Today when I was driving to work I noticed my brake and battery lights were still on. I shut the car off and restarted it and they still stayed on? I also noticed the faceplate to my stereo was popped out this morning which I didn't do last night. Could this have anything to do with it and what would cause these lights to stay on?

 

alternator

 

Alternator. Replace ASAP or you will need a tow. The voltage of your car is dropping and will not recharge. I hope your car is in your garage right now so you can change the alternator. Pick one up at AutoZone...

/thread

 

i just installed a sub and amp this week and that's what probably threw it over the edge. Do you think that if I removed it, that would give me a little more time with the alternator? I also see that nissan ordered a recall on alternators for 97's so I'm hopefully going to get it replaced for free. If the dealership calls me back that is.

 

It was probably on it's way out anyway. Right now you have little charge going to the battery from the alternator. You are basically running just by the battery. It's like turning your car off and leaving your lights on. Try to use as little electricity as possible.

 

Removing your system will not do ish. Your car is going to die soon. Replace alternator before that happens to you. Mine made it to my mechanic but in the last few minutes it started to act posessed......stereo shutting off/on, windows roll down very slowly, stalling (probably lack of juice to the coil packs), lights dimming. At least you know now so if you break down you only got yourself to blame......

 

well, I left a service request with nissan and am going to call the dealership tomorrow and get a date to bring my car in. Thanks for the quick diagnosis guys. Looks like I'm going to be carless for a few days.

 

Lol, Bring that car in ASAP. My battery and brake light came on yesterday, today went to local autoshop, after doing some runs, soon as i parked in front. everything went dead.. But, yup.. its your alternator. Try not to use your car till you bring it to a shop

 

Damn, I made it through the entire winter with those 2 lights staying on after start up and everything

 

well, i had a navi, sound system, and others... that may have been why, plus the belt was also cracked, so that added on

 

yea my old maxima went 3 yrs with them on

 

hmmmm.....this brings up more possibilities. Is there any way to really tell for certain if the alternator is gonna die?

 

Yes test the voltage of the battery with the car runing.

 

i actually did this and the voltage is 12.5 with the lights on it drops down to below 11 but my only symtom was i was driving one night with the lights on and i tried to make a right turn and then i just lost power in the car and the battery and oil light flashed the car stalled on me i restarted it at the next light it stoped again the it started it up then ijust parked it after that i checked the battery and its not the battery

 

brought this one back from the dead, I started this thread in the beginning of the summer.

 

yea i know it just happend to me recently and i was wondering idont feel like driving it too the store and having it die out on me again

 

Alternator is going bye bye..

 

no offense, but if yoiu read the thread then you would see that it's probably your alternator. Check to see if your car falls under recall if it's a 97 or 98.

 

well heres the problem i checked the alternator and the old one was fine so any other ideas

 

Is the light still on? I replaced mine and my light went off...lights that is.

 

maybe try resetting the ecu? Our cars are a little funny sometimes and the lights can go on. Brake and Battery lights are usually the sign of a bad alternator but it also can be other things. You would really need to take a look under the engine to determine the problem. If it's a 97 or 98, I would really recomend looking into the recalll though. Either way, you'll get a free alternator and they'll probably tell you what the problem with your car is if the lights don't go off.

 

Last year I went through 3 alternators in 2 months. They would check ok with a multimeter one minute, putting out 14.5 volts then put out 11.0 the next minute after turning off and restarting the motor. After replacing the first one the alt and brake light stayed off but I kept getting stuck. I had the dealer replace it with a Nissan remanufactured unit and it had been good since.

I installed a Autozone rebuilt in my Altima and have no problems.