Ive got a 2000 GLE 3.0 with 157xxx miles.. So lately on occassion my alternator has been charging at about 17v but it would only do it for a minute or so. So of course i thought bad alternator and figured i needed to replace it.. Well this evening on my way home the lights started dimming and eventually it seemed the battery drained and the car died. Ok, bad alternator, however while waiting for a tow truck i said what the heck let me try to start it and see what happens.. And boom it started like normal and drove fine.. For about a mile, then the lights dimmed again and it died.. Now in my experiance with a bad alternator the vehicle will run until the battery drops to a certain voltage at which point there isnt enough power to keep it running. Which is why i cant figure out why it started after dying originally. All connections are clean and tight, dont see any broken wires, but its 2 am and i have no tools/multi meter, or anything with me.. And its about 10 degrees.. Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated! Idk if this is something slightly common with these maximas or what? Please and thank you

 

The alternator is nfg and needs to be replaced. The alternator should never, never, ever produce 17 volts under any circumstances.

It is possible for the car to die and then have the battery recover enough to start the car. The battery usually doesn't recover enough, but it can.

 

I had the same issue. Changed the alternator and it was all good! There was a bit of corrosion on the old connectors as well, cleaned those up a bit. It would start but when I drove for about 3-4 mins it would die, so I had to put it in neutral and rev it to 1.5-2k for about 30-45 seconds, put it back in drive then it was all good for another 5-10 mins.

 

Yeaahhh it was the alternator.. Deep in my heart i knew it was, just trying to be certain before i fought the car/cold weather to change it.. Ive just never seen a car run off the battery until it died, then start up like it never happened with all of the lights illuminated as they should be.. Thanks for the imput