so i'm driving my car to work last week when the battery light comes on and w/e the light next to the air bag light comes on. i opened and closed my drivers door, ( i don't know why ) and it shut off. so i got the charging system checked, alternator, battery, starter and all was good.next week i was cranking up the stereo loud, ( i have a system ) and after a while it happened again. car was running fine so i turned down the stereo and after a minute or so it went off again. i was thinking the master fuse for the system might going bad or there's a drain happening from something else. thoughts?

 

The problem appears to be related to be related to your stereo, probably related to its installation.

Perhaps it draws more than the charging system can supply, or maybe a ground problem.

Possibly you have oxidized contacts somewhere which limit current flow.

So I'd say check your contacts, make sure that your wires are large enough.

For now, turn the stereo down and see what happens for a while. Then crank it up for a while, see what happens.

Sounds like the car its self is fine.

 

i saw the brake and battery light come on together after a short drive around town. while i'm not moving and have the stereo on i think there's a drain or a short or a connection is loose. after doing some research, i figure the car's 21 and a half years old and isn't handling the load from the stereo and hid's. i will check the grounds this week and re-test the charging system as i think the alternator is still a possible answer. hopefully it's a loose wire and something simple, but, it's a nissan, so, $hit.

 

do you have a aftermarket radio? looks like something is draining the alternator... could be that or the loose wiring. seems like a small issue to me. Alternator not handling the power load causes those lights to pop on the dash so it can't really be anything else I could think of..I would take care of it as soon as possible, don't get stranded on the road. >.

 

alright, so i re-tested the alternator, battery, and starter and the alty was a tad low, should have been 11 volts and was more like 10.26 volts and no battery light came on today at all. it dropped a little at start up, but under load it was fine. i'm wondering how long i have before it takes a dump on me? my alty is a 130 amp as apposed to the 110 the car came with. napa brand, lifetime warranty, but i can't find the receipt!!!

 

If i remember if its lifetime warranty, its supposed to be on file with your phone #/ address or something, I was told I didn't need a receipt but I still have mine just incase. Looks like your alternator is about to go soon.

 

shhh, no dash lights for 2 days. lets hope that continue's.....

 

Just like I suspected, your alternator is on its way out.

 

i don't know for sure if it's the alternator, the lights haven't come on in 3 days? like i said, when i was cranking my stereo it popped the battery and brake light on, but the first time i was just cruising to work and had the stereo at normal volume.

 

Sometimes alternators get tempramental before they die permanantly. I mean, sometimes they work, sometimes they dont. Like yours.

At the very least, start pricing alternators. So that you know where to get an alternator SOON..

 

Yeah if it's on it's way out, it's clearly gonna go soon. Things don't just magically disappear by its self or fix by its self. Lol, alternators are not too bad. Thought u had a lifetime warranty? Could of got this done free!

 

ummm, no. still gotta pay for the labor. i'm not doing this on my back, pita job.

 

I mean labor is only probably one hr worth, which runs $40.. cheap fix I say if u have that lifetime warranty on the alternator.

 

in what reality do you get to pay 40.00 an hour for labor? i was quoted hour and a half for 150.00 for that job. that's on the high side, i paid a $100.00 last time i swapped it out. i have a guy that'll do it for 100.00, but he's never done it before on a max.

 

For me its $40 an hr for any mechanical work, $35 an hr for body work.