my max (96 auto) turned off on me so i put a new battery in her. it then turned off again so i then changed the alternator. the car died again so i replaced my new battery with a newer battery.
I dont think the alternator is making enough juice. when i disconnect the main plug on the alternator and check how much voltage it is shooting out while the car is running its throwing out like 2.5 maybe if im lucky 3 volts.
have taken out the alternator and had it checked, the alternator is good. i checked all the fuses mines the relay switches.
What is the problem here? i can not figuere this one out?! i do have the check engine light on (knock sensor, idle control vaule and P0125 'something about the temp' ) i dont think any of those are the cause of draining the life out of my poor new battery.

only thing i can think of right now is that a relay switch between the alternator and the battery is not switching over to the battery (thats if there even is one, i dont even know)


Edit: i also had the alternator checked while the car was on. It gave back an error something like 'connection to alternator'

 

Did you do the quite simple check of checking battery voltage with the car running?

 

yup, that how i know my battery is being drained. it goes from 12.5 volts then drops to like 8 volts in like 60 secounds, then continues till the cars turns off

 

Checked the stupid stuff like belt tension, and the belt itself?

 

i did. the belt is new and the tension is good.
the only thing that im not to sure is that i think the pullies are not spinning fast enough (thus the alternator not producing enough juice), i honestly think the pullies are not spinning fast enough. maybe its all in my head though

 

i think it may be my crankshaft pulley. does anyone know if im supposed to be able to spin the outer part of the pulley with my hand? i think im not supposed to be able to do this, or am i wrong?

 

Not seperate from the rest of the pulley, no.

 

Dead or Disconnected Alternator

 

replaced the alternator TWICE and the battery TWICE. all with about four or five wrenches, total



i tried to remove the crankshaft harmonic balance pulley today with a 'harmonic balance remover' i rented from autonzone when i tried to remove the crankshaft pulley the outer part of the pulley slipped off (yes you read correctly) of the interior of the pulley. now im not much of a mechanic but that doesnt seem right. i found a self service salvage yard in my area where i found a 95 (i have a 1996) maxima. tomorrow morning i will go there and get that crankshaft pulley and pay around $25. ill let everyone know if this was the cause of my problems.

 

If it just came off (I've seen this a few times since I've been on the org) then it easily would've been spinning freely of the inner portion of the pulley that's bolted to the crank. That would explain the whole undercharging issue...

 

just to clarify pmohr, the pulley is or is not supposed to spin freely? for example if the car is off and the belt if off can i spin the outer part with my hands freely or no? thanks

 

Not freely from the inner part, no. If you put some grunt on it, can you turn the motor over with your hands on the crank pulley? Yes.

 

ok cool...... yeah well then before today i was able to grab the outer part of the crankshaft pully and just turn just the outer part with even my pinky.... so yeah my crankshaft pulley is not good. ill replace it tomorrow. i just done see why they dont make it all just one piece instead of the inner part and the outer part.

 

If the pulley seperated, the crank pulley, then you would not have power steering or A/C then?

If the harmonic damper part cracked and seperated which is possible due to age then it would just be spinning freely. Which in terms means that your power steering pump, ac compressor and altenator would not be moving. Im not sure if im totally understanding it. Unless your talking about how its almost composed of 2 pieces, one larger single part for the alt and the smaller one for p/s and a/c? Ive never seen it seperating there before but hey anything can happen lol. I have a stock crank pulley at home if need be.

Did you notice if your altenator is spinning?

 

yes i statement in one of my early post in this thread that i thought the power steering belt was spinning much much faster than the alt/ac belt. i thought it was just in my head..... what i mean that it seperated is just the pulley that the alt/ac goes onto. if you look at just that pulley it is made of two part the inner ring and outer ring... my outer ring of the alt/ac pulley seperated from the inner ring

EDIT: ill try to post some pics if i can tomorrow

 

Ahhhh i see now. I just took a look at my stock pulley realized i had it in my closet. Thats very weird, ive personally never seen that before. Post up pics for sure!

 

the crankshaft harmonic balance pulley was the culprit of my new battery being drained in minutes (alternator was not spinning fast enough) . I still havn't been able to take a picture of my malfunctioning crankshaft pulley i pulled out of my car (i dont own a digital camera) , i'll take a pic and post it when i get a hold of one. thanks everyone for there two cents

PS: there is very little clearance on our maximas to use the harmonic balance pulley tool i rented from autozone, i dont recommend using one unless the engine is taken out. I took out of pulley in a way i dont recommend anyone to do, namely placeing a breakerbar connected to the crankshaft pulley bolt and making sure the end of the breakerbar (pointing towards the hood) to touch the ground then turn the key just a tad so that the pulley bolt will spin and lossen up. again lots can go wrong by doing this so i dont really recommend it.

 

The PS belt goes around the inner part of the crank pulley, so if the outer part spins freely then he would still have power steering just no A/C and power.

on the bottom of the upper oil pan close to where the flywheel/flexplate would be, there should be a little access window held in by two 10mm bolts. Remove and use a flat head or some thick strong piece of metal and wedge it between the teeth and rotate the crank until the flexplate/flywheel cant move, then use a brake bar and some good force to break the bolt free. Or impact if you have one.