It's been getting worse, with just yesterday my stereo cutting off on me. The interior lights also dim when I hit the brakes.

I went to Advanced Auto Parts and had them wheel out that test cart to my car. They said they couldn't find any problems, but the problems start to occur after I've had the headlights on for at least an hour. The battery is a "silver" grade model from AAP, it's only about a year old. If it is the battery I'm thinking I'll try something more well-known like Die Hard/Interstate/Optima

I know I could take it to the mechanic but I don't want to pay that $75+ diagnostic fee unless I have to. Thanks for any help.

 

wither its good or bad my car has done this for years

 

do you have any high powered speakers or anything other draining a lot of power from the alternator. I believe our alternators are 12v and you would need a 14v alt for any serious electrical power (I dont even know if available)
I dont think it is the battery since while the car is running it is drawing power from the alternator; also, Im guessing that you have no problem starting in the morning.
just my 2 cents

 

my car does it just a bit from time to time

 

all alternators put out 14v when the car is running. That's how your car recharges itself. Its the amount of amps that matter.


THX, if the dimming is really bad, check to see if you have a loose ground somewhere

 

not a bad idea
you can also check out some grounding kits so you can make sure everything is grounded right. Japanese cars in general have countless grounds

 

sounds like a loose ground

 

I ran a little more than a Kilowatt of power RMS in my car for years without any issues.

 

dude just redo the ground points.... and upgrade the big three its should help...

 

For the ground kits I heard there were about 7 wires total. Where do they go? like which 7 needs to be grounded?

 

Mine has always done this, I'm not worried about it. Just be glad you don't drive a Pontiac Grand am! They're horrible, twice as bad as ours. It's n
"normal" for them.

 

I had the same problem with mine a few months ago. It was the Battery.I dont care what ANYONE says on here to the contrary, if your battery is bad, you will have the same symptoms you describe. They're exactly like mine.
On a side note though, my alt died a couple months later, but replacing the battery fixed the problem. I have a Optima Red top, so I was lucky it was under warrantee

 

I had the same problems.. Until i put the entire stereo system on a marine battery and a Cap. Haven't seen the lights dim in years.

 

if you understand that the alternator is rpm dependant you should know the answer. hint think amps, no not audio amps, but aperage from the alternator.

 

i m having the same problem too..damn. i was thinking it was the motostorm underdrive pulley that i installed...i guess its not the pulley....

 

I don't think the UDP is helping the situation any. . .

May just make the situation more noticable

 

oh, well i was using the battery tester...started up the car..put the tester on, turned on headlights n applied the brakes the the gauge jumps to red

 

I had a similar problem a few weeks ago. The panel warning lights would go on at idle, starting with the air bag light. It would go away at cruising speeds. It's not the battery--or wasn't for me. I needed to tighten down the idler pulley on the alternator belt.

Check the belt deflection and see if it's correct. And then get the alternator checked.

 

Update: It WAS the battery.

Replaced the Advanced Auto Parts brand battery with a heavy @$$ EverStart MAXX from Walmart. You may snicker at the store but we've tried batteries from them before and Everstart is pretty reliable, only $58 for their top model which includes a 3yr warranty.

Thanks for the help all, glad I got this problem fixed. No more dim lights/stereo cutting off and windows roll up fast again which I vaguely remember happening when I first got the car.

 

Awsome choice i just got a Everstart MAXX yesterday!! lol i love those batterys and used to work there back in the day and saw that those batterys never ever came back before the warentee was up unless the ALT was dead.

 

Dont mean to be off topic but i got a question. I got a brand new Interstate Marine Battery lying around in my garage. You think it'll work fine in our cars?

 

bump for my question^

 

if you have it laying around, it depends on how long its been laying around. also, you have to read the CCA on it which is the Cold cranking Amps. Also, fitment is an issue. Make sure that it fits. If the CCA is enough n the battery fits, then yes, you can use it on your car

 

Mine does this when i use the windows.......i have 3 amps installed but i also have a capacitor. Doesn't really seem to be a problem for me, i have left my lights on over night atleast 3 times and the car started up with no problems the next day.

 

anyone know what the Cold Cranking Amps is for the 4th gen?

 

From factory i think it only came with 685....I put in one that has 1100, and i have no problems.

 

I had the same symptoms as well and it was the battery. I ended up getting an Optima Red Top and I've never had dimming lights or erratic idle since.

 

Hmmm, I've always had this on my car-a slight dim then comes right back when I press the brake. I use Interstate Batteries. Just changed last week, still does it. It would seem that from a couple posts here, a grounding kit may help, or is it better to just find the existing grounds and check them?

 

Clean the grounding connections to see if it helps

 

and add some more (ooglie ground system) I help THT out with that. $10 and 20 minutes later: GOLDEN!

 

I'm not a good schematic reader. Where are they?
Can I get more info on the "ooglie ground system" as well?

 

Look at the grounding kit how to in the sticky for ground points (the manifold one is mentioned in the TB cleaning one I think)

 

i looked up the CCA for the fourth gen and i found 356 and five something for the winter package for a 1997. Is this right? What about a 1996?

http://www.lotpro.com/cars/1999/nissan/maxima/options/

 

i bought an Interstate battery- 550 CCA

 

I have the opportunity to purchase an Optima battery, direct replacement for my car. It's just a regular, not yellow or red top. Don't know the CCA. The price is from NAPA discounted for $104. Should I go for it? I kinda wanted to jury rig a yellow top...

 

mine used to do it when stepping on gas new alternator and it doesnt do it at all

 

1st off check all the grounding points - that will definitely most likely solve.
A new battery well it will only help temporarily - same as the alternator. If the battery can feed enough to make up/same as the regulator can compensate for the additional load.

And to repeat point #1 have all the grounds checked.