Hi guys,

It has been a while since I was on here … but now that school is over..
Yesterday my maxima started giving me electrical problems. If I rev the engine above 2.5k-3k the windows will start opening (I can’t close the window on the passenger side now), AC will start blowing at random speeds, random warning light will come on, and the alternator is making a high pitched (lasts 5sec) sounds every minute or so.

At first I believed that the alternator was the problem … replaced it and same thing is happening. I have been running the car on a RED OPTIMA battery w/ a grounding kit that I bought off of one of the members since December and it was working great till now. What could be the problem?
I posted a video on utube so that you guys can get a better idea. Cheers, and all your help is much appreciated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UsXe5VL1ac

 

get the battery tested

 

good idea .. its new but I will go and tested at autozone now.

 

i have two dead red tops that's about a year old. the interstate dealer went under so i'm SOL with them.

 

I loved my Interstate, almost 4 years of great service

 

Hey,

I just took it to Advanced Auto Parts and Auto zone. They told me that the battery is fine, but the alternator is not charging the battery.

Possibilities by another mechanic that I showed the car...

1. Alternator is crap
2. Wiring has gone bad


The mechanic that placed the alternator wants 65/h to fix that problem ... he is not sure how long it will take ...

 

if it's wiring I don't blame the mechanic for his tac. Wiring problems can be a bich to track down. sometimes a cut wire can take days to find and seconds to fix.

 

Did they test the alternator? Seems like a simple way to decide if it's wiring or the alt. Is the voltage you have posted [11.5] just the cars running voltage?

Was the alt a junkyard alt, reman, rebuild?

I would check all your ground points as well, maybe you didn't tighten something down when you installed the kit in December?

 

you sure you didn't hook a ground wire to a pos lead somewhere?

 

Well the car is at 11.5 when idle/off. The alternator was purchased from advanced auto parts - REMAN.

All the ground points seem to be correct right and tight.

Can it be any relays or fuses ?

 

The mechanic today checked over the connections on the alty and they are correct. any other ideas?

 

well first thing get a new alternator in there.
then check your wiring behind the radio and under the driver side dash.
was there an alarm that was hooked up to the car at one point?
aftermarket radio?

 

The car has an aftermarket radio (w/1000W amp) that was put in 05 and it has the original alarm. I will take out the alternator and test it now. thanls

 

+1 on a bad alternator.

 

+2 on a bad alternator. I had 2 alternators go bad on me in my 4Runner. Things started acting all crazy. I replaced it with another good one (Bosch) and it went out immediately after. I replaced it again with another one. Lasted a week and it took a s#it too. The 4th one was fine and lasted a good while. Most company's that reman them do the bare minimun to refurb, paint and box them. Most refurbs are crap but the cost difference for new usually puts it out of budget.

PS Don't trust the auto parts alternator tests. I have done at least 6-7 alternators on mine and friend's cars. All of them supposedly tested good but problem was fixed when I replaced them.