Oh Geese, This is not my month AT ALL please help..

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Nov 29, 2011 | 06:22 PM
  #1  
Ok, I have a 2001 Infiniti I30 recently I have been having starting issues. The car would crank but not turn over. Eventually it would turn over after maybe sixth time. On Thanks-given even my car lights ( dash ) started dimming while cars was running. I instantly figured battery or Alt so I grabbed my multimeter and the reading at OFF was less than what it should have been. Darn, I dunno why but I though the battery was the answer. I purchased a walmart battery slapped it in and Bam, hard start returned than it started up no issues. Battery and car running fine. The next day my wife drove me to work and I noticed the battery and brake light lights both on. ALT!! She made it back home but ended up going back out and The car started doing the same thing. Lights dimming and car stalled out on her. We parked the car and had it towed to the lot I purchased it from. I am in constant communication with the dealer and he replies " It's not starting now ". They've had my car since Monday and still no word. Can someone Please Help me?
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Nov 29, 2011 | 06:39 PM
  #2  
Sounds like a bad alternator, also check if the battery cables have corrosion making the contact points alot weaker.
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Nov 29, 2011 | 06:47 PM
  #3  
Would that cause my car not to start also?
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Nov 29, 2011 | 06:52 PM
  #4  
Quote: Would that cause my car not to start also?
A drained battery due to the alternator not charging the system properly.
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Nov 29, 2011 | 06:55 PM
  #5  
Your old battery was drain by the bad alternator so you replace it with a new one and now the new one also is drain(dead) due to bad alternator. I've seen the battery/brake light aleast 3 times in my nissan before so i'm pretty sure that's it. As for it not starting now i'm not sure why the dealer wouldn't be able to jump start it if that was the case unleast a new problem happen during these times.
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Nov 29, 2011 | 06:56 PM
  #6  
Quote: A drained battery due to the alternator not charging the system properly.
Thank you guys keeping my hope alive. I think this guys mechanic is a meat head. The still haven't attempted to replace the Alternator STILL. His excuse was " what's the point if it won't start ".
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Nov 29, 2011 | 07:04 PM
  #7  
Quote: Your old battery was drain by the bad alternator so you replace it with a new one and now the new one also is drain(dead) due to bad alternator. I've seen the battery/brake light aleast 3 times in my nissan before so i'm pretty sure that's it. As for it not starting now i'm not sure why the dealer wouldn't be able to jump start it if that was the case unleast a new problem happen during these times.


Hmm makes sense. I haven't been down to look at it because I've been at work. The dealer told me it wouldn't turn over. Now I know before the flatbed left with ( EBONY ) the car was driven up on the the flatbed. So, I am going to guess and say the battery was dead?
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Nov 30, 2011 | 03:57 PM
  #8  
An udate of my nightmare! The battery was charged and the car still won't start. The dealer told me that it's sounds like " it's starting over fast ". It doesn't make any sense to me. I haven't been able to get down there to see for myself but has anyone heard of this? Can the timing advance by its self?
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Dec 3, 2011 | 07:03 AM
  #9  
Alternator
I can guarantee you that's the alternator, cause that's a problem I had a few years back. Battery died, replaced it, and the new one was dead in 2 days. If the alt isn't charging your system, batteries die in no time flat. And even if you don't hear alternator whine, it still could be bad. My alternator was less than a year old, cause I put a new one in as soon as I got the car. But it was a reman, so guess something wasn't reman-ed right....

And no, given that we have timing chains, that would be pretty difficult, and very costly when your valves and pistons start playing patty cake....
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Dec 3, 2011 | 07:38 AM
  #10  
I kind of figured that. As soon as their mechanic said your TIMING " teeth " snapped and advanced timing so now it won't start. On top of that finding that type of expensive repair you would have to piratically do a timing chain repair, In which my car will be home. I didn't hear any Metal clanging sounds coming from the engine bay when I had her. I sounds like I need to get my baby to someone who knows what the hell they're doing.
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Dec 3, 2011 | 03:58 PM
  #11  
Welp newer update: Went down to where they're holding Ebony for ransom. I talked to one of the mechanics myself. I asked what was wrong with her, he insisted that the timing " belt" broke. I asked to see it and he told me he'd show me where it was. The timing cover looked untouched. So, I played blond and asked how do would one know if it went. He said there wasn't a spark. I told him that I30's doesn't have belts and he told me they did. I was confused because it ran before it was towed there. He went back to rapping another customer for their money. I hopped in, NO started. Attempted a few more times and Boom she was running again. As I was backing out he pops his head out. Damn, you got it started???? I guess it does have a timing chain. What a goof. Welp that was solved I have my new alty but don't have the time to put it in.
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Dec 3, 2011 | 04:13 PM
  #12  
geese.







