Car died on me Tonight. I need your help to diag this please

[MAXIMUS Nismo]

About 2 weeks ago I had to change the negative battery cable. The one I got only has the single ground point on the engine while the stock on has an additional ground on the battery tray itself. A few days later, the battery icon showed up on the dash and hasn't gone away. This morning I went out and the car would not start. The battery is a Duralast Gold that is 3 years and 4 months old.

I jumped started it with another car and by the time I parked the other car, the 240 had died.
Took battery out and took it to Advanced Auto where they tested it. It came back with 115 CCA instead of the 640it should have. IT was charged for 30 minutes then tested again and this time ti read 629CCA. Took it home, put it in and it started right up.

Went for a drive with the Battery light still lit, got about 2 miles from home and was sitting at a light. Light turned green, I moved off and the car started to die. It was bucking and loosing power like it was running out of gas but with the added bonus of the electrical system going out. i.e. radio, lights, horn, etc...all fading fast. Right before the death rattle started, the airbag light started flashing and the brake light came on.

I walked to Autozone, borrowed some tools and bought a replacement, went back to Arby's where the car was and put it in. Drove to Autozone to return tools and old battery then drove home. The battery light and brake light were still lit from I put the new battery in till I got home. (about 3 miles.)

What do you think the issue could be?

[Ekinchheng]

Sounds like a bad alternator, check your fuses on the engine bay. If those are good then grab a multimeter and check how much volts the alternator is giving.

[costa_rican13]

or you can have autozone check your alternator and battery, if the car is drivable. im not sure since you said, you drove it back home. just an easy suggestion.

[OutToWinPAHC]

Alternator..... pull it and have that checked

[Hoffman5982]

yea have them test it, BUT, if you've been having this problem since you replaced your neg cable, that should have been the first thing you checked when the lights came on. Go grab another ground cable and run it from the neg pole on the battery to the ground point on the battery tray and then the other one from that point(same bolt) to your block. What I learned during my SR swap is that something such as grounding will cause all kinds of weird a** issues. Try that first as it will only cost the 5-10 bucks for the cable, then if that doesn't fix it replace/rebuild your alternator. If you have to take that route you could do what I just did and get a Nissan Quest alternator which is 110 amps vs the 80amps(correct me if im wrong) ka alt

[GrilledCheese33]

+1 for Alternator and +1 for Autozone. I work there lol.

[DamonDread]

I agree with The Hoff! Redo the ground and if problem still persists its most likely the alt. GL!

[band1t85]

redo the neg ground to the way it was, clean them up if you can
had issue's with mine over ground's

[MAXIMUS Nismo]

redo the neg ground to the way it was, clean them up if you can
had issue's with mine over ground's

Battery has been changed, the original Negative cable has been repaired and put back on but the problem still persists. I guess I have to pull the alternator now but I have freezing rain and snow falling now so I gotta wait.

Can a 98'maxima's alternator be used on the 95' 240?

[AZ89two4Tsx]

Yeah dude, your car doesn't use the battery while it's running. That's the job of the alternator; to power the electronics and charge the battery.

[LoserCard]

Alternator with lifetime warranty ftw!

[laxands13]

It's an alternator, same kind of thing happened to me.

[OutToWinPAHC]

Wonder if you just shorted something, check the alternator fuse too.