Ixiterra

Went to see LOTR yesterday, everything was fine with the car except the plenty of problems it has. Got out of the 3-hour long movie, went to start the engine, and I get nothing but a bunch of clicks. So I'm like, "crap, what's wrong?" I figured it wasn't the battery because even the headlights still worked. My friends suggested the starter, which made me think of $$$, but it can't be helped I guess.

Anyways, came back to it today and the battery was totally dead! I thought that maybe that was kind of a good thing because if it's just the battery, it won't be too expensive (college student here, gotta watch the cash very tightly). So I jumped the car, and it took over 10 minutes until I could finally get ignition, which I thought was really odd. Idled it for awhile, then set for home.

On the way home, had the heat and the radio going, came to a red light. The air from the vents started stopping and the radio and radio lights started fading out. I figured that can't be good. Got home, tried starting it an hour later, and needless to say it was dead again, though the inside electronics still worked.

Is this an alternator problem now? I know very little about cars, but I do have a friend who worked for dealerships in the parts section for a long time, and knows a lot about cars though he's not a mechanic. Could we replace the alternator? I really can't spend $300-$400 to have a shop do it.

While we're on the subject of problems, my ATF is black and I've been told it can do more harm than good to replace it when it's that bad. Should I do it anyway?

'91 GXE with 85k miles. Thanks for the help guys.

Laly

iTrader: (1)

it could be your alternator. you should do it yourself. it is not that hard. you just have to do it from under the car. not a bad job though. good luck. i dont know about the ATF though. i have a 5-speed. it is expensive i hear though. my girlfriends brother paid almost $2K to get is transms rebuilt. i wish you a whole lot of good luck with that.

Laly

«§»Craig B«§»

iTrader: (5)

that is very common is the battery is getting low
it takes a LOT more current from the battery to start the car than run the accessories so you can have your radio, lights and everything else still working but engine wont turn over and that's usually the case when you just hear a fast clicking like that when trying to start

if you got it running again and then it died while the car was on, sounds like it could be the alternator
if you go to Autozone, they will test your battery and alternator for free (I'm not sure if other places will do it also, but you should call around)

check out the 3rd gen FAQ post at the top of this forum, lots of useful sites there including how to replace your alternator at Bryan's site

good luck and search if you need more info

Ixiterra

It never died while the car was running (only drove it like 3 miles), but the RPM did dip dangerously low (200 or so) when I came to a red light. As for Autozone, the one nearby has a '91 Maxi alternator and I saw that they do test that for free, so that's where I'm going tomorrow.

I didn't have any problems of this sort before this. Do alternators usually just go boom without warning? Ah well, hopefully Autozone will let me know for sure at least that it is the alternator, and I found a step-by-step way to replace it on 4DSC.com.

«§»Craig B«§»

iTrader: (5)

oh, whoops, I misread your post and thought it did die while the car was running, but if it's dimming and getting really close, I still have a feeling it might be the alternator

I'm not too sure if they'd give any warning or not
and yeah, those instructions on 4dsc are the same as the ones on Bryan's site (he wrote that article on 4dsc)

MaDMaX024

spend $12 and get new ground wires. i didnt see any of the dual ground style at autozone, so i bought two. one to the body and one to the motor. i had kind of the same problem. tried to start the car one day and it just clicked real bad, so i called work and told them i was gonna be late. went back out to try and it was fine..couple monthes later (it didnt happen after the first time for a while), it did it almost every time i'd try to start the car. turns out the grounds were very corroded and the clamp on the negative battery terminal was stretched beyond belief and no matter what i did to tighten it, it wouldnt work. 2 new ground wires and no problems (be informed that i have dual posts on my battery, optima red top, so its easy to put two cables on each side).

Ixiterra

Well, we didn't even try to replace the alternator ourselves. It was just too friggen cold out (low-30's or high 20's) and windy. And I don't have a garage. Jumped it, was driving it to Pep Boys because Autozone won't actually put the stuff in your car. Well, started going up there and was getting off the expressway and the car died in the right turn lane on the off-ramp. My friend was driving in front of me, but he had to go all the way around because it was an off-ramp and not a regular street. I had to push the car to the side of the road and I couldn't even use my hazards.

When he came back around and we jumped it, I was so afraid when I switched to drive the engine was going to stall, so I hit the shift-lock release button and switched it to neutral, revved then hit it into drive. Then I came to a red light where there was a TON of traffic, light turned green but I couldn't go through because of the traffic on the other side. I was PRAYING the engine wouldn't die because I was in the middle lane and cars were everywhere. But it did. So I sat in the middle of the friggen road for about 5 or 6 minutes 'til my friend came around again and helped me push it of into a strip mall parking lot. After that, we figured it's just best to get it towed.

Got towed for $45, the driver didn't charge us for mileage (thanks buddy, it was about 1000 feet).
Electronics check - $20
Alternator - $120 (seemed kinda high, but it's lifetime)
New battery - $70
Labor - $60

Ended up being $293. =( Plus the tow, so $340 bucks. It really sucks that this had to happen right before christmas. Ah well, it's only money right?

ThurzNite

iTrader: (13)

i hope that fixed your problem! we're having the exact same problem with our 95 Altima gxe 5sp. Just replaced the alternator w/another rebuilt one (had lifetime waranty on the old alternator...only 1month old!) Also replaced cap/rotor/sparkwires. Car kinda dips in idle...gonna wait it out.

and just in case, I bought my gf a 3-in-1 starter from Costco for $59.99 in case she get stuck again.

Jae

mphilips

its your altenator, I had the same issues you had, years ago. And it was the alty. Cost around $300 to replace, the local auto shop can do it.

regarding the trans, well I had mine replaced, so far it wasnt done so good, yep it going to cost around 2g to get it replaced.

My suggestion, unless you love your old max, like I do. Then its time for a downpayment on a new car.