i have a 97 se and when i roll my window(s) up my lights dim. I really dont thing that they should do that b/c i have a 600 watt amp in my car and do get slight dimming, but its bout the same as my windows. Now how are my windows pulling that many amps to suck that battery like that?

 

mine does that too.. its normal if you have a system

 

Do you have a stock battery in your car? IF you do, try getting a Optima battery, its for high powered systems, 600-watts is pulling alot of power from the battery, so you need a better Car battery to handle that.

 

I have that problem as well. I have a 600 watt amp too but mine does it without the amp turned on. Anything that I do when I use the battery seems to cause it.

Anyone know of a fix? Is it the alternator? I bought a new battery last year.

 

yes this it totally normal. I even have an Optima Yellow Top under the hood with beefed up grounds and it still does this. All i can think of is that the window motors pull alot of current when they are being overly used or when you push the window up till it cannot go anymore and keep your finger there.

Just learn to deal with it.

Ant

 

i don't have a system and mine do that...i'm not a fan of it but i don't let it bother me, everything else works fine. not a problem right?

 

did the same $hit when i had BASS and even now after i pulled out my system!

go figure

Ant

 

Glad to know my max ain't broken, I got it too, I just do one side at a time instead of all at once....helps a little, but still annoys me.

 

Ok good atleast i know it just isnt my car.
Maybe every max does this.

 

my lights dim when i turn the air on or the radio...dim briefly too

 

welcome to the piece of sh*t alternator nissan outfitted the 4th gen's with.. I am in the process of looking for a junked 2k2 so I can nab an alternator out of it, or grab one from a q45.

I have 2 batteries, redtop and yellowtop in my car, with 1200 watts of stereo, strobes, air suspension, window modules, etc etc etc.. and I can't tell you how much the alternator sucks.

 

I have that same dimming problem when I pull up on my window buttom AND when I pump the brakes. Whats up with that? I only have a 100 watt Amp. I might need a new battery, right?

 

it's Nissan fault for not providing an alternator that handle the massive amount draw your car's aftermarket equipment has?

Dave

 

I have the same problem, but it doesn't dim my lights too much, so I don't stress it. Also, there seems to be a problem with the .org? I can't go to any other forum except for this one, the "parts for sale" and the "DC Forum" that I go to only show the "donate to maxima.org" thread, none others. Is the system just overloaded or what?

 

that happens when you are not logged into the forums

 

Will this work? I ALSO have the dimming issue...in fact, MANY MANY
cars do...BUT, it does suck...sometimes, when I brake my lights dim...
sometimes, when I have tons of accessories on...But, I've always wanted a higher-output Alternator...

So, anyway, back to my point --> Can I get a higher-output alternator?

please advise.

thanks!
FLO_BOY

 

my altenator just died what would be a good replacemant other than the oem. Please Help because I am think about buy one from autozone tomorrow.

 

I think this is also a grounding issue. I've heard that many of the grounds in the Maxima were put in after the painting of the frame, so the ground has to compete with the paint. Removing your grounds and grinding or sanding where they are should help and reduce the voltage drop. Also, try installing hypergrounds in your car and this should help the dimming. Hypergrounds won't help all that much if the headlight ground is crappy, so revert to the first option. Another alternative is to install a 0.5 farad or 1 farad capacitor, the same ones used with audio systems. This should provide the extra "oomph" of voltage the electrical system needs for high powered systems like the windows.

 

I guess my car sucks even more because there is a noticable dim in the headlights when I roll my windows down, hit the brakes, or work the sunroof... and the only "system" i have is Bose lol...

I even tried the hyperground mod (ooglie style) and yet no difference! what gives?!

 

my 98 gxe does the same thing and i have a red top optima battery and i had my amp disconnected for a week and when the amp was disconnected it still did the same thing. i guess it is normal it doesnt dim my lights too much mostly just my gauges but i am not really worried about it.

 

Mine dim without a system.

 

I think everyone have the dim light problem should toke their car to AutoZone for a free charging system test.See if your alternator is putting enough Amp that it suppost to without guessing is it good or bad,it's free people.Just my $.02

 

Most cars I have owned have been like that..all the newer cars I have been in are like that too..why sweat lil stuff like this?

 

 

If that's true, I wanna know WHY this happens... *not flaming you or anything*, I'm just curious

 

GP, but also, see how much your lights dim when you do this: try to roll down all 4 windows at once, or (after all 4 are completely closed) push all 4 switches "up" (so they close)...it only lets you do it twice before you hear a click, and the window switches are cut off for like 1o secs....

 

Next step is to install a Lightning Cap. Like I said earlier, this will help deliver the high current and voltage the battery or alternator can't for that split second. Theoretically, you should no longer get significant dimming because the Cap will be charged up to the running system voltage of the nearly 15V the alternator runs at instead of the 12.6V the battery is at.

I have something of a theory on why this dimming happens. It is most likely directly connected to the output of the alternator. When a high load is in put on the electrical system, the alternator generally responds to the electrical load by outputting the amount of power and increasing the load on the engine. However, as many have said, our alternators are inferior and possibly can't compensate for the load fast enough, so the battery takes over for a little bit until the alternator catches up. I've noticed that the alternator does catch up and the lights brighten again after a second or two. A capacitor would help this lag become a little less noticeable. Think about it, people that have some high powered stereo sysems will get headlights dimming on bass notes. If they add a 1 Farad cap, the problem goes away.

 

If the problem was just related to operating the power windows I would wonder if the window tracks needed white lithium type grease applied.

I had slow windows on some and I used this grease to allow them to roll with less friction and thus less load.

Just a thought.

Mine is all stock with 200,000 miles on the alternator, a red top Optima battery, though, no lights dimming under any conditions!

White96MaxSE