Ok, I am over at altimas.net, and I looking for some help. I am have just fried my 7th, yes, 7th alternator in since Sept. 2000. I have used lifetime warranty ones from Autozone, and the most recent one is an OEM alternator. Not a huge system in the car, and I even have a 1 farad cap on there. Also, when I get above about 3000 RPM, both battery and brake lights go off.....under 3000, they both come back on.

What is the output of a Maxima alternator? The Altima alt is an 80 amp alternator, and if the Maxima one puts out more and fits, I may just try one of them. Thanks

 

The Maxima alternator is 110 amps. Don't know if it fits the Altima though.

 

Getter a bigger battery like the Yellowtop Optima so your system doesn't "overwork" your alternator so bad.

 

Well, its not the battery......but an 80 amp alternator just is not cutting it. 110 amp is better than 80, or paying $400+ for a new high output alternator.

Thanks for the info guys.

 

Your right, and your wrong. A better battery with less internal resistence will give off power more readily and recharge faster. I had the same problem in my old car. Fried 3 Alternators in 1.5 yrs. I went and got a red top Optima battery and not a problem in the 3 yrs after. Spend the 140 for the red top Optima, or if you really want to do things right drop the 180 for the yellow Top Optima. The Yellow top is the better choice for your application, but I think even the red top would help you out, if you aren't willing to drop the extra 40 bucks to go yellow. And by the way, the 1st two things I did to my Max within 1 week of buying it was to put in synthetic oil and lose that crappy stock battery. Best of luck.

 

Hey thanks......I think a new battery is definitely in order. A yellow top for sure, but I have found them much cheaper than $180! I was just wondering if maybe the alternators would fit, because I have lifetime warranty on mine, and I can also switch it out with an alternator from another car if I wanted. Thanks for the replies!


Also, if anyone know NissanLunatic on here, and knows about Southwest Autoworks.....I have become a member of the family, and I have started Concept Autoworks. Some parts, same low price, same quality service, just in Columbus instead of Phoenix. www.conceptparts.com

Give me a call or shoot over an e-mail for anything!

 

Is it me or have people still not figured out that batteries are for starting a car and not running one? If you have charging or loss of power problems while the car is running, the alternator or a wiring problem is normally to blame. Having a better battery is good as a whole, but will only help in starting the car and power for key off time.

 

Batteries are for a heck of a lot more than starting the car. They provide reserved energy for accessories and the like. Do not think that it only starts the car. That is naive. Read my previous post.

 

I read your post. You're wrong. Power for all accesories in the car is provided by the alternator while the car is under way. The battery is a cell which holds power in reserve for starting. If you pull out the battery out of a running car that has a good alternator, it will continue to run just fine. Do the research, even in the org, this topic has been address a million times. The battery is used for accesories in the car only when the ignition is off. Buying a $200 battery will net you a very very nice battery that can be discharged and recharged (also called cycles) over 1000 times. It still gives you no more power than any other battery for it's purpose except possibly the reserve capacity of the battery itself. The alternator has a voltage regulator that directs the preset amount of power to the battery until fully charged, once charged it brings the power output of the alternator back to the minimum required by the rest of the car (also called load). Optima batteries put out 12v, cheap batteries put out 12v (as long as both are fully charged); the only difference is the Optima is designed (because it is a dry cell) to have a higher reserve capacity, higher number of possible cycles, it is a deep cycle battery (meaning it can be drained "deeper" or more w/o damaging the battery, also designed to be drained and recharged more time (back to cycles again)), and it does have a faster cycle rate than conventional electrolyte filled batteries. Great for stereo systems that are played for prolonged periods w/the car off.

I could go on and on, but I'll let you do the research to find out that what I'm saying is correct and not the other way around.

 

couldnt have said it better!...red for daily use...Yellow is a true "deep cycle" batter..so you can totally drain it..and re-charge it without damaging the internals. For sound and other high drain applications use Yellow! But if you just want a better day-to-day battery...the red top is the way to go..it actually starts your car faster due to lesser internal resistance.

 

JAIMECBR900, I never made claim of the battery powering the car. I made the claim it is recharged faster, or in other words, MORE EFFICIENT. I also said it powers accesories. I was reffering to if your blowing alternators, your alternator can't keep up and power WILL be drawn from the battery. I'm not out to start a fight, but it seems to me you think a battery is a battery and only comes into play when you car is off and the engine not running. Well, that is not the case in high draw applications where current draw exceeds current output from the alternator (which applies to this thread). If a battery is a battery, as you claim, then why does almost any car audio enthusiasts put a yellow top Optima in their car -- Because it is BETTER for their situation. Your claim that is true, yet ridiculous. I don't know many people who go out to thier cars and just bump thier systems when they aren't driving. Give me a break. As I said before I had issues with this problem and my dealer told me what was up. I had a -15 amp draw of current in my car with the AC, headlights and stereo at a moderate level on. I was burning up alternators and the dealer told me to get an Optima battery for the reasons I mention. It WORKED. No more toasted alternators. I speak from experience, which to me is far more important than anything else. Also, your right on everything about how the battery works. Just to make it clear, it appears we only differ in the fact that the battery can have some impact when the vechile is running. Everything else I agree with you. Also, your viewpoint is right for MOST vechicles (probally 90 % on the road). I'm not out to chop ya down, just argue a small greivance I have in your logic. Reply back if you like. This is a good discussion. Hopefully others will get in on it too.

