diagnose my problem please!!

[carlosj30t]

yesterday i was driving around in my 93 j30t and i let my friend take it around the block to pick something up from the gas station, when i got in to go home i start it up and notice the HICAS light is going on and off, not really a steady blinking but sort of random and the steering just got really jerky. my pioneer radio would also not stay on if i slowed down too much, at a certain speed it would come back on. i get on the road to get home to check it out which wasnt that far and i notice that the problems clear up when i am up to speed, but as soon as i slow down or get on the brakes the HICAS light starts going crazy again and the steering starts jerking.

i stopped at a gas station and put some power steering fluid in to no avail, after that i drive down the street to my friends house and let the car sit for a couple hours and when i come back out, the battery is so drained that it can't even turn over the starter (just alot of clicking) so i get a jump and now my headlights won't turn on, and none of my window controls are working so i have my friend follow me home which is a couple blocks away and i noticed that as i got up to speed ( around 40 mph or more) my functions came back to me, like the windows all of a sudden started working and my headlights came back on. i rolled the windows up, locked everything and left it in my driveway after last night.

The only thing i can think of is either the batter or the alternator went bad, maybe both. this car is sitting at over 200,000 miles 360,000 KM or so. i was thinking that maybe it was just time for the alternator to go? what do you guys think? i figured if the battery/alternator was failing, that the car would not have enough juice to run the HICAS correctly and thats why it was jerking and it would come on when i would hit the brakes (draws extra power). anyways, this is the only thing i can think of right now, what do you guys think? ever dealt with anything like this?? my father and I are more than capable of handling an alternator/ replacement job i just want to make sure what it is before i replace the wrong parts.

[Q45tech]

Nissan remanned alternators are rebuilt to a much higher standard than the chain store clean up and polish .........really a matter of how frequently you want to replace units every 30 days or every year or every 10 years.

NEVER install a remanned alternator on a weak or dead battery as the alternator will fail try to recharge the battery ..............always install a brand new battery at the same time and new belts.

[carlosj30t]

i went ahead and got a brand new battery as the other one tested as a bad one and it fixed everything, as a safety procaution i went ahead and had them check the alternator and they said it was bad too, not charging enough, supposed to be putting out 90 amps, was putting out 9 i think. so that is next on my to-do list.

[yodawill2000]

Heed Techs advice ..Get a nissan alternator !!Fix it and forget it kinda thing .Worth the extra money hands down .

[driverdriver]

Heed Techs advice ..Get a nissan alternator !!Fix it and forget it kinda thing .Worth the extra money hands down .

Totally agree get a Nissan alternator, stay away from the aftermarket stuff. Plenty of people on this forum have tried them. They don't last.

[carlosj30t]

so i was right with my diagnosis, that it is the alternator ?

[IvoryJ30t]

so i was right with my diagnosis, that it is the alternator ?

i would agree. dead/dying alternators bring out some wierd gremlins.

and take the oem alternator advice as gospel.

we only install aftermaket rebuild alts when its customer supplied, and there is NO warranty. otherwise, we only use new OEM, used OEM or OEM rebuilt. [transmission shop]

[yodawill2000]

If the Alt is putting out 9 amps the answer is pretty obvious