayed a little silicone spray on the terminals to help reduce any water and other crap from the road that might affect them. Thanks for your help guys.

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

I tested 5 reman bosch alternators before I got a good one too. I've gone through 6 in nearly 2 years but thats because I had a little short. I'm sure you've seen my thread and if not look for "I'm all wired up"

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

sounds like typical autozone quality

Obsession_92-94

Funny! I have never had a problem with Autozone ever and I have been getting small parts from them for a long time now. They are a family favorite. So besides alternators, what other parts should one look out for when buying from the Zone?

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

lets see we have than normal problems with their hydraulic parts and reman parts and pretty much any other part that moves.

Obsession_92-94

Wow, I had no idea that they were of such poor quality! Does it even matter on location? I can't imagine that it does, but sometimes that can be the case. The one that I go to here in Columbus hasn't given me any problems.

BenStoked

iTrader: (7)

these parts (as brian knows) usually have a lifetime warranty on them. so buying reman parts just depends on how bad you wanna save money at the moment in time you buy the "new" part.
and how much down time it takes to re-replace parts that are covered by this warranty...

97SEMurder

EVERYTHING

chrome91

iTrader: (1)

you should look out for the date of the last post

Hectic

iTrader: (20)

He knows the date of the last post. He's a newb trying to get 15 posts so he can make a thread about his murderous tendencies.

Obsession_92-94

He should be stopped at once!

97SEMurder

Thanks for the humor, but, actually the reason I have so few posts, is because I know how to use the SEARCH utility in the forum....

Thus, I do way more reading on the forums rather than posting, but the truth is everything from advance pretty much sucks, so, I couldn't resist, although it is an old post you're right.

The murder is because my maxima is all black with black leather...it's murdered out.

levellkinchen

Hello everyone,

My alternator just went out and i had it replaced.
"this is where it get fun"
I drive it about 25 miles after paying 350 for a "new" alternator. I know somebody out there is laughing when i said new alternator. LOL!

Well I started the car back up and the brake light and battery light were on just as plain as i'm typing.

I drove fast as i could back to my side of town (very rough riding) hesitation, knocking the worst.

I parked it until i could get back the repair shop. 2 days of over 100 degree heat. No problem staying in the house.

They looked at it and could find anything wrong. Damn it!
So i take the key and start it up and guess what? Brake light and battery light are back! I ran back in and said look I can show you.

They were like this fool is crazy, somebody get a machanic and look at the codes.

Remember that 'New' Alternator???? It was bad!

Apparently they don't make Starter and Alternators new, the rebuild them. I didn't know that. I guess it saves money and then they can charge you more for the part and labor.

Hectic

iTrader: (20)

They don't make hardly any other parts either. These cars are 20 years old bro, Hitachi is too busy making alternators for modern Nissans.

My guess is that they didn't even give you a remanufactured one, they probably threw some junkyard spare in there and hope it doesn't cause problems. A well remanufactured alternator only costs about $80 and can be installed in less than a half hour.

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

you might be able to get a legit new alty from courtesy nissan.. where did your "new" reman come from?

Hectic

iTrader: (20)

Funk-O-Meter

$350 seems really steep to me. Even with labor. But I've not done one yet.

Cliff Clavin

iTrader: (11)

Yeah, that's Infiniti price, not Nissan.

axe me about parts for my old QX4 and my new FX35

Augustus Maximus

iTrader: (6)

My alternator died on me and I still drove the car 35 miles up the highway with the radio blasting, the lights on (at night) with heat pumping (Winter) got there just in time. Charged up the battery at Autozone the next day (spent the night at a chicks house doing you know what) drove home, went to the JY got a nice one for $55 slapped her on and nada problemo since . I love my VE.

CMax03

iTrader: (3)

$350 for parts and labor...more than likely! I've done the JY thing but I've never had good luck with that scenario.....the parts always seem to fail out of the blue no warning....

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

watching The Notebook, eating ice cream, and painting your toe nails?

Hectic

iTrader: (20)

Fixed

Augustus Maximus

iTrader: (6)

Spent the night wondering how I was going get home and how I would get to work that evening .

Infam0usMax

*MY BATT LIGHT COMES ONE ALSO*

When I start the car up the batt light sits there and its kinda dim and as it sits there it get brighter... I would give it gas while sitting there and the light turns off... I also did the little test up there to see if the car would shut off....*** so i pulled the negative off and what do you know the whole car shuts down... so guys... does that mean i need a new alty? or could it be that the belt is too tight or not tight enough? or is the alty completely dead? hell it wasnt replaced since 2008 I got it from Advance auto...

Augustus Maximus

iTrader: (6)

It's dead...

Hectic

iTrader: (20)

Yeah it's dead. If you replaced it in 2008 then hopefully you have the receipt and can exchange it at advance auto.

I think you should buy a multimeter, check the stuff I mentioned in the other thread and measure the voltage at the alternator before and after you replace it instead of pulling the terminal which you shouldn't do because of potential voltage spikes and strain on the alternator.

Infam0usMax

I have and used it the whole time i bought it when i got the car... ill post a pic on the other thread when i get time

godisgood

i'm have alt problems too. same thing.. dim light, not charging at all. but sometimes if I rev it to 5k i can get the alt to kick on.. other times i'm not so lucky.. problem is I've had the alt tested at every shop in a 5 mile radius and it's always good. batt is good. I've done resistance checks on every wire in my charging system, (according to multiple VG wire diagrams I have) and I get less than an ohm resistance on everything but the ignition switch to volt reg wire where I get 8 ohms (all 7.5 ohms from the warning bulb so that seems normal...)
I'm so lost I finally just bought an alternator and I'm making my own volt regulator connector, just incase there was a bad contact through the connector.. installing tomorrow before the preseason games start.. if this doesn't work I just going to park it until I can grab a crank pulley... because that's the only thing left

Hectic

iTrader: (20)

Why are you checking resistances? You need to check voltage at the battery, should be about 14v on idle. Checking directly at the alternator will also rule out wiring fault between it an the battery. If it's working intermittently that would explain why every time you've had it checked they say it's "good". When your lights start acting up and going dim, pop the hood and check again. By "ignition switch to voltage regulator wire" are you talking about the "L" terminal? Even if the VR is to blame, it's built in which means you need to replace the whole unit regardless.

gerg

Wow, def. seems like Friday the 13th for a few of us. My problem follows suite with several posts here. Same brake/charge syst. lights, My charge while running has not dropped below 12v. Even drove 30 mi. (no lights or accessories) and after a full charge (12.9-13V) still maintained 12.2v. BUT NOW...

After swapping to my BMW battery (620c.c Amps, so a bit less that my 770 amp Maxima. Battery), the idle is DANGEROUSLY LOW (like 300rpm). I put the orig. battery back and now it is the same horrible idle. This is on a full 13v charge. AND... my check engine light now blinks 1 long, 2 short, 3 short, 4 short, 5 short, then repeats. This is the FIRST time in 230K miles I've ever had a check engine light. Any insight? Going to find that 'all wired up' post now...

gerg

Still looking for "I'm all Wired Up". Can't locate. 'Search' is turning up 250 posts to look at. I thought it's come right up if you had the title of the post. Am I doing something wrong?

Funk-O-Meter

Hilarious.