Car - 2003 Maxima 6Spd
I have a pulse dimming of the gauges at night time not sure what the problem is, when i rev up the gauges get brighter and stay steady, once i idle it starts pulsing again.

ive cleaned the terminals at the battery and the one on the alternator and even tightened up the belt the proper way. Seems the same to me. The car has no problems at all starts up everytime. im thinking voltage regulator?

Anyways if one day i need an alternator i want to buy a low mileage used one because i want it to be OEM without spending a crazy amount, so im asking if a 2008 maxima alternator fits in my 2003? Or whats the best used option?

 

Sounds to me like your alty might be getting weak. Not necessarily bad, just on its way out.

Do your headlights and taillights pulse, too, at idle?

 

Headlights and tail lights look good, my interior lights MAP,DOME,DOOR dim accordingly aswell

 

I have the same thing. I also have seen it happen in many cars, even new ones. It's kinda like when you have the a/c blasting, when at idle it's gets slightly quieter and warmer. But when you hit the gas it gets louder and blows a lot harder. Just a lot of energy being used. If its like a very noticeable flicker that can be seen from far away or without taking a second glance... I'd say it's normal

 

Oh and my headlights, tail lights, dome lights, radio, and speedo dials are all steady. Just can see it on the little mileage screen and trip computer screen.

 

Cheap easy way to attempt to fix this:

Add grounds to everything.

Just buy some 8 AWG wire, like a roll of it or whatever, and a crapload of 3/8" eyelettes for it. Get some shrink tube to if you want to do a really clean job.
The most important ones are from Alty to Chassis, Engine Valve cover/Intake manifold to Chassis, Battery negative to Chassis, and Starter/Transmission to ground.

Adding a ground from the firewall to the engine or main Chassis is a good idea as well, as most of the interior grounds are done to the firewall internally.

 

My dash/guage lights do this as well. Checked my alt output...everything fine. Did it with old battery and my new one. Dome lights and exterior lights do not seem to be affected. I just figured it was an example of Nissan engineering at it's finest and let it go.

 

I know what ur saying that sounds normal but i have a flickering

I first noticed it on the trip and mileage screens then i looked at my dome lights and map lights

I thought about the grounds first, so i cleaned the battery posts and batt to alt cable ends. I would like to find these grounding points you mentioned and clean them with a wire brush first.

I did an output test at autozone with the car running they said everything was fine. Im just not convinced all is completely well, my friends 2002 does NOT do this at all!!

 

A few of them straight up don't exist, you'll be addign them.

The others are done with wire so thin you will hardly notice it.

Just upgrade them. Your car will thank you. You'll get better fuel mileage, the engien will run better, spark plugs will last longer, injectors will fire better, alternator, battery, starter, etc will last longer.

Under $50 to do all that.....

 

Use a multimeter to probe the wiring and see what voltage you get during idle and when giving the engine revs.

 

Sounds like the alternator is bad. The volatage regulator is part of the alternator (or at least it is in my 01 AE)

Those were my symptoms. Changed it, fixed.

 

thanks for the input, im shopping around for an used oem alternator. Does anybody know if a 2008 maxima alternator fits my 2003??

 

just wanted to update anyone who reads this in the future, a 2008 maxima alternator looked like it didnt fit due to the plug, and a 2006 murano alternator fit perfect, and the alternator was the cause of the slight dimming gauges while idling