I have a question for all of you experienced 4th gen owners out there. I have a 1996 Maxima SE 5spd, and lately, maybe once a day at the most, when I have my headlights on at night, when I slow down they go dim, along w/ my interior lights, for maybe a second at most. After that, everything is fine........I just don't get it. I have also noticed that if I have the fan on for the heater, it will slow down also during this momentary loss of power. Any ideas on what it could be? I thought that because I was slowing down when this happened, it may have something to do w/ the alternator, but I'm not really sure....thanks for your help guys.

 

Alternator

OR

Your belts may be slipping

 

It could also be the battery. Check the water level (fill only with distilled water), remove the battery cables and clean the terminals.

 

bump

 

is there anyway that i could test my alternator (maybe a multimeter?) or test to see if my belts are slipping? the belts do not have any cracks on them, but i only bought the car 6,000 miles (6 months) ago, so i dont know when they were last replaced......thanks