Last night my car started acting funny right when I started it, after it was sitting for 8 hours. My power inverter for my PS2 started making noise saying that there wasn't enough voltage going to it. And my CD player would shut off if I turned it up loud. I checked the voltage of the battery and got 10.20V when the car was running. I took off my grounding kit and the car was back to the normal 13+Volts.

Half way through today, I started my car and I noticed my brake and battery lights were on while I was driving. The voltage dropped down to about 10.15Volts. I checked the 7.5A ALT S. fuse right near the battery and it is alright. My car's battery will not recharge. Do you think a new battery would solve the problem, or I need a new alternator? My battery is a regular one, nothing fancy about 2 years old. What would you do?

Thanks, Aaron

 

since i know the feeling of having a thread not replied to, ill help ya out to the best of my ability.

First things first, check ur belt tension. Believe it or not, if your main serp. belt is does not have enough tension on it, it can slip off around the alternator causing the car to mainly run off the battery, crank from the battery, and drain it as well. the alternator will somewhat turn but will not spin enough to generate the power.

however, u claim that whenu took off the grounding kit for the converter, the power came back to the battery, but did the lights go off?

if the belt tension is fine then i would run the car over to autozone or advance with the grounding kit off, and have them check both the battery and the alternator...also, ur converter could very possibly have shorted out.

 

The answer to your thread is NEW ALTERNATOR NEEDED!!
Go to your car, start it up and carefully remove your positive connection to your battery!! Only the POSITIVE, if the car turns off, than there is your answer! Your alternator is dead and not charging your battery, so this means your car is running off your battery!! Go and try and let me know what happends!

 

Ok, I went to AutoZone. I have a bad alternator wire and battery. I'm running at like 9.5Volts. I disconnected the positive wire and the car shut off right away...

What's the next step?

 

Change the alternator and you battery will charge back up! The voltage on the battery has been decreasing because the car is runnig on the charge the battery has! But once you have the new alternator on, like i said you will get your charge back automatically

 

Thanks for the reply! Could I have messed something up while installing the grounding kit? Should I go to the Dealer to get a new alternator?

 

You can get an alternator from O'Reillys for about $130, $75 core charge. The good news is that you can upgrade to the bigger 125 amp one over the 110 one and they have a lifetime warranty. good luck.

 

Uhh....no i dont think you messed anything up with your grounding kit, To be honest if it was my car i would take that grounding $hit off!! Well on the other hand you can go to the dealer or AdvanceAuto parts or Pepboys to pic one up!! I wouldnt go to the dealer because the price for that will be kinda high!! You can get one at advance auto or pepboys to save you some $$

 

be sure your not under nissans recall list for the alternator, I was and i am a 97. They can check with your vin

 

Cool, tomorrow I will go there! Yea, I took that grounding kit off.

I checked. I am not on the recall list since I have a 1996 Maxima.


I will let you know tomorrow if I buy one.

 

One more thing. When I priced out an alternator at AutoZone, they asked if my car was CALI SPEC or not. What should I say. Is it only 1999 are CALI Spec? I think my VIN tells me that I am CALI Spec. But, I don't remember...

 

Yea the easiest way to know is, look between the radiator and the engine! U should see only one plug from your o2 sensor that comes from your y-pipe if you see 3 than its cali spec....

I am more than shure that your not cali

 

I changed my alternator today. Picked one up from Auto Zone. Seems like when the engine is at idle speed the whole alternator vibrates. I tightened the two alternator bolts, so I don't know why it's vibrating.

Tomorrow, I will change the Serp. Belt. Can I get one at AutoZone or is the dealer a better place to get it?

Thanks for all the help guys!!!!

 

It Vibrates??

 

It's 100% alright now. The long, lower mounting bolt was very loose. That nut thing is a little tricky. I got it though. Thanks for all your help guys. It was nice to go back to AutoZone with my old alternator and get $110 in my hand.

 

Im glad your car is back on track now!!

 

that bolt at the bottom of the alternator is a real pain in the @ss. i took me 45 min just to get it through the alt and the bracket and a pretty scratched up hand. Apart from that, it's great now

 

Yea, my hands are still sore...