HELP! 94' Q45 dies on me, wont start back up!

[ErickyMongovia]

Hey guys

This is my first time to this site & I'm looking for assistance! I dont mean to come off as rude or anything by requesting but I'm getting extremly frustrated.

The issue started earlier this week. While I was driving my 94 Infiniti Q45 I noticed that the radio cut out. After my radio cut out my dashboard lights began to dim as well as my headlights. I slowly pulled over & instinctively put it in park to get out & look into the problem. After I got out & turned off the car, I could not get it to start back up. The car was dead! It would not even turn over just completely dead.

I was able to get a jump for a little bit with enough power to drive me back to my friends house. As I was turning onto his street the car died again but kept running. The speedometer, gas gages needles dropped to 0, the radio and everything just went out.

I stayed the night @ my friends house since I had work early in the morning. I worked all day untill I got off & came back to work on my car the next day. I turned the key and not only was it able to turn over, the car actually started back up. This was with an entire day of sitting in one spot without attempting to turn it back on. After it initially started up I turned it off again to see if it was a fluke or if it would start back up again. It turned out to be a fluke because once again it would not turn back on although it offered a clicking noise & would at least attempt to turn over.

I took it the autozone near by & purchased a new battery. The new battery seemed to work & allowed me to get home that night (Tuesday night, problem started monday night). The next day after getting off work my car died on me again & would not turn over once again. This led us to believe it might be a bad alternator that was not retaining the charge. We took the battery back which they tested it out to be a bad battery. So they swapped it with a new battery verified fully charged that worked. We installed the new battery & I was able to get home that wednesday night just fine.

The car has been running great since that wednesday night all the way up untill today (Saturday night). As I pulled into the garage here @ work I noticed my radio cutting out & eventually turning off. Soon followed by my dashboard lights dimming out again but not shutting off just yet. I put my car in park & turned it off since I was about to be late for work. Just out of curiosity I attempted to turn it back on which it did not start back up. It would at least turn over but not power the car back on. It appears the early symptoms of what was occurring Monday/-wed nights problem.

So now I'm stuck here @ work untill my shift ends with no clue as to what I'm going to do after work .

Any suggestions? Is it the battery? a bad terminal? Possibly the alternator? I work 55 hours a week so I hardly have time to be wasting taking the car to the shop trip after trip after trip just to diagnos & troubleshoot what MIGHT be the problem. Plus it starts getting costly especially since I dont have much time out side of work, I'd rather not waste my only day off having to B.S. with my only means of transportation to & from work.

Please offer any suggestion or dianosis as to what might be the cause of this & how I can resolve it. I looked through other post prior to posting this one just so I wasn't a noobe trying to repost topics that have been previously posted but I'm starting to get frustrated & desperate!

[Infinitiguy19]

Did you clean the battery cables?

The new battery ts definatly confimred working right?

Was the alternator tested and confirmed working?

Welcome to NICO

[ErickyMongovia]

MAYNE hold up! lol I wasn't expecting such a rapid (ric) response perhaps you're a mechanic not of the mixtape kind

but appreciate the reponse paul wallthat is whut it dew! You from tx?

but yeah the first battery(the original) was reading 3, 4, & 5 volts

so I bought a new one & installed it, which worked fine (tuesday up untill weds). I took back the replacement battery I purchased & they tested it. It read .08, 1.0, 1.5-2.0 but def. alot less then my orginal battery! They jipped me good but swapped it out with a new battery which was confirmed working properly now

that was wed night up untill now right before I came into work an hour ago. Thank god it made it hear so I could do my shift but its a pain in the ***

the guys tested the alternator with that replacement battery (the boookie dead battery they sold me) after we just installed it. They said the alternator was reading out right @ about 12-14 or something along those lines....but what do they know since the battery itself was nearly dead when I purchased & installed it.

I'm not very experienced in mechanics or car troubleshooting so I took his word for it @ the time, of course before we realized the battery they sold us was sh*tty & dead.

I work in IT troubleshooting so falling back to my troubleshooting & diagnosis skills, I'm beginging to narrow down the causes & rule out other possiblities.

I read a few other post which one said the car would not start back up without a jump. This is true once I get a jump the car comes right back on, lights radio evertything. So maybe the battery terminals? (I was told one looked weared down) Possibly the alternator?

[Infinitiguy19]

My real first name is Paul and I am strong like a "Wall" so I was nicknamed Paul Wall by my freinds.

I would say your battery dying took the alternator with it because the alternator tried to keep the battery charged as best as possible to at least 13.8 volts and your battery charge should'nt be any more than 14.7 volts.

But I would make sure the alternator is fine and then check the new battery and see if thats fine too.

But I bet the alternator is the root of your problems.

Just so happens I have one for sale thats tests good.

[ErickyMongovia]

yeah I was begining to suspect the same thing. Because when the car last died it nothing worked. The hazards, the taillights, nothing everything was dead. As soon as we jumped it lights came on bright as they once were. We didnt let the cars charge for too long since we were in the middle of the road & traffic

I was able to make it half a mile down the road when it died out on me again. This was with that weak *** battery mind you so then we took it back. This new battery was working fine up untill tonight. Would the alternator going out begin to make any types of noises??? I was hearing some squeaking/screeching noises which I assumed would be a pully or belt that needed to be replaced.

