When I get the car above 2500 rpms I get a high pitched whine coming from somewhere... It sounds like the whine from a CRT TV - like a capacitor or something... It doesn't come out all that well in cell phone video, but I will try to capture it for this thread when I get the chance.

I've heard suggestions ranging from the alternator to the stereo. I don't quite know where to start testing for it, so I thought I'd ask!

Will get a video up just as soon as I can.

 

Ok I just monkied with it more on my drive home from work and it doesn’t whine if I leave the A/C off.

Ugh.

It’s still blowing nice and cold, but I get the feeling that the compressor’s day’s are numbered.

i need to pop the hood and get someone to rev the car to see.

 

Why do you have to get someone to rev the gas?

YOU can do it under the hood. Grab the piece where the two cables are attached to and move it. You'll hear it whine when you get to 2.5K.

The AC compressor is under the car to the right of the passenger wheel when looking at the wheel from the side. Remove the wheel and plastic skirt for a clear view and listen. It could also be the tensioner.

Isn't that what wives are for..... Stepping on the gas? Mine likes taking corners on two wheels.Especially into the driveway. LOL

 

You could just pull on the throttle body cable, but I guess having your wife there to help you would be more romantic.

 

Ah true dat! I have too many cars without cables lol...

way too too many cars...

ok I think the alternator is dying as I can actually kill the car completely by pulling up in all 4 window motors :P

what a pain! I think I have to replace the replaced one

 

Test it with a voltage meter or DMM. Alternator should be putting out around 14.2 volts when running. And not drop too much when turning everything that draws lots of watts. Rear defogger, headlights, stepping on brakes, windows up or down. Make sure your grounds are clean and not corroded.

If it is the alternator....Last alternator I just put in was a Hitachi ALR 0011. It's a rebuild of the original OEM in the 99 SE. Hitachi high quality rebuild.

Carid has them for $235. My new Bosch puked in a few thousand miles. POS.

Use a wire coat hanger to dangle it from the top as you align the long bottom bolt and have the car up enough to contort to all the angles you need to put your hands and arms.

Otherwise it's a piece of cake. LOL

What broke on you last time? How did that go? You never reported back!

 

What was last time lol? There’s too many things breaking :P Lol!

i fixed my trunk leak by redoing the butyl seal around the passenger side tail light housing that goes through the trunk lid.

Otherwise she still has the chain rattle! I replaced the front left wheel hub with some horrendous Chinese thing that will break in the next 30,000 miles. Thankfully that equals 5 years for me :P

Here is the video of the car dying when I roll up the windows:

 

Oh and by the by this is my current fleet:



My father thought that the number of cars I currently own is hilarious and insisted that we line them all up for a photo op :P Have a buyer for the mustang (sad to part ways) and I need to do some final touches on the Taurus before I Craigslist it. More Toyotas creep into my life...

 

That's what it was..... Front bearings. Sounds like you skipped the using NSK brand bearings advice. Some kids will never learn! LOL Did you send back the press? Did the pushing through the snap ring retainer clips damage the steering knuckles so you had to get one from the JY?

Now about your car stalling from the draw of moving 4 windows at the same time. I'm not at all convinced it's the alternator. It could be, but hollow until further tests.

Do you have a DMM or Volt Meter?

What is the battery's standing voltage in the morning? (Not running)

What is the voltage when the car is running?

What is the voltage with the car running and doing all 4 windows?

I find it hard to believe that 4 window motors make a failing alternator pretty much lock up with that much torque to stall. Even at idle, there's a lot of torque coming from that V6.

And looking at that line up.... It's definitely the perp on the left that rapes you. LOL

 

I will run some tests tonight and report back! Gotta dig out the multimeter.

Lol yeah I probably won't ever learn :P I bought the new bearings a couple years back and had them on hand. Figured the job would be easier than it was, ah well. The knuckle wasn't damaged and my shop did the rest of the swap for $100. I wasn't super thrilled, but I got the car back together the next day and it only sat in my buddy's garage for 1 night.

You mean the Taurus???? Lol. Both of the ones on the left have been rather uncooperative :P And I love the fact that people espouse how the Maxima will run til 400,000 miles. I'm sure it will; one painful mile at a time. With enough money and spare parts any car can make it to 400k lol.

I still love it too much to get rid of it though. Ahhhh that 5 speed...

