I've recently been seeing the BRAKE and a picture of a battery or a voltage light? It usually turns on and goes away within 10-15 seconds. I searched the forum and people have been saying that it means that the alternator is failing? Well, I went to Kragens today to have them test the alternator and it seemed to pass, but the brake and volatge light were not on.

My question is could a slipping belt be causing this? Nissan recommended me to replace the fan belt a couple months ago is this the same belt that the alternator runs on? How hard is it to change the belt myself?

The only instructions I found were these http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/500 are there any other instructions online that is more specific to just replacing the belt? Do I have to remove the alternator to take the belt off?

Sorry for all the questions.
Thanks in advance.

 

What year max? if its a 3.0 changing the belt isn't all that hard. The power steering belt is a PITA and I would recommend replacing both if replacing one....
But to replace the alternator/ac belt. You have to loosen the tensioner pulley and then turn the bolt right above the tensioner pulley to take the tension off...Put the new one on, tighten it up and retighten the tensioner pulley. Your good to go..--It's very hard to get a socket onto the tensioner pulley to loosed the bolt. You almost have to have a tensioner wrench.(I'm not sure of the exact name for this tool, it's main purpose is to help you tighten and loosen the tensioner pulley bolt.)

BTW the tensioner pulley is the one right inbetween the alternator and the crankshaft pulleys. The backside of the belt rides on it. Yes your pulley could be slipping. Check it for cracks..Common practive is 3 cracks per inch and you should replace it..If there's no cracks you can check the tension to see if it's loose and just tighten it until the slipping goes away. Best way to check the tension I have found is by getting under the car. There is about a 10 inch stretch between the ac and crankshaft pulley where you can try to twist it to see how tight it is. Your alternator or diodes could also be on the ****s.
If your replacing bolt belts give yourself at least 2 hours 2 make sure you have time in case you run into problems....Took me 1.5 because the dam swivel was being a PITA.
Replacing just the alternator belt takes about 1/2 hour or less

 

Is the power steering belt run off one of the alternator belts? Is that why you recommend replacing both? I'll try looking at everything you pointed out tomorrow and see what I can see.

Thanks for the advice and instructions.

 

No.. Look down at your crankshaft pulley. It's the only pullet with two belts wrapped around it.. You will have a front belt and a back belt. The front belt drives the alternator and air conditioning. The rear belt drives the power steering pump.
The reason I recommend changing both belts is because they are a wearable item. They need to be replaced as time goes on. You have to take the alternator and air conditioning belt off in order to get to the power steering belt. So to save your time the hassle of having to pull your front belt off again in 20,000 miles when you'll have to replace your other belt, it's usually easier to just replace one when replacing the other...
But if you are low on funds or don't know how to take the back one off, just checking it with a flashlight for cracks is sufficient. If it's not cracked or frayed at all, you could probably get by with just replacing the front one.
The back one is a PITA because you have to loosen a 12 MM bolt from the top of the vehicle to be able to allow the tensioner to loosen. (This one in itself can be a challenge. I had to use an extra long wrench to get it onto the bolt, then I had to put another wrench on the open end part for more leverage because the clearance is so tight) Then you have to get under the car and with a longer extension and swivel you have to loosen the tensioner nut almost all the way down until you can get the belt off of the pulley. The bolt just happens to be ever so conveniently located directly above the lower control arm.
HMMM Fan belt???? :got me:
Also I just read that link. You don't have to remove any shrouds or the cooling fans when doing the belt.

 

Possibly the alternator or battery. The 2 lights together indicate your battery voltage going low. The first time I got the 2 lights, it was a dying battery. Then 1 year later it came back on, I knew it couldn't be my 1 year old Optima, and the dealership ran the test and said it was the alternator and had to be replaced.

 

i got that problem about a month ago. I remember reading somewhere talking about why the brake light comes on also, and its because the computer management is not getting the sufficient voltage to operate properly from the alternator. from what i understand the battery is used to start the car and then after that the alternator handles all the electrical load. I had a friend who took his alternator to test once and the store said it passed. he ended up buying a whole new battery and then it died on him again. took the alternator somewhere else and they said it failed. apparently alternators come and go when they are about to fail. i suggest taking the alternator to autozone using one of those digital testers and checking it. it's gonna be a bit of work getting it out since u gotta move the a/c compressor aside and kinda manuever the alternator through a tight space. oh yea, the fans has to come out too. all in all, its not hard to do it yourself, maybe a couple hours the first time. I searched the internet for a write up on how to do it cause i couldn't find it in this forum. if anything i'll post the link when i find it, gonna go play some soccer now! newayz, best of luck and let me know how it goes. P.S. do not test the alternator by removing the battery terminal and seeing if the car runs *dangerous*

 

[QUOTE=kasonw. P.S. do not test the alternator by removing the battery terminal and seeing if the car runs *dangerous*[/QUOTE]
+1....A/C voltage going to electrical parts is vey bad...Voltage spike is bad.
Your car doesn't run off your alternator directly while its running...It send an alternating current thru diodes and to your battery...Your battery voltage is around 13.7-14.5 your electronics need Digital Current..NEVER run a car with a bad or failing battery...
.If they recommended your belts needed to be replaced 2 months ago and they are cracked to **** and your alternator aldready passed a load test. Try changing them first, IMO The front one isn't real hard.

