granturissimus

My dad's Maxima has been making little shakes for the past week when he'd be at red lights. It's an automatic. It's a shake as if a spark plug is not firing for a fraction of a second. They were fragmented shakes. Today on the freeway it was really bad, as if the engine is shutting down, major shakes. Then on the streets, the car just stalled.

Some guy came with his car to jump start the car. My dad is not sure how the guy connected the wires to my dads car, but the car did start... once it started the guy did not disconnect the cables, and my dad was reving the engine and smoke started coming out of the left side of the engine... left as in the area with the belts. It was burnt smelling smoke.

My dad got home and started the car after charging the battery. Once the car was running he disconnected one connector from the battery, and the car engine stalled. He says the generator is broke. Is the generator called "alternator"? Not sure about terms.

What do you think is wrong?

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

sounds that way, yes.

granturissimus

why do you think so? the guy only connected the + cable to the battery, and the minus he connected to some other part in the car, and he didn't disconnect the cables after the car started... is that what fried the alternator?

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

no. That sounds right, + to battery, - to frame

The alternator died BEFORE your dad got the jump...the jump was not the cause of the alty going poof. It's not that uncommon on the 4th gen.

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

which is it...your dad knows how the wires were connected or he doesn't?

granturissimus

He saw the guy connect the minus to the bolts that connect to the shock absorbers (sorry totaly clueless about part names), then he disconnected the minus, and connected it somewhere on the engine... my dad did not see where exactly he hooked it up on the engine.

granturissimus

Can it be fixed by replacing a fuse or brushes?

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

Nope

granturissimus

can someone recommend a good alternator? He has the 98 SE Maxima. Don't want a really expensive one though.

gruesome

The former online bookseller named after a river in south America,

Fakie J Farkerton

iTrader: (51)

dafq?

PowerTotheMax

Amazon? Lol 2nd time I see thst

Trini Boom

iTrader: (5)

This guy is stoned...

granturissimus

How can I be sure that it is in fact the alternator that's broke? There are no warning lights that show up in the instrument panel (they all light up for a second during start then turn off). But like I said, if he disconnects the battery while the car is running, engine stalls right away. Is that a sure sign the alternator is broke?

bprice92

iTrader: (2)

When mine failed both the brake and battery dash lights would stay lit while the engine was running.

granturissimus

I read the codes with the check-engine-light-blinking method, these are the 3 I got:

0504
0101
0304

I know 0304 is knock sensor which we been meaning to change. But what about the other 2?

Could these codes have something to do with the engine stalling once battery is disconnected?

tosheto

iTrader: (5)

Measure the voltage at the battery with multimeter. It should be around 12.5V with the engine off. It should be about 14.5V with the engine running. If it shows less with the engine running you need alternator. I wold get one from autozone. Lifetime warranty.

granturissimus

We did this today, and the voltages were just like you said... so the alternator WORKS.

Today my dad took out some big fuse and but it back in... it was not fried. And the engine ran even after he disconnected the battery. Then he turned the engine off and tried to do the same thing, but the engine stalled once again.

Perhaps those 2 other codes have something to do with this? 0504 and 0101. Here they are:

Code: P0340 | Description: Camshaft Position Sensor

Code: P0600 | Description: A/T Comm Line

***UPDATE: These 2 codes are now gone, and only the knock sensor code remains.

tosheto

iTrader: (5)

Well, check the Camshaft position sensor and it's wiring. That could cause the problem.

granturissimus

Those 2 codes don't show anymore. Also, the voltage at the battery when the car is running is 14 volts, not 14.5.

BUT, what we noticed is that when we start teh car, and turn on the stereo, and while the stereo is on we disconnect the battery... the engine keeps running for about a minute WITHOUT the battery connected. After about a minute it shuts down. But if we start the car and have the stereo off, and then disconnect the battery, the engine shuts off right away.

Any ideas why this is happening?

Phromethius

is this stereo an aftermarket install? Those are notorius for draining batteries and having weird grounds or no grounds at all.

Also I always thought you could very easily disconnect the battery after a start and not worry about anything if you had a good alternator. The car doesn't draw from the battery after it has been started unless under a load I thought?

Either way there still sounds like something is broken in the chain of the circuit. There is no circular flow of electricity through your engine. I am not an electrician though. Just trying to propose some alternative thinking.