i think it's the alternator. here goes, this afternoon, i get in my car, i notice all the lights are dim. i try to start it and all i see is the lights flickering, and i hear this ticking sound as it's doing this. when i try to start it, nothing, and all the lights go out. it comes back but its really dim. i tried jumping it twice but it ended up dying eventually even though i let it sit and idle (still connected to the jumpers) for 10 min. i know i didn't leave the lights on either if that mattered. also when i lock it, it locks although lights don't flash, and i hear that same ticking noise. what do you guys think. either way i'm screwed i guess, the car is under warranty although i don't believe their open on sundays. man i'm ****ed.

 

The clicking sound your hearing is just a relay{fuel pump relay infact}it does sound like you have a faulty alternator. Try cleaning your battery connection with some steel whool and then try to jump start it again. Chances are your alternator or something in it's path is not doing it's job correctly.

 

The *EXACT* same thing happened to me in my old RX7, turned out the positive battery terminal had *tons* of white junk all over it (whaddya call that stuff, oxidation?). The alternator was fine.

 

It's your battery!!!! Don't try to jump it, put another one that has a full charge. You will probably need a new one or you can recharge the one you have(it takes about 4 hours to fully charge). The one you have has probably dead cells. It may also be that your battery posts and cables are dirty and that is why you are not getting a good charge. If you clean them make you sure you also clean the positive and negative cables from the inside. Get a steel brush and clean the cables and the posts until they shine. If the alternator was bad it would not hold a charge. In order to find out your alternator is bad is to disconnect your positive cable when the car is on. If the car shuts off after you disconnect the pos cable that means you need a new alternator. Let me know what happens and what it was.

 

i'll either try recharging it or swapping a battery from my truck tomorrow. i do remember it hesitating for a minute before starting when i jumped it if that means anything.

 

It was my BATTERY...it wouldn't hold a charge at all.
replace that before messing w/ the alternator...save yourself some $$.

 

It is probably a discharged battery, but you should find out why the battery became discharged. It could be ...
- an unwanted load such as a trunk light that doesn't turn off (replace switch)
- a faulty alternator (replace alternator)
- a faulty battery (replace battery)
- driver error such as an accessory left on overnight (replace driver)

Good advice.

What does this mean? An alternator does not hold a charge, a battery holds a charge.

Bad advice. This may "fry" all sorts of delicate electronic components due to voltage spikes which are damped by the battery, even a discharged battery. Don't do this!

 

I was going to skip disconnecting the battery anyways, i've heard the same thing before. So far, I've cleaned the terminals, they were clean to begin with though but my battery is fully discharged. I'm waiting to borrow a charger before I try swapping the battery from my truck, in case it discharges that one too, would hate to be stuck. Anyone know if a battery with 1000cca is too much for the max? I don't know if the extra cca is going to damage anything.

 

What I meant when I said "it would not hold a charge," I was referring to the battery. And true, disconnecting the pos cable while the car is on may cause a short. I have had this problem with several other vehicles and not once, ever, did I short something out. But it's always better to be safe than sorry. Although, Mr. Martin is the mechanic!!

 

There is no such thing as "too much" Cold Cranking Amps. Similarly, there is no such thing as "too much" money in your bank account. If you need it, it's there. If you don't need it, it doesn't hurt anything and it's nice to know it's there.

 

unless its a diesel... every cubic inch needs ONE cca.. people do overkill... i work in a boat store, its really just what you want for reserve hours that matter. so the way i see, a chevy 5.7 only needs 350cca, so a maxima needs nothing, just get a decent battery, maybe a little bigger for a HUGE stereo. people that buy the optima's are seriously throwing money away. Goodluck

Hall

 

thanks for the help everyone, turns out it was a bad battery. hopefully nothing else was wrong. i had the dealership look at it and they weren't able to find any other problems. from my experience with batteries here in Arizona, they just don't last too long because of the heat.