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Car dies out plz help

Old Dec 10, 2013 | 05:23 PM
  #1  
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Car dies out plz help

I have a 98 maxima and as I was driven the break and battery and air bag light turned on and when I tried to accelerate it did not respond and wanted to turn off then I tried again and it worked this time but then a little down the road it died out. When I jumped the car it turned on then drove a little and turned off again then again and did the same. A day went by and I jumped it again it started fin then as soon as I turned on the lights it died. It has a new battery starter is new placed it 4 months ago and alternator is good. Plz help
Old Dec 10, 2013 | 05:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Big AL
I have a 98 maxima and as I was driven the break and battery and air bag light turned on and when I tried to accelerate it did not respond and wanted to turn off then I tried again and it worked this time but then a little down the road it died out. When I jumped the car it turned on then drove a little and turned off again then again and did the same. A day went by and I jumped it again it started fin then as soon as I turned on the lights it died. It has a new battery starter is new placed it 4 months ago and alternator is good. Plz help

I know you say the alt.is good, but it sounds to me its on its way out! especially if its a reman alt. many people have bought reman alts. and they either were bad out of the box or died soon after installation...4th gens do exactly what your car did when the alts are crapping out! air bag light etc.
Old Dec 10, 2013 | 07:12 PM
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Originally Posted by Big AL
I have a 98 maxima and as I was driven the break and battery and air bag light turned on and when I tried to accelerate it did not respond and wanted to turn off then I tried again and it worked this time but then a little down the road it died out. When I jumped the car it turned on then drove a little and turned off again then again and did the same. A day went by and I jumped it again it started fin then as soon as I turned on the lights it died. It has a new battery starter is new placed it 4 months ago and alternator is good. Plz help
Alternator is definitely not good. You have every symptom of a dead alternator. It may not be completely dead, but it's not charging at the voltage it's supposed to.


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Old Dec 10, 2013 | 07:28 PM
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Originally Posted by 98maxaholic

I know you say the alt.is good, but it sounds to me its on its way out! especially if its a reman alt. many people have bought reman alts. and they either were bad out of the box or died soon after installation...4th gens do exactly what your car did when the alts are crapping out! air bag light etc.
Originally Posted by Aflion

Alternator is definitely not good. You have every symptom of a dead alternator. It may not be completely dead, but it's not charging at the voltage it's supposed to.

Posted from Maxima.org App for Android
Both are correct! You're alternator could still be "working". But the catch is that its not able to keep up with the amount of power the car demands. The brake and battery light further support a bad alternator.

I had the same issue on my '01 Max and I jumped it when it died thinking I could at least drive it the 2.0 mile trip home.. but boy was I wrong. Had to jump it 4 more times and coasted into my driveway as it died again. Of course it decided to do this on a first date.-__- but my "smoothness" and "charm" got me another date
Old Dec 10, 2013 | 07:35 PM
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with the car idling, put a voltmeter across battery positive and negative. tell us what you get

lights wonking out, needing a boost, etc are all bad alternator symptoms. my 3rd gen did the exact same thing when the alternator went. you cant assume the alt is good, ive seen reman alternators fail 2 months after being installed
Old Dec 10, 2013 | 10:53 PM
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+5 for Alternator. A quick search would have told you this...
Old Dec 10, 2013 | 11:10 PM
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your alternators toast man. And I would get it fixed soon otherwise it's going to take the battery out with it
Old Dec 11, 2013 | 12:00 AM
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It may also be your alternator harness. That was the case for me even after I installed my new alternator
Old Dec 11, 2013 | 12:20 PM
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Originally Posted by D I R T Y I 3 0
It may also be your alternator harness. That was the case for me even after I installed my new alternator

agreed!...i forgot to mention the harness....now i know a 4th gen isnt a 78 ford pinto, but that was my 1st car back in the day and the harness crapped out on it...after 2 alternator installs i found out it was the harness!
Old Dec 11, 2013 | 03:41 PM
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Definately check the charging system but outside of the altenator issue could also just be a bad connection. I had a buick that did that exact same thing as you described with all the same symptoms of a bad altenator but just wound up being a bad positive connection to the battery.
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