Charge Sytems Problems

[jasen1]

So, here's some background: 1997 Nissan maxima SE with a some upgrades. Underdrive Crank Pulley, Car Starter and a Dual gauge pod. Volt Meter and Oil pressure. The car starter has this rather annoying habit of melting fuses that are on the car starter harness.

About 6 months ago I noticed that the volt meter was not able to display a full 14.4 volt charge when running. Also, if the car sat for a week, the battery would be completely drained. Upon start up, the volt meter would be a 14.4 volts, but as the car ran, the voltage would steadily drop.

I replaced the battery in January thinking that my 3 year old battery could be the culprit. It managed to hide the problems for about 2 weeks.

I took the car to auto source and had them check the alternator, and the girl that did it, well lets just say I don't really think she knew what she was doing. She asked me to rev the car to 20,000 revs. MAybe 2000? I asked. Oh yeah, maybe thats it she says. D'oh. I took it in to Nissan and had them check it as well. They told me that my alternator needed to be replaced.

Ok, 2 weeks ago I purchased a rebuilt alternator from and installed it. Took the car for a drive and watched the volt meter. IT would not climb above 14 volts. Weird. Went to turn around and take the car home... the revs dropped right off, and the charging system lights came on. WTH? They flash on and off.

Got her back home (barely) and bought a volt meter to check things out. Turns out that the alternator IS putting out 14.44 volts. The battery is being drained faster than what the alternator can replace the charge.

Also, when the charge system lights come on, the daytime running lights will flick off and the control module will make a buzzing noise.

The charge system from what I can tell runs through that little black box (DRL) so I bought another one thinking that would fix my problem and guess what. NO LUCK.

I'm am lost as to what my next move should be and there is no way that I can afford 120/hr to figure out what this problem is and then have nissan fix it.

Anyone else ever have a problem like this before. Suggestions are welcome. Thanks Nico

[maxhopper]

It almost sounds as though you have a wire grounding out and drawing the system down. With what you said about the remote starter, I would begin by disconnecting that and see if the problem goes away. If that doesn't work disconnect the after market gauges, and so on.

[jasen1]

I removed the "new rebuilt alternator" and will have it checked out today. I am sorta hoping that it's a bad diode, but it's tough to say until it has been tested.

At one point I did have the fuses pulled for the remote starter, and that didn't take away the problem. I also had the fuse pulled out for the cigarette lighter and that also didn't fix my problem. The guages are wired into the cigarette lighter for power. That cigarette lighter should be switched power right? So, would it be drawing power when the car is turned off? I could see that the car starter would be on all the time.