I have noticed that my headlights dim whenever i use my power windows. Its a major kill buzz and i suspect it because the electrical system doesnt supply power quickly enough. Does anyone else have this same issue??

I look at the wires from at the battery terminals and they look like 8 guage wire ??? WHy would nissan do that? Is it really 8 guage wire??

I found a link for the big 3 upgrade in the 5th gen forum.

http://forums.maxima.org/audio-elect...other-how.html

If you guys think its a good mod and worthwhile..then thats gonna be my next mod definitely. However, is this mod safe? i dont want to burn anything out but then what are fuses for lol

Any hints? ideas? Comments?

why wouldnt you want to clean your grounds and upgrade them? whenever i work on my car i ALWAYS clean the grounds that are nearby and check for damage. right now i think theres not a single ground i haven't cleaned and sanded down. while your messing with wiring make sure you ground that starter!

that joke(i hope) about burning out things made me lol better grounds means less of a chance! just make sure your batterys out and everything will be fine.

btw my lights always dimed when i lower or raise my windows before i did my HID harness. just kinda what our cars do.

If your headlights are dimming when you roll down your windows, you are correct: your electrical system is unable to keep up with the demands of your car. Our Maxima's window motors draw a decent amount of current on their own (and are kinda notorious for going bad, thus drawing even more unnecessary current). And obviously, headlights draw some current as well, not much, but since it's light output, the voltage drop is easily noticeable. That much, you already understand. However, it is definitely worth noting that the problem is not going to be resolved by additional grounding points. This inability for your electrical system to keep up is a sign of your alternator getting sluggish. The alternator is designed to handle all electrical components of the vehicle on at the same time. Meaning windows, radio, headlights, steering, etc. So if JUST your windows are makin a difference in the voltage stability, your alternator is definitely struggling to keep up and should be replaced or refurbished soon.

Yes, that is an 8 gauge wire. In such a short length, it is most definitely an appropriately sized wire. On my last Maxima, I upgraded the big 3 (and a few more for fun) to 0 gauge wire. No difference, that I assure you. In theory, you're being easier on ur system, which is a good thing. However, adding just an additional 8 gauge wire in parallel is more than adequate to overcome any shortcomings in factory wiring. Again though, this will NOT fix your dimming problem. Cleaning grounds is definitely a good idea as well. Corrosion builds up on cars as old as ours to the point of decreasing the efficiency of the ground itself and causing unequal voltages throughout the car.

So if you wanna do the grounding kit, go for it. But don't buy those kits, they are a ridiculous marketing ploy of extremely overpriced standard wire. Go to a car audio shop. Buy measured lengths of 8 gauge (or 4 gauge if u really wanna) wire and have em put O rings on em. If you're nice, it should be considerably cheaper than the "kits". Me personally, I have spools of 8 and 4 gauge layin around, so it was even easier.

But that's just my opinion.

Oh yea, and worth mentioning, all of that above mentioned is if you don't have a very power hungry system sittin in your trunk. Once you do that, you should at least upgrade ur battery negative to ground, but the rest wires are still optional/up for debate. I would throw an 8 (or 4, if ur feelin frisky) gauge wire from ground to the engine near the alternator. There's a perfect bolt there waitin for ya. It's like a 6" run.

I'm in the process of getting to this myself.

My lights in my 97 dim out as well ... In my old max I was running an 15" Infinite Baffle subwoofer setup with only about 100w on the gain **** of the amp and my lights would consistently dim out. It got to the point that the alternator and battery on my 150k miles maxima both died and I had to replace them.

Now i'm in a 99k miles maxima and will be adding a 4channel amp for the components and that same 2 channel amp (bridged) for the subwoofer. From what i've read the general consensus is do the "Big 3" and make sure all your grounds are good.

BAN

New battery and/or new alternator should solve your dimming issue. Replacing wiring and/or upgrading to better gauge is always a good thing if your motivated to remove and then run wire.

hmmmmm, this thread is a year old

Hmm, I thought I was going nuts when I saw my lights dim.

Taking this thread in... Gonna have to check the bat volt, It did die once on me (oops headlights on one night )

New alternator/battery, better wiring, clean everything up and yes check all your grounds.

This just in: Necrobuping causes your headlights to dim when using your power mirrors!

@ Shiloh51933 - Thanks for your input good sir


@ Trolls - I found this post through doing a "big 3" google search , clicked and posted.

My apologies to those of you whose lives were thrown into utter chaos after viewing the date of the original post. It was not my intention to disrupt the delicate balance of the universe by posting in this thread. From the depths of my being , I am oh so very sorry for ruining your life.

Okay, thought it was just me/my alternator going bad when ever I did anything electrical. even pressing on the brakes would dim my interior and headlights. but it would come right back.

Bumping an old thread is perfectly acceptable if you have new information to resolve an unresolved issue, if you need to add something important to contradict the given advice, or if you're the op and you want to bring closure to your thread after figuring out your dilemma. You didn't do any of these...you just threw in your story like the discussion was ongoing. No one is mad at you or really giving you a hard time, but it's the same etiquette issue we're always dealing with in forums. When you bump threads they go back to the top, where most of us read threads. This is why we like the threads current. Reading your post and the resulting chit chat is boring. That's all...no chaos or world changing, you're just f-ing up the cycle. Puff puff, pass!

I have a 90 degree terminal with a 120amp fuse on it connected to my battery terminal I wanted to do the big 3 upgrade but I dont know what to do with the factory terminal and battery cable I want to use aftermarket battery terminals like the stinger voltage read out but I don't know how