this morning on my way to work my battery and brake dash lights come on. I thought it was a malfunction after some brief investigating and went on to work. halfway to work my bose speakers start fading out...then my car starts dying. Tried a jump but the car would not start. is this battery or alternator related?

 

You sir have a dead alternator..

 

this happens to me sometimes and the dash lights will also dim but after i hit a certain rpm' the dash lights come full bright. also the brake and batt light only come on when im hittng the brakes

 

Brake light + Batt Light = Alternator

 

what are some alternator choices?

 

Reman, new or used

 

reman = lower price, and most reman parts still have a LTD lifetime guarantee......but i'm not sure about alt's

 

the lifetime warranties only cover the part. not the 3 times per year you replace the cheapies.

 

if you get a reman, remember how to pull it from your vehicle, you will be doing it often

 

idk if this guy is correct but if u go on ebay this guy is selling a 1990 nissam maxima engine w/ the alternator still attatched,,,$50 thats pretty damn good wether it works or not.

 

Is there some choice for an upgraded alternator on the VE? I really don't feel mine's pumping enough power out (never has, even when new). :\

 

Definitely the alternator.

When you get your replacement alternator, have them test it in the store before you leave. I know it sounds silly, but I have seen way to many alternators leave the parts store dead as a doornail. The autoparts guys will give you a queer eye at first, but you are saving yourself the trouble of installing it, finding out it's bad, then uninstalling it.

 

That is very true, i would rather spend the extra time in the store than the extra time installing then uninstalling. Smart people up in here!

 

can I get some input for good alternators? I'm going to be buying one soon and I want to know that I got the best.

 

I recommend these from napa..

VG alty.


VE alty.

 

why is VE stuff so much more expensive. (rhetorical question)

 

It's all about supply and demand,the vg engine was manufactured in much greater numbers then the ve engine,the ve engine was installed in 92-94 SE maximas only,so in turn the demand for VE alternators is much less then vg alty's,this drives up the cost of reman units for the ve.

Take for instance the GM 350 engine,you can get reman alternators for these engines for as little as $60,because there are millions of these engines out there,thus the reman companies can get the rebuild parts for the 350cid alty's much cheaper= supply and demand.

 

http://www.internetautosupply.com/ca...44_45_959.html

 

VE30DE DOHC 24 valve

There are no products to list in this category.

I thought you carried the ve alty.

 

oops, it's fixed now.
I do need to find a more budget friendly source for them though.
good thing the show is in 5 weeks

 

Huh?,$174 is not a bad price for reman bosch.

adavnced auto lists them for $267.99

Idiotzone doesn't stock bosch.(big suprise there)

not sure about napa.

Edit: napa list $239.00

 

it's not a bad price for bosch, but most people want to spend closer to $100 for a reman unit.
I'll hopefully find some places that do new ones that I can sell for $150.
we will see...

 

Ok one question u all missed... Is there a Upgraded Alternator for the 3rd gen maxima's or not cause if you own a 3rd gen maxima then u know the stock alternator which is only 90amps is garbage i searched alot of places to find a 120-200 amp alternator No luck. i heard rumors about a eletronic store would take your alternator and replace parts in the inside to make to pump out 150amps. thats the rumor i heard.... Anyone know a eletronic store that does that let me know. hit me up.. "also this is a 2 part question"

 

thanks for bumping an old thread, There is no designated aftermarket upgraded elternator for our cars, i'm sure you could try and find one that would be able to retrofit on there. But this really isn't necessary even if you're running a sound system. The main thing apart form just plain old age and wear'ntear that kills these alternators is not having your splashguard in place. To answer the second part of your question, yes, you can take your alternator into just some plain old electrician's shop and get the brushes replaced/ solenoid depending on the electrician. This can be way cheaper than buying a new alty. But as far as pumping out 150 Amps, even if oyu could do it i really don't think it would do you any good unless your car is Optimus Prime.

 

So my maxima has been sitting for two years, over the summer I spent my weekends replacing the clutch along with other things and after dropping in a brand new battery I noticed that the brake and battery lights are on. I tested voltage when the car is off, its around 12v and then I tested it when it was on, I think it was 14.1v. I drove about 2 hours and about 100 miles at night and didn't notice any dimming or anything. Why are the brake and battery lights on even though it seems that the alternator is working?

 

I drove mine for a good week or two before it totally died on me, yours may just be on its way out. get it checked!

 

So I checked the voltage level in more detail tonight. I have 14.1-14.29 volts at the battery terminal with the car at idle and no lights, fans or anything else on. When I turned on the headlights I have 13.94 volts at the terminals. When I had the headlights, hazards, radiator fans and AC on the voltage at the terminals was anywhere between 13.3-13.6 volts. When all these things were on the voltage would jump between those ranges, where as when only the headlights were on the voltage was constant at 13.94. All these tests were done at an idle of about 700 rpm.