First off, I will say I know I have a dead battery. Its 5 years old and has slowly slowly gotten weaker on starts over the past month or two. So I know its dead.

Now on to the question. Driving home tonite for about 20 mins, it seemed like the lights were a tad dimmer. Specifically the numbers in the clock. I stopped at the video store for 5 mins and worried if the car would restart. It barely did and I mean barely. Then I noticed the clock and rest of the lights were dim, moreso at idle. The lights and clock were brighter while driving. Then when I got home a few minutes ago, I tried to restart and sure enough it didn't.

Does this sound light a dead alternator along with the dead battery? Cause I know the car runs off the alternator pretty much once you start the car.

 

start the car and then take off the battery turminals from the battery if the car shuts off there is ur answer the alternator is on its way out

 

Yes, do that right away.

Perhaps your ECU will live through the voltage spike that occurs when this "old school" test is performed, maybe not. It's your call.

Or, you could simply check the charging voltage when running with a voltmeter. And no, the car will not continue to run endlessly with just the alternator AND a bad battery. 5 years on a battery, that's pushing your luck anyway.

 

Good advice!!!^^^^^

1st replace the battery since you know its bad
a bad battery can kill an alternator...hopefully you havent done that.

 

How many miles do you have on the clock? Most alternators will last about 100K miles, then the carbon brushes wear out. I you have the original alternator and close to 100K miles, go ahead and replace it. I found a Nissan reman for $70. So you may get lucky too.

 

The car currently has 146K on it. I bought the car 8 months ago with 139K on it so I'm not sure if the previous owner ever replaced it or not.

I think I will install a new battery in the car and then drive it to an Autozone or similar since most places do a free battery/alternator check.

 

Classic dying battery symptoms. Gradual slower crank overs, freaky electrical accessory activity as a last gasp for breath, then........ NOTHING! The "go ahead and replace your alternator around 100k miles even if it still works" method of preventative maint. is rediculous. Yeah they wear out, but mileage is'nt the best indicator of an alternators health. I've been on the same battery for 7 years and I know for a fact the alternator has never been replaced (146k miles also).

I guess I should be broken down at the side of the road any day now!

 

I think the same is happening on my car, my car seems to have trouble starting sometimes (never didn't start on me though). I noticed my clock has skipped back 2 hours the other day (randomly), and about 1/2 of my stereo lights up. My battery (replaced by second owner) says it's less then 2 months old. When my car first didn't start I added some fuel injector cleaner--it seemed to do the trick until my car had trouble starting up again today.

 

With the new battery in place and car running, it should read 14V or so. If it reads less than 13V, the alternator needs to be replaced.

It is not that hard:

1. Remove the right wheel, right front bottom and right wheel well plastic cowling.
2. Remove the drive belt.
3. Remove the A/C clutch wire and loosen the four bolts on the A/C compressor and swing to the front without disconnecting the hoses.
4. Remove the two alternator harness and two bolts. Lower the alternator past the A/C compressor.

I tried taking the alternator apart and replace the carbon brushes. But no luck with that since everything inside is riveted and soldered.

 

Well, I installed a new battery in the car today and drove it to a local auto parts store. They hooked up their charging system machine to the car and tested everything and said the alternator checked out. I still think it might be going bad, but I'll give the car a few days to see if it does.

I have noticed a new whining noise that seems like it could be coming from the left side of the engine which might be the bearings in the alternator. Oh well, I guess time will tell.

 

how;d it check out?

 

I wouldn't trust that test.
I bought a new battery and did the test @ advance auto when my alty was going out.
Everything would check out fine during the test, but my batt/brake lights would come on @ random.

As mentioned before, the best way to know if youur alty is going out is to unplg the battery while the engine's running.
If it dies, start looking for a low-mileage OEM HITACHI from a junk yard.
(it's the best choice, most rebuilt altys are crap)

 

hey i was getting a whining noise before i got my alty replaced...btw, i got mine replaced under some recall they made a few years ago, and i only got it replaced like two months ago after i bought the car. i made a video on youtube about it, see if its similar...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx1sVSGnXnM

you should drop by your local nissan shop and have them lookup if there's a recall available for your car having to do with the alty.