I noticed that the alternators in our maximas seem to be pretty basic. Just the power required and nothing more. Whenever I'm driving down the road with my lights on I can see them very visibly dim whenver I move a window, turn the AC/defroster on, or anything else that uses power. Hell... even using my brakes will make them dim for a split second every so slightly.

Well the other night I noticed that if I move all four windows at once, up or down... or even push the buttons as if I was putting the windows up, when they are already all the way up... my lights dim considerably and then I hear this popping sound. Once I let go of the window controls about 1 second later I hear another popping sound. Both times when I hear the popping sound the lights "twitch" a little bit. It sounds similar to when you get one of those cans with the vacuum sealed top that "pops" or "clicks" in when you push on it and then clicks back out when you let go of it.

So is this normal? What's causing it? Is there anywhere that makes high amperage alternators for all cars? I got one for my silverado that was rated at 235 amps from powermaster... but they really only make them for GM/Ford applications. Is there anywhere else that makes them for "other" cars like the maxima?

 

Execept when it clicks the windows freezes for 2 seconds or so. It gets annoying when you have people in your car and can't put the window up for 2 or 3 seconds. Could it be a fuse or something? Maybe shorting? Any help is appreciated.
-Cyrus

 

Some Maximas, like mine, came with the cold weather package. That included a beefier alternator and starter. Maybe you can find a junked one and replace your alternator with that. There's like a 10-15 amp difference in the alternators.

DW

 

The noise your hearing is a safty feature called a CIRCUIT BREAKER. It's being tripped because your drawing to much current in the power window circuit. It resets itself in a few seconds. Only use 1 or 2 windows at a time and don't hold the switch up or down for any length of time after the window is fully up or fully down.

Without this little electronic safty circuit, I'm sure you'd be putting new window motors in quite frequently.

 

That's good to know. I always thought circuit breakers had to be manually reset... I never realized that they made ones that would auto reset... or at least that they used them in cars anyway. In that case, why not use those kind of circuit breakers in all cars rather than all those fuses?

 

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Convenience costs $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ I'm not certain that there are reseting circuit breakers in our cars. My guess would be that if there is one it was built into the alternator itself. My 95 SE does similar things, only w/o the popping. I'm going to try cleaning some electrical contact points and see if that helps. My battery is good and I do have the cold weather package, but it's been several years since that stuff was new.

 

Alright, try this then.... only the driver door window in my car pops, BUT only when i put it all the way down and then all the way up. (it pops when it reaches the top.) besides the power drain prob. what do you think could be making the poping sound and if it is a circuit breaker, why doesn't it pop on all of my windows??

Ben

 

Those window motors draw a lot of power. When they are fully closed and have nowhere to go, the internal resistance jumps even higher. with the higher resistance comes higher current draw and lots of heat. The popping, like njmaxseltd said is a circuit breaker making sure that you don't melt anything.

The reason that your lights dim when you turn on your AC is that for a second or two it slows down your engine's RPMs, thus slowing down your alternator.

As for your electrical systems, the alternator is designed to put out only as much power as is necessary to maintain a specific voltage. If you turn on something that draws additional current, there is an immediate voltage drop, thus your headlights dim. You really aren't overdrawing your alternator because it was intentionally designed to produces less than it's maximum capacity so as to avoid melting your electrical systems. It will increase its output to compensate for the drop, but it is not instantaneous. Getting a higher rated alternator will not eliminate this effect, since any alternator will take some time to increase its output.

If you have a loud stereo system, you may notice your lights actually become momentarily brighter if you turn off your system after cranking a lot of bass.

99MaxOnDubsSE, on my car, no one window will trip the breaker. I have to be rolling at least two of them up simultaneously. Maybe the motor for your driver door window has become a little bit gummed up over time. This would cause it to draw more power and could explain why it trips your breaker.

I seem to be writing a lot of long posts lately. Oh well, I hope somebody finds this enlightening.