the alternator takes no time to put in, can be done in ~30min. check the stickies.
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Dec 5, 2011 | 05:56 AM
  #13  
Quote: Welp newer update: Went down to where they're holding Ebony for ransom. I talked to one of the mechanics myself. I asked what was wrong with her, he insisted that the timing " belt" broke. I asked to see it and he told me he'd show me where it was. The timing cover looked untouched. So, I played blond and asked how do would one know if it went. He said there wasn't a spark. I told him that I30's doesn't have belts and he told me they did. I was confused because it ran before it was towed there. He went back to rapping another customer for their money. I hopped in, NO started. Attempted a few more times and Boom she was running again. As I was backing out he pops his head out. Damn, you got it started???? I guess it does have a timing chain. What a goof. Welp that was solved I have my new alty but don't have the time to put it in.
My 3 year old daughter is more of a mechanic that he is..... ridiculous....

But good luck man, alternator replacement is a bit of a hassle given you have to unbolt the ac compressor to get it out of the way. I bruised a few knuckles taking mines out cause of the small window of maneuverability, took me about 2 hrs though, but not too bad. I wish I coulda got it done in 30 mins, but I took alot of WTF breaks tryin' to get it out and in, lol
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Dec 9, 2011 | 05:37 PM
  #14  
Quote: My 3 year old daughter is more of a mechanic that he is..... ridiculous....

But good luck man, alternator replacement is a bit of a hassle given you have to unbolt the ac compressor to get it out of the way. I bruised a few knuckles taking mines out cause of the small window of maneuverability, took me about 2 hrs though, but not too bad. I wish I coulda got it done in 30 mins, but I took alot of WTF breaks tryin' to get it out and in, lol


Thanks, I will be tackling this task on Sunday. Is it true you have to empty ac compressor? The size sockets I read was 14mm what are the other sizes? How hard is is to release the tension on the belts?
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Dec 10, 2011 | 12:28 PM
  #15  
No, you dont have to empty the AC compressor. Just unbolt the four 14mm bolts holding it on and move it out of the way(forward and down).
As for the belt tensioner...make sure you loosen the nut on the pulley FIRST then loosen the tension from the top side of the tensioner. The nut on the pulley doesnt need to come off, just loosened pretty good.
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Dec 10, 2011 | 04:45 PM
  #16  
Thank you for all the help guys.
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Dec 13, 2011 | 05:35 PM
  #17  
Quote: A drained battery due to the alternator not charging the system properly.
My thought exactly.
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Dec 14, 2011 | 05:43 PM
  #18  
No One told me how hard it was to remove the friggin bolts. Impact gun is something I want to look into. It's too cold up here so I might have to pay someone to do it for me tho.
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Dec 17, 2011 | 09:55 PM
  #19  
she's back Thank you guys for all the help. I didn't do the dirty work on my own but she's running again.
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Dec 18, 2011 | 06:44 AM
  #20  
Quote: No One told me how hard it was to remove the friggin bolts. Impact gun is something I want to look into. It's too cold up here so I might have to pay someone to do it for me tho.
LOL, yeah man. I did fail to mention that I had an 18in breaker bar when I did mines..... And I hear you, I don't do outside work around this time myself. I'm in north Jerz

Quote: she's back Thank you guys for all the help. I didn't do the dirty work on my own but she's running again.
Congrats man, bet it feels good...
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Dec 18, 2011 | 07:44 AM
  #21  
Yeah. Bolt is BS. I tried to unbolt it for hours and then dropped my car at mechanic. The mechanic later told me that it took him forever to unbolt that bolt
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Dec 18, 2011 | 12:45 PM
  #22  
Quote: LOL, yeah man. I did fail to mention that I had an 18in breaker bar when I did mines..... And I hear you, I don't do outside work around this time myself. I'm in north Jerz

She diffidently does lol.


Congrats man, bet it feels good...
Quote: Yeah. Bolt is BS. I tried to unbolt it for hours and then dropped my car at mechanic. The mechanic later told me that it took him forever to unbolt that bolt

Same here I was out in this cold weather ( Pittsburgh ) weather and said forget it. 100 bucks later and the exhausting look and agreeance of how hard it was paid off lol.
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