So I was driving the highway this morning with my headlights on. When I looked at the gauge cluster, the cluster lights and clock were slowly getting dimmer, like someone was using the dimmer switch until finally they went out completely, then my air bag light in the cluster started blinking. (Ghosts?). I could not tell if my Climate Control, lights or headlights went dim as well. A few seconds after the lights went out, all lights came back and the air bag light stopped blinking and all was back to normal.

My thoughts are that the dimmer switch may be on its way out, but the air bag light flashing throws me. Anyone have any thoughts on what this might be heading to for a problem??

 

Normally when the airbag light flashes that could indicate a charging problem. And the airbag computer isn't getting the right amount of power. Were there any other warning lights on as well?

 

Your alternator is about to let go on you...

 

And check your battery now too, might be drained from the alternator not charging it.

 

+2 on alternator as most likely issue. Pretty easy to verify if you have/can get a voltmeter. Voltage across battery terminals should be above 14.0V with the engine running; should not change much as engine speed is increased. Voltage across battery terminals with engine off should be above 12.0V. Make sure all your connections at the battery and alternator, as well as the main battery grounds, are clean. Poor connections can also cause this kind of issue. Good luck.

 

Thanks for that how to. I will take a look at it this weekend. EDIT: Will check when I get home...why put it off til the weekend

I was thinking alternator initially but no other warning lights flashed...just the air bag light. Any time I have had an alternator go, there have been multiple lights and loss of power to include stalling. The car did not behave eratically when the lights dimmed, no loss of power or anything (except for the dash lights) and the car has been running and starting fine since this incident yesterday. It was very cold here this morning and the car had no problems starting.

And since I've started a thread already I am Fed Spec...110AMP or 125AMP? I am only running a small amp to one 12" sub...no other crazy electrical hook-ups.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MPA-15844N-N...dec7c0&vxp=mtr

 

Well halloween is tomorrow, so the max must be haunted!!!!!

 

Just put the meter on it and at IDLE with the headlights, flashers, and heater on it was reading 12.6v, when revved, it jumped up and read around 13.6v. With the car shut off and all lights off, the battery read about 12.2v.

Is this looking like the alternator is shot?

 

Hmm looks like it may be in the early stages of it, yes. Bob mentioned above that it should read over 14v when engine is running... you only get 13.6, and that's when revving.

I would tend to agree with the consensus here

 

Of course it has to fail when it's cold and I have no heated garage. Hopefully I can find a friend with one to borrow for a couple hours if I need to replace it

 

Murphy's Law strikes again - this stuff rarely happens when the weather is good and time is abundant! Definitely need to replace alternator; it's a PITA job I just did a couple of months ago. I have access to a lift and air tools and it still took me over three hours (I'm old and slow!!) Search on this site for a How To - pretty sure I looked at one.

You will have to work from the top and bottom both - top for removing belt, electrical connections and at least one bolt; bottom for the other bolts on alternator and compressor and to drop out alternator. Get a can of brake or engine cleaner and clean off as much of the oil/road grime around that area as you can. Remove the pass side front wheel and the splash guard on that side to provide access to the tensioner. Unplug all of the electrical connections and push them out of the way first. Unbolt the horn on that side and move it out of the way; you will be glad you did as it is just IN THE WAY! You WILL have to unbolt and unplug (but don't remove refrigerent lines from) the AC compressor to access the alternator bolts and provide room to remove/replace alternator. Shift the compressor forward and toward center of car as far as lines will allow; you will need to set it on something while it is unbolted - don't hang it on the lines. The alternator has to be twisted around some to drop out the opening behind the sway bar. Clean all of the electrical connectors while they are apart. Good luck.

 

Upon reinstallation of the alternator, you might want to skip the back bolt. Having to pull the condenser to get at it wasn't one of Nissan's brightest ideas ever. I'm doing that when I put the timing cover back together. One bolt and the belt should keep it from moving

 

I assume you mean Compressor??

Is this probably going to be something that will **** the bed all of the sudden or will it slowly get worse? Just curious if I NEED to do it right now or if I still have a little while. I was doing some reading and a lot of literature I read say that my readings are close or within the normal specs and that sometimes, you need to rev the car to 2000 RPMS to get the proper reading.

I'm kind of leaning toward waiting to see if it will slowly get worse...but if just one day it's gonna leave me stranded with no warning, I may re-think that. I just basically don't feel like dealing with it right now.

 

It will eventually just give out. I can't see it getting any worse than those numbers and still being useful. It's probably best to replace it ASAP.


Posted from Maxima.org App for Android

 

**** I've been riding around for about a year with a bad alternator the bearing is going and it had been squealing (neglect no$$$) then my starter went out but I recommend you change that ASAP things go sour when everything isn't working together

 

One day you will be at a red light and the car will stall and you wont be able to restart. You might be good for quite a while w/o replacing it, but you never know when this happens and it WILL. And you know it'll be at the worst time possible as always.