 

OK, with all that is said......


This battery that is on the car now, its been charged a two times in the last 6 months because of all the alternator problems. What I am thinking is, is it possible the battery is damaged because of all the times the alternator has not charged it completely, thus killing it? And then I throw on a new alternator, and it struggles to charge the battery, thus killing it????


Or did that not make sense?

 

Would you care to explain why my light dimming went down immensely when I replaced my stock battery with an optima yellowtop? Much more noticeable than the 1 farad cap I have. There's more to it than what you're saying, and it's pretty obvious you aren't powering a large stereo system.

Yellow tops recharge quicker, with less power. This means they suck off less power from the alternator, and give out more power in return.

IE, LESS DIMMING.

 

if you have a ordinary battery...(non-deep cycle) it can be damadged if drained beoynd the point where it wont start the car. When you battery is that dead you have "cycled" it. Thus causing damadge to the internals..and it might not be able to be fully charged again. With the optima yellow..it is build to be cycled thus making it a deep cycle battery. It can be drained and recharged to its full capacity over and over again. So since you've had alternator problems and if that battery has gone totally dead before...you might have a damaged battery.

 

I'm not going to keep arguing with you guys about something that I KNOW is correct. I was a mechanic for the largest of all battery dealers (Sears) for 7 years. I went to school (sears paid for it) to be able to diagnose problems exactly as this. I thoroughly understand how a main electrical system and charging system in our cars and others.

Both of you guys are not understanding what I'm trying to explain to you. Understand it from this analogy; an electrical current travels from the source to the load, along the way it may travel thru a in-line fuse, before reaching the final destination. Does that mean the fuse or the source is powering it? This is a pretty 1+1 analogy. It's obvious the fuse is NOT powering anything since current just travels thru it. Now follow this: The alternator is the source and stereo, accesories, or whatever you want is the load. The alternator does send power to the battery first, but once fully charged, the alternator continues to power the rest of your demands;NOT the battery. Once again, name one accesory that will NOT function when the car is on.

Bottom line, buying an Optima battery is a good step to strengthen your electrical system by supplying very quick recharging and discharging cycles, extremely high total number of cycles, and deep-cell capabilities. As the very first initial posts asks, what should he do if he keeps burning up alternators?...Buy better alternator (autozone alternators are notoriously not consistent from batch to batch), Use better wiring for the large demand stereo (i.e. bigger awg cable or truer connections), or do not exceed the capacity of a "good" alternator.

BTW, I do know a little about high power stereo systems. I had a competition vehicle that pulled close to 80 amps, put out 1600w RMS (a pair of Orion 250 HCCA's), and was powered by a Streetwires 200 amp dual pole alternator and never once did I have lights go dim or had electrical problems.

 

Once again, name one accesory that will NOT function when the car is on.


I meant to say name an accesory that will not function when the car is on and the battery is removed.

I tripped on the soap box.

 

Your analogy of a battery being like a fuse is improper. It would be more like a capacitor. I have had many physics classes and actually just studied how batteries function 2 weeks ago. You have definetly redeemed yourself somewhat in that post, however. Your bottome line is right on. What your trying to get at with asking for accessories that won't work with battery out beats me.

 

Hi gang,

Lets look at it this way. If a vehicle is cycling a battery, then, the total amperage being utilized during operation is higher than the alternator can provide. The simple solution is to calculate the required amps and upgrade the alternator accordingly.

If that is not an option for some reason, upgrading the battery to a yellow top will allow the battery to be discharged/recharged without any ill effects. As long as the owner allows "quiet time" with the vehicle where the total amperage draw is less than the amperage of the alternator, thus, allowing the battery to regain full charge.

Unfortunately, what some people do, is replace their factory spec battery (say, 850cca) with a higher capacity battery (1000cca) without thought to the added drain on the alternator to attempt to charge a battery that is larger. Adding caps to a system will assist in transients, but, will not resolve an issue of a overpowered system with an underpowered alternator.

Make sense? Just trying to explain it in a different way...

 

That is exactly what I'm trying to say. Simply replacing the battery to a better one only assists in cycling aspect of the charging system, not the overall output of the system. The caps on a stereo system are exactly as stated above, for transients in the music (highs and lows like a sine wave) and for lightning fast charging and discharging for those transients. The caps do have a limit too, that's why the rule of thumb is 1.0 farad for every 1000 watts of power. As the gentleman is stating above, if you exceed the total output of the alternator by drawing too large a load on it a larger battery will not fix that problem. A higher output alternator, with correct gauge interconnects, fully charged battery, and clean install of any accessories will go substantially further to avoid any electrical problems. This is what I've been trying to say all along. The original poster asking what to do...should do that. The reason why the alternators from AutoZone may not be up to the task is that he either got his from a bad "batch" or is still not strong enough for his demands. The battery may be weak too, but that resulted probably as an after effect of the earlier.

 

You're the guy, bro. Drop the mic...

 

I read these old posts smiling thinking if only I owned my 00 max back when there threads where fresh. Quick answer Two batteries.

 

A better battery with less internal resistence will give off power more readily and recharge faster. I had the same problem in my old car. Fried 3 Alternators in 1.5 yrs.