1992 Maxima GXE stock - electrical issues

[johngalt]

Same '92 Max I inherited after destroying the Q. AFAIK maintenance was performed on it regularly (family car) but Yesterday I drove to work without any issues (all highway driving) and parked the car - at 12:30 AM when I was leaving the keypad didn't work - wouldn't light up - so I figure battery is dead (keys were in it) - I get to the car today and sure enough battery is dead - I check fluid level, it is a lot lower than it should be, go buy distilled water and fill all 6 reservoirs, and then charged the battery with a 10A multi-cell mutli-voltage charger (I work at an airport - it is all we had in terms of a charger).

After 1 hour it charged enough to start the car easily - but an hour later, I started the car and let it run low idle for 20 min - and the battery was drained. I revved the engine and everything noticeably brightened - indicating the alternator is putting out voltage at high RPMs but at low RPMs nothing is making it into the battery. My boss says it is a Voltage Regulator issue, which, if this system is like my old Thunderbird, is great, because that was an external part, cost about $12 and took 5 min to replace. However....

I believe that I may be wrong and that this system might have it integral to the alternator, which means I need a new alternator (and possibly a new battery as well, seeing as this one may be over 4 years old - cannot verify that immediately).

Am I on the right track? Anything els eI should do? I plan on charging the car for 3-4 hours and seeing how well it performs - it is heinously cold out tonight and I don't want to get stuck on the side of the interstate on a 35 mile ride home.

[Beancooker]

I would start out by having the battery tested to see if there are dead cells. If the alternator is putting out power at high RPM, it should be doing so at low also. It could be the regulator, but sounds more like a bunk battery to me.

[johngalt]

Would that account for it holding a charge off a charger after 1 hour?