GaMax97GLE

iTrader: (3)

Last night right when I pulled into a little Mexican rest. my car made a weird noise from the engine bay which I thought at first was the power steering going bad. It came back when I turned the car on again and seemed progressively worse on the way home. I turned the radio up and was going to leave it alone until I got home. I dropped a friend off and from that point on I knew something was really wrong. My interior lights in the radio and instrument cluster started to dim. Just after that the radio acted up by only playing music out of one speaker at a time and cutting out the subs. I then knew it had to be the battery and alternator. I pulled over to make sure my headlights were at least working because this was at 11:30pm. To make matters worse, there was a nice lightning and thunder storm in the distance that was sure to hit where I was at any time. I got back in and I drove another mile when the car started to hesitate in traffic, which was scary not having control of the car with several other cars around. The Max made it another mile when I felt I had to pull over to a turning lane because the sputtering came back. Just as I stopped, the Max died. I tried to restart and of course, no luck, dead car. I called AAA and a dispatcher told me that I would have a jump in anywhere from 10 to 90 minutes. Nice range, thanks AAA. I couldn't wait 90 minutes since at this point it was close to midnight. I tried my brother and some buddies but no one answered their cell phones. So I made the call to Dad. He wasn't to happy to be woken up but he came. Just as Dad pulled up and I canceled the AAA truck it started to pour and lightning everywhere. I got jumped and went about 300 yards when the car died again. I had the windows down in the rain because it got really foggy and the AC didn't work. I needed another jump to get the windows up. I left it in another turning lane and went home with pops. I had it towed this morning to the dealership and they just called me back to tell me that I need a new alternator and a new battery, about $540. What a pain this has been. I just got the Max washed and waxed on Saturday and was about to order new wheels and tires but now I have to hold off for a little while on the wheels. I also need a 60k service but that can wait a few weeks. I missed work today but used a sick day so no big deal there. What an expensive Memorial Day weekend this has been (went on a shopping spree Sarurday at the mall and also came home with a PS2 and 2 games). Hopefully the Max wont give me anymore problem for a while and thankfully this has been the first major one other than regular maintenance.

timby01

Good ol' pops to tha rescue

nelzavala

sucks to be you!

vmok

sounds like the alternator might be the cause of the problem. i you can probably do without the battery though, as the battery probably died because the alternator wasn't putting power out.

was the bad sound a squeaking sound? if so, it could be a belt slipping... either indicating that the belt tention was off and not turning the alternator, or the alternator might be frozen. if the alternator is frozen a rebuilt or replacement altnator will fix the problem. if it's a loose belt, check the tention on the belt, and if it's loose, tighten it to specs. the belt may need to be replaced if it's been slipping for a while.

a rebuilt alternator can probably be had for around $200, and then the labor to get it put in.

-V

Eric L.

I had the exact same problem. It started with a high pitched whine, and I thought it's nothing. Then it got louder and louder, took it to the dealer, they said IT SOUNDED NORMAL. That same night, the car died and the charge light lit up.

Took it back to the dealer, and they blamed me for not leaving the car with them. I said you looked at it and said it sounded normal!! What did you expect me to do? Needless to say I was fed up with that dealer (Chase Nissan in Davis, CA) and had my car towed to another dealer where I got the alternator replaced under warranty.

nelzavala

Eat ****? chill out man I was just referring to it as tough luck man. But if you think I meant it in a malicious way then you read me wrong. Stay off the forum if you need to use profane language. This forum is for people to help each other not to compete or to pick fights.

02BBQ

cry a little more please

NickStam

iTrader: (3)

I would suggest concentrating on general maintenance stuff for the 60k before you buy rims and stuff since you can't seem to afford both at the moment.

nelzavala

nick, will having loose tension on the alternator ruin it?

02BBQ

nelzavela, will having a loose tension in my butt hole ruin me in the long run?
haha

GaMax97GLE

iTrader: (3)

the dealership called yesterday and said they were going to replace the alt and battery (with labor about $540). I said fine but they didn't call back so I have to call this morniging to find out when it will be done. Next is definitely the 60k. But how much can I do myself and what should I just let the dealership handle? I will probably just have them do the whole thing to be safe. Wheels and tires will have to wait until next month .

And what's this fued going on in here, nelzavala? Did I miss something?

Daniel B. Martin

It is difficult to answer this question unless you provide some kind of background. Do you have lots of mechanical experience, or just "some", or nothing beyond oil changes? Do you have lots of tools, or just "some", or nothing more than a claw hammer and toilet plunger?