 

I have a red Rav4 like yours and my Infiniti I30. Over the 7 years I have owned my Infiniti, I have only had to shell out about $1400 for parts and labor. That's about $200 a year on maintaining it, minus oil changes and tires.

 

Ok ran a voltage test:


The AC / radio / headlights were running from the start. Voltage was at 14.09 until I ran all those systems and it dropped to 13.87

i then pulled up on the front two window controllers and then the rear two *in addition to* the front two.

the results are in the video.

Battery was replaced last in August of 2017; It’s some autozone gold thing.

Aternator was put in during August or July of 2015. It’s an autozone rebuild and I blame it.

 

I asked what the battery voltage was when NOT RUNNING. If your battery is weak (not around 12.5 volts), it might not supplement big watts draws. 14 volts @100 amps is 1400 watts. Ask AZ how many watts their gold crap puts out?

I'll tell you what else might be suspect, the wiring (usually between the door and body) to the driver's door for the power and ground to the main switches. Maybe even the switch. But battery non running voltage will tell us where to look next. Get that first thing in the morning after a night of sitting. Also make sure the battery cables are secure and CLEAN on both ends with no compromises anywhere in between.

Another test would be with some help. hit all separate door switches at the same time and see what the DMM says then. That would take you away from the Alternator if the voltage stays higher when doing all the windows. Put them UP. Draws more juice.

But the whole concept of an alternator clamping down on an idling engine to stall isn't anything anybody has heard of. What happens is it just doesn't make enough electricity and adds some strain on the engine that the ECM compensates for. And even the voltage didn't drop so low that it starved the coil packs for juice for a stall. It's either something else or multiple things IMHO.

 

Ah apologies for not posting the battery voltage. Testy today



It was at 12.13 when the car was off - this was after sitting all day yesterday without being used. I had driven it the day before.

Also, take a look at my earlier video as running all 4 switches actually did kill the car, just not this time... I have been advised to get the battery tested by a friend.

 

You silly......

I was talking about the switched on each door at the same time.

Trying a reroute of the electricity from 4 different places to see if that changes anything.

This one isn't straight forward, so we need some creativity to find and expose a possibility!

Think about it. Your car starts with 12.13 volts. Why would it stall above that? There is something else going on in there.

 

Hmmm does OBDII carry battery voltage? I know it's gotta be on the CAN bus... I need to bust out my Torque app and see what's going on. Ugh things are buried in my garage.

 

Try not to disturb the bodies when pillaging in the garage please. LOL

Maybe some others have some creative ideas......

I wonder if somehow a parasitic draw can starve the ECM? And/or Coil packs?

Any relays control flow to any of these? Maybe a weak relay stops current prematurely.

 

I would clean your battery terminals...

 

I will clean them up. They don't seem corroded and I have a whole protective pack / electric gel thing on them. Not sure how much good that does. I am planning on getting the battery tested, probably tonight.

 

Ok Autozone says the battery isn’t charged up. So that means the alternator isn’t doing it’s job?

Not sure how to narrow this down further... Probably need to buy a battery charger...

 

That could be because the battery is slipping and won't hold a full charge as well. Az should also be able to tell you if your alternator is puking too. Why didn't they? They are in the bag for both.

Realwildstuff here recently went through a whole alternator thread. He bought somewhere a volt meter that plugged into his cig lighter jack.

This way you can watch it and see which is failing. Alternator or Battery... Or neither.Or both. LOL

 

I took the battery out and drove the Taurus up there. My faith in the Maxima starting again has been somewhat diminished... I need to buy a battery charger and leave the Maxima on it long enough to feel confident that I can make it to the Autozone - it's about 20 minutes away.


Out of curiosity, how would I know which is failing by looking at a volt meter in the cigarette lighter? It makes sense that one would be able to read the voltage while driving (definitely useful) but how do you then go about divining which thing is bad? Using the multimeter and having the car parked I'm not sure I was able to figure it out; what would driving tell me? I'm new enough to this particular aspect of troubleshooting that I really don't know how that would work - any info would be appreciated!

 

AutoZone batteries and alternators are "temporary fixes". I already had an expensive AGM battery on mine, and then added an expensive Hitachi reman alternator once I sussed that as the culprit. I had thought my electrical problems would never end - but then I buckled down, bought the expensive alternator, and the electrical system has been good since. FYI your ignition switch is also 20 years old and is worth replacing. Your mileage may vary.

