Okay, I noticed a slight buzz this afternoon that I thought was just my imagination. Now my lights are getting dimmer and dimmer, and my radio is cutting out. Anyone know what could be going on? Is this a bad alternator?

-thanks

 

you might be one of the ones like me who is involved in the recall ... check the nissan website for the recalls and your vin might be one of the affected ones ... it was talked about a day or two ago so either do a search or look at i think page 2 on this forum and you can get the correct link. im takin mine in tomorrow morning for the free alt.

 

Yeah, my vin doesn't match those numbers, but I stuck my head under the hood while someone else gunned it and I noticed the noise got bigger with higher revs - so its belt driven. I stuck my head in further, damn sure its the alternator. I wonder if I can get them to cover it for free even though the vin doesn't match...

 

run the car, turn on ure headlights and let it run and if the lights get dimmer and dimmer till it dies out, that means ure alternator is screwed up. Since you're gonna be lookin around there, i suggest you check the cables running to to the alternator, sometimes if there's a bad ground, it makes the buzzing sound. I only say this because i had a problem w/ a power inverter i put in my car.. when i found a good ground spot on the chassis, the sound went away. might want to check that out as well but i'm sure it's the alternator itself goin bad since u said lights dimm. good luck

 

I really don't know anything about electricity, so forgive me for this question:

Can something happen to make those cable stop being grounded? I haven't done anything under the hood in god knows how long, so there is nothing that I just did to look at, but if there are things that can just happen to make the grounding go bad, at least I know what to look for.

Thanks for the help.

 

connectors can get corroded. But I'm not exactly an expert on the topic either.

 

turns out that even though my vin didn't match the recall posted on the org, they fixed it. The dealership said it applies to all 98 and 99s. Go figure. Thanks all

 

check the belts. We have 2 belts. If they are in bad condition, replace them.

And I have a history of negative ground wires in starting wires busting up for no reason. So check that also.

Third, if your car doesn't start, headlight is dim at ON position (but not cranking up engine), battery is bad. I just changed mine In winter, battery acts up.

And finally, when all these are exhausted, go for alternator. It will take a resolute hand and about 3 hours for non-car-familiar person (like me) to take that out.

Or you can pay $90-100 for a mechanic to do it for you.

 

yeah, the dealership fixed it for free and no more noise.

However, a few things about your post kind of qierd me out, so let me run this past you, and point out if I am making jacka$s statments:

The belts would squeal, but I have never heard them whir or buzz.

Also, if the alternator goes out then the battery will run dead, so even that could lead to an improper diagnosis - so the battery would then be a symptom and not a cause.

thanks for the help, though.