 

I had this problem couple of months back. Thought the battery was the problem. Took the car to the pepboys. They did a battery diag and said everything is OK including the alternator. Later the same day I had this problem again, and this time I took it to my trusted mechanic and he said that alternator was shot. Instead of sending DC it was sending in AC to the battery sometimes !!! Replaced the alternator under the extended warranty. And one month later the battery also died and had to be replaced. But now, everything is just fine.

 

Good point sarin...Bad diodes can cause this too, and sometimes you can still pass a alternator test... You can check voltage at the alternator. Should be less than .5V AC..If it's higher you have bad diodes. (Which means your alternator is shot)-This is a very cheap alternator rebuild..$20 or less for parts.

 

going to replace the belt tomorrow, i inspected the belt on there right now and looks like there are cracks every cm

the directions that i linked in my first post suggests to go from under the car and loosen the nut on the idler pulley. could i do this from the top?

thanks

 

I did mine from the top, but I had a serpantine belt wrench which is very skinny. That being said I had to put the thin socket onto the bolt then attach the thin (about 3/8 inch) bar? to the socket...So if you have just basic tools you may need to do it from underneath...Whatever allows you easier access.....

 

so from those instructions online i'm suppose to loosen the bolt on the idler pulley? just wanna confirm before i mess anything up? then the belt should slide off?

thanks

 

I just starting having the same problem. It started happening after I replaced the negative battery cable head. It goes away after a couple of seconds of the car being on. The battery is a brand new Diehard from Sears. Everything was working great up until this change. I ignored it because it goes away. I guess I better get it over to a shop.

 

More help for diagnosis and repair can be found here.

Norm

 

I didn't see any technical info on changing a belt in that link....
Yes the idler pulley bolt comes loose. As stated earlier directions are as follows
You have to loosen the tensioner (idler) pulley and then turn the bolt right above the tensioner pulley to take the tension off...
After you do that you can actually grab the idler pulley and move it up and down with your hand. There should be no tension in the belt and it should come right off at this point.

 

oh, sorry i misunderstood, i thought the bolt above the idler pulley and the bolt on the idler pulley were the same things

thanks for the clarification

 

The thread linked above was more aimed at diagnosing a bad alternator, actually, which may still be the problem. But even for diagnosing the belt you could make the various tests, then tighten the belt a bit and retest to see if there was any improvement.

Agreed that the belt comes off without much difficulty; particularly if you loosen the pulley bolt from underneath with a shroud or two removed (4 or 5 fasteners per is worth the time spent in ease of access).

Norm

 

your right. It could and may very well be the problem..Just figured since it was recommended over 2 months ago to replace the belt that it would be the cheapest starting point......

 

fixed it, it was just the alternator belt $20 and car is good as new. thanks 5thgenmaxima for the help.

never trust mechanics, i got the car checked out at speedee oil change near my place and they told me my alternator was shot and thats what led to the voltage/brake light to turn on. they wanted me to replace the alternator for $400! i went to kragens that was a little further to have them test the alternator with the new belt on it and everything checked out fine. what i learned, always get a second opinion.

 

crap, turns out my alternator is bad. it wasn't that it wasn't giving charge... its giving too much charge. the person at my local kragen suggested for me to turn on all my electronic components to try to drain away some of that extra charge that the alternator is generating, so right now i'm driving around with my headlights, ac, and radio on at full blast.

i'm curious if it'll just suddenly die on me or not? i can replace it myself, but i'm away at college and would need to drive 120miles to get home so i could work on it. I don't know if i should risk it and drive back home?

 

anybody recommend an alternator?

 

The only information I can provide is that the first reman alternator was bad right out of the box (and was most likely the standard replacement/first lookup choice at the store). The second one is only identified on my receipt as

U18 13639 Talon

It's a 110 amp unit that looks to normally go for about $40 more than the standard unit ($230 vs $190, last summer), but tested at 130A at 13 volts (came with a test cert sheet). I no longer have the box; that may have been used to return the dead player in anyway.

Norm