battery light on?

[crsilvia13]

so the battery light in my 91 coupe came on the other day and so did the ebrake light, but the ebrake one has come on before and usually turns off after a short amount of time. So i went for a drive to the gas station and on my way home the car starts t die( ie all the lights turned off and the speedo went to 0 then started to slowly let engine die) so i pulled off the road and got towed home.

I figured it would have been my alternator but I had that checked and it had 14.4 volts so would it be possible there is a blown fuse somewhere that I havent found or maybe a faulty ground?

I dont know what to do any help would be awesome

[nismoracingsx]

you checked your alt, but did you even check your battery? how old is it?

[sx moneypit]

Where did you check the output at, the battery + terminal on the alternator or the positive post on the battery?

[crsilvia13]

The battery was replaced about a month ago.

and I had the alt pulled off when it was tested and the battery was on a trickle all night but the light is still on

[sx moneypit]

You need to check for battery voltage at battery + terminal at the alternator.

[crsilvia13]

Ok I did that and got a good reading and then I started going through all of my fuses to check if any were bad but havent found anything yet.

Could this be caused by a bad relay? and I charged the battery but I noticed that when I go to start the car it struggles to roll over.

[sx moneypit]

The charging system issue doesn't have any thing to do with a relay.When the car is running how much voltage is the alt putting out?I know you had it bench checked, but you need to know if it is charging on the car.

[crsilvia13]

Ok so i got it running and i tested it and there was a 12.55 reading on the alt

what else could cause something like this?

[sx moneypit]

If you checked all the fuses i would say you have a bad alternator.You have probably got a bad diode in the alternator.

[crsilvia13]

is there anyway to replace the diode in that or do i need a whole new alt?

[sx moneypit]

Back in the 1970s we used to put diode plates in them, it is cheaper to get a reman. or new alternator now.

[crsilvia13]

How do I get and or install an alternator diode? would it be a pretty simple install/

[sx moneypit]

You would more or less have to rebuild the alternator.

[crsilvia13]

ok so i took the alt and dropped it off at some rebuild shop i need the car running cuz i might trade it for a z32

[sx moneypit]

Yeah i wouldn't mind having a mid 90s twin turbo myself!

[crsilvia13]

yup its a pretty nice 96 z and i wouldnt mind twin turbo at all myself. the ka just gets no respect on the track but with the z32...

things would be much different haha

[crsilvia13]

So i had the alternator looked at and everything was fine but i noticed that one of my starter bolts was very loose but that doesnt seem like it would make the batter light come on either.

Any help would be amazing

[sx moneypit]

There are two 10 amp fuses you need to check.One is in the under hood fuse box and one is in the fuse box in the car.Have you checked them?

[crsilvia13]

yeah i actually went through all of the fuse boxes and pulled every fuse out to check it for continuity. but i just discovered something...about a week ago i had some mechanic working on my car and he told me that one of my starter bolts was stripped so i looked at it today and it wasnt even holding the starter to the block he had stripped my new starter.

would that be able to make the car act so oddly i know it was having a hard time starting up the other day

[sx moneypit]

It will cause you to have a starting problem for sure.As far as the alternator light coming on i don't think so.Let me finish a couple of cars up and i will dig in it some more.

[crsilvia13]

Ok thanks i put everything back together and took it for a drive without the sterio on or anaything else... and it went well no dying anyways

after that i checked the battery power and it seemed ok... then i went for a drive with everything on, headlights sterio and heat after about 15 min the radio shut off my heat started getting cold and i took it home

[sx moneypit]

According to the FSM if the engine is running and the charge lamp is lit,it has a defective internal part in the alternator.You said you drove the car ,is the light still on ,has the car died on you ?

[sx moneypit]

I will be checking this thread in the morning to see whats up.

[crsilvia13]

yeah i drove the car aound and at first i had no electronics on and everything was okay but then i turned everything in to see what would happen and about 10 min later everything died again shoudl i just go get another alternator.

Oh and my heater started blowing cold air after about 15 min even though the temp gauge said it was hot

[sx moneypit]

If the alt. light is still on i would replace it .Every Nissan i have ever worked on that the alt. light was on ended up needing an alternator.

[crsilvia13]

ok i have a new one coming today and hopefully that will fix my problem.

also yesterday my heat stopped getting hot after about 20min or so would that have anything to do with all this?

[sx moneypit]

That's a Completely different problem.Did the blower quit, or is just not hot?

[crsilvia13]

ok so i got the new alternator and put it on but the light never shut off i even drove around to see if it would drain and it did.

and the heater kept blowing just not hot air or even close

[sx moneypit]

I got some time today(it is snowing) let me dig into this thing and see what the f**k is up!

[sx moneypit]

Are You getting power to the alternator S terminal?(the small white wire)Is the ground wire bolted to the back of the alternator?