On the way to work this morning car did fine, no wierd issues but tonight I drove about 15-20miles with the headlights on and the heater going got off the interstate and the radio just turned off suddenly, about a mile later the airbag light started to flash and the speedo jumped up and down. I pulled in my drive and the tailights looked dimmed to me.... I then turned off the headlights and the airbag light went out however i flipped them back on and the car sputtered a bit then picked up. This has got to be a alt issue I would think

Has anyone else had similar issues with a failing alt?? It is the factory alt on the car.

 

alt.

also..check your connections and put a voltmeter on the battery with the car running if you can.

 

I did fail to mention, I thought the bulb for the battery light had blown so i replaced it a week ago and it still does not work at all, even with the switch turned on before starting NO light period.. the bulbs are good but the light does not work, it did not light up tonight either.

 

On my 98 there was a recall on the alternator. I received notification in the mail 10 years ago about it and they replaced it at the dealer at no charge and I have not had a problem since.

It wasn't giving me problems at the time I took it in either.

Check to see if your model had the recall as well.

 

i'm positive it's your alternator. i have dealt with two failing alternators on maximas. both showed the same signs before dying. one was two weeks ago.

 

just get the car on and disconnected the neg on battery and if it turns of ur alt done

 

Get a voltmeter and measure the voltage.

With the engine off, voltage should be 12 to 12.1 volts.

Whit the engine running running the voltage should be 14 to 14.3

 

Hopefully its just the alternator but maybe a problem with the harness wiring, there have been several earlier posts regarding harness issues with Maxima

This is just my experience with my 99 Maxima, but thought it maybe useful to share, since your problem appears to be similar to what I had a few months back:

About 6 months back it was the occasional airbag light and seat belt light flashing, then engine stalls and sputters similar to what you describe, but after driving it for sometime it seems to overcome the problem and is back to normal. Also during the last 6 months I changed the battery and starter, and things got better, my Alt is 2 yrs so it checked out fine. But overtime (couple of months) the lights started appearing again. Finally I took it to an auto electric specialist, they identified the issue with the power supply being interrupted due to damaged wires in the harness and this caused a reduction in the overall power to various systems (radio going off etc.). When I changed the battery this got better for sometime but I believe as the problem in harness got worse the battery could not support the load and low voltage issues start showing up again - same lights flashing, sputtering and stalling. If this is a harness or wiring issue I believe the same thing would happen if you change the Alt, you may see the problem go away for sometime, but if the harness wiring situation gets worse then even new alt may not overcome the low power issue.

Anyway I hope its only the Alt. I was not aware of the details and paid too much for the harness wiring repair, so in-case you need harness wiring repair take it to couple of places, preferably auto electric specialists, to get quotes (do it while you car is still running, unlike me ) most of the regular shops will not be able to diagnose it unless you can reproduce the issue which makes it difficult since this is an intermittent issue. Better if you can DIY and do some initial investigation yourself, there's plenty off good advice on this forum.

See post on related topic.

http://forums.maxima.org/4th-generat...tarting-2.html

 

I'm certain it was the alt. I took it off today (what a bi***) it was cause everything was coated in grease from the stupid cam position sensor leaking for years! Im gonna get a 50 cent o ring to fix that while i can. Alt was covered in oil from leaking valve cover i thought. I did remove the valve cover a while back and the gasket was fine, don't know how that oil is leaking all over the alt??

 

Does it work now with the alternator replaced? Also, does your brake light work? You may want to get the battery light fixed as it will save you next time.

 

going to have to wait a bit to fix it, $$$... but yes the brake light works when u pull the ebrake so i know that bulb works.

 

anyone know if the alt light has anything to do with the charging system? As in if the light don't work it does not charge? Going to put a new alt on tomorrow but in the instructions with the new one it says terminal L must have voltage to it, the terminal where it plugs in was covered in oil from the valve covers leaking on it wonder if that could cause the light not to work?

 

UPDATE: Maxima fixed, bad alt. replaced it and the alt light now lights up when the key is turned on and after start goes out. Guess it is interlinked to the charging system so if your light fails to come on at first start up and the bulb is good, your alt has gone out!