Don't ask how I know...good ol' I30 how I miss thee

Good luck with it and I hope you never have to go thru what I did

 

IMO, you're playing with fire. Once I started seeing the "signs", my alternator went out within 150 miles. Mine died and killed the car while I was doing 85mph down a hill. Put my Max in neutral and coasted off to the right shoulder.

On my ex gf's I30, within 100 miles it left her stranded on the side of the road.

 

+ infinity on this!! The alternator will will fail at night, 200 miles from home, when you absolutely have to be somewhere, in the pouring rain/raging blizzard/105 degree weather (depending on season), with no cell service!!! Again - remember Murphy!!!!-

 

And I strongly disagree here - the belt puts a lot of pressure on the alternator so you don't want it moving even a little!!

 

Looks like I have a project for the weekend. But do I get 110 or 125 amp?

 

Agree with you bobflood.
Note to self: Don't ever let gruesome work on your car...you'll have extra bolts leftover when the job is done.

IIRC, 4th gens had a 100amp originally and Nissan updated them with 110amp. I believe the I30's came with 125amp, hence why parts stores cross list it with the Maxima.
If it were my Max, I would put in OEM spec, or as close as possible to it. Go for the 110amp.

 

If you haven't added any extra electrical equipment, the 110 will be fine. About all the 125 alternator will do for you is recharge the battery a little faster, but I don't think that's a deal breaker. Which ever is cheaper is the way I would go.

The Maxima came with either a 100 or a 110 amp alternator in the 95 to 97 years. In 98, the 110 became the only one.

The Infiniti was a little more confused. In 96 (1st year of i30) a 125 amp alternator was the only one. In 97, it was either a 110 or 125 amp alternator. In 98 the 110 amp alternator became the only one.

 

The 125 amp is $132 and is what the store said their computer is showing for my car. The 110 is $160 (which makes no sense to me) I guess as long as it'll fit, I'll go with the 125. I'm gonna take the car in to advance auto this morning and have them double check my readings. My friend is the manager there and I am confident in his ability to test it properly.

Edit: the alternator tested good but the battery tested low. The battery has been testing low since I got the car 3 years ago. It's rated for 550CCA but it testing at 350CCA. Looks like I'll replace that before the alternator.

 

Do a price comparison. Have them run down all the years..95, 96, 97, 98, 99 for both alternators. From my experience, Autozone shows different prices based on the year! I believe I paid about $115 for my 110amp from Autozone. Oh, and the 125amp from Autozone doesn't fit right. Before you walk out the store, match up the ears.

A bad alternator is just going to kill/drain your new battery. I'd hold off on replacing the battery until the new alt. gets put in.

 

I have done that before on other cars and no problems.with the back bolt missing when it was in an incongruous spot. Love to know why Nissan thought the alternators were changed less often than the AC condenser.

 

Again, I think you mean compressor...

 

Little update on my issue...I replaced my battery because it was only showing 330CCA when tested not the 550 or whatever it was rated for. When the alternator was tested (after the new battery install) it tested good so I have not replaced that. On to the rest of the story. So today, I had problems and I noted everything that was happening...

1) Airbag light flashing
2) Heater shut off
3) radio shut off (but did not lose any presets)
4) Car hesitated when trying to accelerate but I was able to maintain highway speeds (almost as if a coil was not working which obviously they are fine since this driveability issue ONLY happens when the airbag light is flashing)

I just did some googling with these symptoms and some people say, on other cars, that this points to an ignition switch problem and that by moving the key when this happens, will stop the immediate problem. Does this make sense? I know my ignition is **** because I can pull the key out with the car running (kinda convenient actually) but it has been like that since I bought the car 3 years ago.

Any thoughts other than Alternator??

 

Your key into the ignition lock cylinder. It is obviously worn since you can remove the key, but this is not the ignition switch. The ignition switch is a separate unit that screws onto the backside of the lock cylinder.

It is possible that the ignition switch contacts are messing up. When my car didn't start because of the ignition switch, I took the switch apart and saw that the contacts were burned and crusted. I cleaned them and the switch worked. There are maybe half a dozen contacts in the switch and any one of them could be bad. But I don't know if the ignition switch could cause your problem, though. If you decide to take the ignition switch apart, be forewarned that there is a spring in there that will come flying out if you don't know it's in there. The spring IS necessary for the switch to work.

 

Well, it ended up being a bad alternator. Apparently when it was tested right after start up, it tested good but after letting it run for a while, then testing it, it was testing around 12v. I've never had a car continue to run with a bad alternator but I see it's possible now. Just wanted to update with my results.

 

 

Now that you have the new battery and alternator, you shouldn't have any starting problems this winter.

 

HAHAHA...I listened...I aint no noob that asks for help but doesn't use it Every time I tested the alternator, it tested good. So you say I should just replace things even if they test good? It was not until further diagnostic that I was able to figure out 100% what was going on and why the alternator was testing good every time I checked it. It's not like I just threw random parts at it either...the battery needed to be replaced regardless.

 

Regardless of how it "tested" your symptoms were your symptoms which 99.9% of time is a it's a bad alternator.

Glad you got it fixed and came back to report your findings so that others who search in the future will find this thread.

 

Yeah yeah yeah...you told me so lol