Look at my "as the alternator turns" thread on this forum. You, the mechanic, being able to observe in real time what the electrical system of the car is doing in different modes and under different conditions lends confidence to your diagnosis "alternator" or "battery" or "ignition switch".

In my case, the cig lighter voltmeter confirmed that the failed alternator was intermittently going "over-volts" when revved (instead of the "under-volts" condition expected). Both failure modes visualize the same way (dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree) but result in different battery conditions / confusion re: "WTF did I do to deserve this car to misbehave in this way?"

 

LIke RWS said above, you can see your electrical systen's response to all the different electrical loads and revs.

Noticing trends that probably shouldn't be responding like that. Real Time in Real Life Situations.

Or you could just ship the whole nose to me and a bunch of other parts too and be done with it. (Your wife told me to say that) LOL

Hang in there. Eventually, you figure it out after it beats you up and steals your wallet! LOL

 

Temporary for sure! I did get 4 years out of it, but that only equals like 25,000 miles. How much did you pay for your AGM battery? I know those can get quite expensive... I tend to get 3-5 years out of Autozone batteries, no major complaints. Those AGM batteries are better in many regards but they certainly do cost!

I actually have a spare OEM ignition switch, but it hasn't given me any issues so far. If it comes to it, I'll swap it out but we'll see

Hey I am having a horrible time finding that thread. Google has decided to get rid of the cached search results :P I tried using the built in forum search but that thread is buried in the results deeeeeep. If you happen to be able to produce a link I would love to read it! Thank you for the pointers!

 

Ahahaha - yeah you keep on trying Plus you want that 5 speed - that's the reason I still have it

 

Just trying to keep your wife happy.... And safe. LOL

https://maxima.org/forums/4th-genera...tor-turns.html

 

Lol. Thanks for the link! You da man!

 

KP: Is this rockauto link still good for the Alternator? You said that I should get a Hitachi Reman? You mentioned Carid?

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...generator,2412

Thanks!

 

Wherever you can get a Hitachi ALR0011 delivered and return shipped core for the lowest total cost!

But you're right, RockAuto looks to be it without a bunch of searching.

Just in case......

I've used Bosch batteries in my Maxipad for a long time. The first lasted 7 years, the second only lasted 6 and that was most likely because my alternator puked. The one with the highest CCA that fits our cars. Pep Boys always has sales Watch them.

And yes my car is always bleeding...... ME! LOL

Oh Yeah...... You're belt tensioner might be the cause of the whine if it isn't the alternator. Or your wife telling you to give me the parts I need! LOL Gotta Due Date?

 

Ok I did the swap last night. I got a remanned Hitachi and put it in there. Had to dismantle the old alternator to get the harness off of it (that thing is a broken mess on my car) and noticed that one of the internal carbon rods was extremely worn down. One was still contacting but the other was about shot; explains why it was failing.

Things of note:

• The battery was extremely low on power before all this - I bought a
  CTEK charger
  CTEK charger
  and juiced it up overnight about 2 weeks ago.
• I had to get the car towed to the dealership to get my keys reprogrammed; for some reason my ECU forgets the keys and NATS triggers. There is a Nissan Service Bulletin about the 99 ECU doing this it but I don't have the bulletin number on me; it's on my paperwork from the dealer.
• After charging the battery and reprogramming the keys the whine was gone.
  • I think the whine was being caused by induced resistance from the low voltage state of the system
• I had the alternator tested at Autozone and they advised that it was putting out low "but acceptable" voltage
• I threw the charger on the battery before the alternator swap yesterday and the charge indicator lit up at 3/4 charge...
  • Odd that the battery would be draining from a full charge if the voltage being produced by the alternator was "acceptable"
• Upon removal of the old alternator I discovered that the bottom mounting bolt had fallen out.
  • I have no idea when it came out, but clearly it wasn't tightened on enough when we installed the replacement alternator 4 1/2 years ago
  • The alternator was bolted with the top plate to the block and sandwiched against the A/C compressor - it wasn't going to fall out
  • It's possible that the lack of the bolt caused uneven wear on the rods or something... Any number of problems could have been induced by this
  • I purchased a 3/8 in. 5 inch long 16 count thread bolt from Home Depot with a corresponding lock washer and flange nut to correct the problem.

The install was painful, as expected, but it all worked out. The new alternator is nestled in there and I need to check the system voltage.

All told, I'm pretty confident that the whine was being created by a slowly failing alternator. I'm glad the car didn't strand me!

