Alternator??

J

Jchavez

Member
Hello everyone, I could really use some help today!
I bought an 08 Infiniti EX35 about a month ago, a week ago or so I noticed the battery light and brake like twitch.
i searched on the web and a few Nissan forums say that it's the alternator. Is it safe to say that it's my alternator too or can it be y battery?
please help, it's my daily and for a new alternator I'm looking at a couple of days before I can get my hands on one.

Thanks in advance.
 
You can always go to a sears, auto zone, pep boys etc to have your batt/alt checked.



TapaTalkin'
 
Use a multimeter, connect to the battery and you should have around 12v with the car not running and 14v with the car running. Next put a load on the battery, turn on the heater and headlights and the readings should maintain around 14v.
 
It is more likely to be the battery. It's not uncommon for batteries to go in 5 years, but alternators have longer lives. But get it tested to be sure.
 
Thank you all for your quick replies.
I took the battery off and had it checked out at advanced auto parts and the guy said that it was low on charge. He asked me if I wanted to quick charge it and run a test on it. I decided to skip that and just buy a new one. I also tried the alternator check (removing positive cable from batt) and it maintained. I was yelled at by the autoparts guy, he said I could have messed up the computer....anyone heard of that happening?
Anyway, after installing the new batt it fired right up and all list turned off. I took it back to Advance amd they said the test checked the diodes, alt, and the voltage output, everything checked out. Just finished driving around with AC blowing, radio up, and lights on, so far so good.
Oh btw I called the dealership and they agreed to pay me back for the battery and said they would check the vehicle thoroughly.

---------- Post added at 04:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:02 PM ----------

I will continue to update you guys with any other information I am given.
thank u guys very much for all of your help and advice. Oh and another thing, the old battery was only about a year and a half old.
Kinda puzzles me, seems like a really short lifespan for a battery.
Either way, thanks everyone!
 
So it's been 10 days.....damn lights came back on! I tested the battery with my voltmeter it has 12v started my ex up and the volts started dropping. I know I was told to NOT disconnect the cables but just wanted to make sure. The car died. Even after I got the ALT checked at Advance 10 days ago, now my voltmeter shows its not producing any charge.

Could it be the ALT after all?
 
The best way to confirm is to start the car, once running, disconnect the battery and see if it can still run, start something that consumes power such as the heater or high beam headlights. If the car keeps running fine with all these devices on then the alternator is fine, otherwise it is either the alternator or, if you are lucky the feeds / cables coming from it, because a poor connection restricts the flow of current and results in low delivery of electrical power.




Sent from my iPad
 
If you're at 12V with the car off and then it drops when you turn the car on, it's 100% the alternator. That's because when your car is running, it's running off the battery and that will drain the battery quickly if there is no charge. Either your alternator is totally gone or the fuse blew. Nissans will stay running with a blown main fuse, stuff like the radiator fans won't work because of the huge voltage drain, but the car will run. I found this out the hard way a long time ago when I shorted my alternator while making highway pulls on a previous car.

If they tested the alternator and said it worked, check your fuses. If the main one is blown the alternator won't charge the car even though it still works. If the fuse is good, test the alternator again.
 
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