 

Bringing it back from the grave as this is a continuation of this thread.

I now suspect that the car has a bad ground for the following reasons:

• There is an audible high pitched whine when revving the car over 2k RPMs
• I am experiencing odd symptoms with interior lights / power
  • Flickering LCD display lights / dial lights while driving with the lights on
  • Random hard starts every so often (has continued to happen since mid 2017 but never stranded me)
  • Red security light stays solid red after starting car, but car drives with no problem (NATS activation should stop the injectors from firing)
  • TOTAL loss of power from time to time after parking the car
    • Happened 3 times in the past week
    • Park the car, key fob doesn't seem to work
    • No interior door / dome lights
    • Trunk button doesn't operate
    • Car won't start *at all* - 0 power
  • After total loss of power (3-5 minutes?) car comes right back to life like nothing happened
    • Battery is new as of last summer (July / August of 2019)
    • Battery was fully charged the last time this happened, putting out about 12.63 volts with all the power off and the car dead (no interior power)
  • Replaced the alternator (for a second time) in July of 2019
    • Need to load test the alternator, but due to the random power / no power / power when the battery was fully charged and the car was off I do not immediately suspect it.

What is the easiest / simplest / cheapest way to address the bad ground issue (beyond just sanding the mating surfaces) in order to resolve this issue?

• I'm thinking of running a second ground cable from the battery to the frame or current ground point.
• Are there any good how to videos regarding the "big 3" upgrade on this model?
  • I can't find them online with Google
  • Many of the references to guides mentioned in threads on maxima.org are now dead

 

I would look for signs of corrosion in the battery cables. Especially the negative cable where it bolts on to the engine or frame. I haven't had this issue myself. I base it on a discussion with another forum member who lives where road salt is used.

I'm thinking that the intermittent issues are related to a cable increasing or decreasing slightly in size due to electrical resistance causing heating and cable expansion. Electrical crud deposits create resistance and cause strange effects. Sanding the contact spots will remove the crud.

I'm just guessing. But I'm basing this on experience with other cars over the years.

 

Appreciate the suggestion! Definitely going to do this. Need to get some kind if a ground cable to run; I can probably pick that up at Autozone this weekend.

 

How are you?

The whine left when you replaced the alternator and has since started again. Maybe oxidation along the fixed electrical connections, close to the work being moved temporarily helped. Something that would give problems directly related to said work area is this. Did you replace it? I'd start there......

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2407640U00-...-/372755426487

Also check anything a belt is spinning on. P/S, AC, Tensioner Pulley and so on. Also make sure the tension on both belts is at spec.

Or....And this would make the Mrs happy, send what I want! LOL You know how important it is to keep the Mrs happy.... RIGHT?

 

Good call, KP.

 

I know right?

The nose on his car is really clean as well as a lot of other parts I'd like to get from his SE-L (same color as mine). LOL

I keep offering to take them and he keeps keeping it alive!

 

Sorry to say... she's not as pretty as she used to be! The front bumper and hood have the worst of it, the roof is a close second. I should have been a better car dad, but sadly the poor Maxima was always destined to live outside :P

I used the old alternator harness and had to nearly destroy the old alternator to take it out. The release clip for the harness has been torn off, making removal a real pain in the butt. I was able to get it on to the new one and get everything reinstalled. So I'm not sure! It could very well be the alternator ground points... I'm not sure that removing the harness is super easy at this point lol.

 

Oh and I've been good! Just bought a house in Huntsville, Alabama - moved in at the beginning of January I've been up to my ears in house projects - sealed the garage floor and now I'm putting in some storage space in the attic.


Garage floor sealed & caulked

And we had a little one in October She is adorable and all consuming lol.

Me with the new little one

So slowly we've been coming around to the new "normal" here in Huntsville I'm just happy to have a garage to wrench in again - I need to finish unpacking so I can get back to it!

 

WOW! You look too happy for owning a Maxima that breaks your shoes.... CONSTANTLY. LOL Good for you!

Start with that wiring harness. Piece of CAKE compared to a lot of what you've done already.

And then do Burn Outs to celebrate In your new driveway! Now that's Southern living! LOL

Some have Garage Sales.... You're more likely to have a Garage Party. And invite Geeks like us!. But we will drink beer to make us look official.

Let us know how this plays out and GOOD LUCK getting that beotch running well. You certainly have done more than enough to deserve that already!