So you happen to have a tested & working alternator for a 94 Q45? How much you letting that bad boy go for??? I've already begun a peliminary search for the alternator to get a range of pricing. So let me know what you're prices would be so I can search for the best results.

[Infinitiguy19]

Well I would definatly test the alternator and look at the belt connected to the alternator and the alternator its self, Take pictures if you can or give us a great description like you are doing so far.

How does the car run other wise and problems at all?

Is $120 shiped for it fine?

And not to sound like a "1 way street" but OEM is the best you can do for parts because there are very few products that are aftermarket that actually compare to OEM parts. So unless you can find something with a LIFETIME warrenty and don't mind the labor then go for it, But OEM had been proven to bet the best you can do for the Q45 in terms of parts.

[ErickyMongovia]

I really appreciate all the feedback & assistance thus far. Since its dark in the parking garage below & it was right before my shift, I didnt have too much time on my hands to take a look around & diagnos the issue. I doubt I can take any pictures since Im here @ the office with no digital camera.

But the car runs fine other then this issue. This is the first Issue I've experienced since getting it.

$120 for the part & shipping included? Hate to sound like a doucher but what is OEM? Like I said I'm not car-savy like I am computer savy so a brief explanation maybe a link or 2 would help out

but youve already been a great help thus far!

[Infinitiguy19]

OEM=Original Equipment Manufacture

And so far you have been great.

I would see if you have a service manual which would be in the trunk near the spare tire or in the rear parcel shelf (In between the rear speaker), If not I would uses this FSM: http://Nicoclub.com/FSM.

FSM=Factory Service Manual.

And yes that is the total price for the part INCLUDING shipping.

[ErickyMongovia]

yeah I actually have that book in the trunk I saw it the other day when looking for something

what would I look up or reference in that book? I guess just topics related to the alternator? I dont know how the book is formatted if it has symptoms or just general topics of the cars parts & where they're located &/or how to change them out.

This has been a pain in my rear for this entire work week. This shift is my last 5 hours for the week totally my 55 hours so thank god its over with. Now I at least have my only day off the entire week that I can fully dedicate to troubleshooting & attempting to resolve this issue.

Just my luck my only day off Sunday is the same day most automotive slash all automtovie shops (from my experience) are closed!

I'll def. need to get a jump start to even make it out of the garage. Should I have him charge it up & let the 2 vehicles sit there for a few minutes to allow it to juice up my battery that way it hopefully retains a charge long enough for me to make it back to my pad? Because the first night (tuesday) after we initially juiced the battery back up, it only held the charge long enough to get back to my buddys house (which is about half way back to my pad). After we replaced the orginal battery with the "new"(slash dead) battery the car would die out completely baterry, radio, lights, even the engine. I would have to pull over & have the person tailing me give me a jump. It would be an intial jump to start it up but not let it sit there with the cables connected. I'm hoping if we allow the two to charge for a longer period of time it'll hold more juice enough for me to make it back home.

I hate driving on our main roads & having the potential of the vechile completely die out without hazards or anything of the sort. The crazy drivers & the cops around here don't take kindly to that sort of thing on the streets of Say town!

The price sounds reasonable I'll have to further verify that it's certainly the alternator & not a bad terminal on the battery first. Got eliminate the minor stuff before escalating to the larger more expensive things.

But any other suggestions as far as what steps I should take next?!?

this just my luck, on a saturday night before I wanna go out I have no means of transportation! I've got 2 baller jobs but cant even get my slabb to work! what a pain! doesnt look very smooth if you have to ask the chick to come pick you up now!!! lol

[Infinitiguy19]

Just take the car to autozone, sears, pepboys or anyone else that sells batteries and alternators call around first though, They can test your battery and alternator.

But as far I know it can only be 3 causes: Alternator, Battery or battery clamps.

[ErickyMongovia]

Thank you good sir! You're a legit person indeed

I'll take it to autozone fa sho dough

but thank you for narrowing it down to being either the battery, alternator or the battery clamps!

that is whut it dew mr. paul wall aka paull williken!

If it ends up being the alternator then I'll more then likely wanna go through you to purchase that

so I'll holla at a baller & give an update of the progess once I've done some troubleshooting!

[Infinitiguy19]

OK sounds great.

[Q45tech]

Welcome to the world of old V8 lux cars abused and worn out from owner ambivalence.

Every for sale 90-96 Q we see now needs $3,000 minimum in repairs and some need $12,000*. Not including anything for paint, body, glass, or interiors. To return every system to near new operating standards.The defects just pile up until the vehicle won't move then the bare minimum is spent to get them to run [not stop or operate well].

Why so very very important to PAY an expert to analyse BEFORE you buy the vehicle.

*ATL labour rates at 0ld $75/hr and new oem parts representing 58% of bill.

Best way to guess is the repairs needed cost the remainder of purchase price subtracted from $10,000...............so a $5k pristine car needs $5k more in unseen items.................$2k car needs $8k.

Unfortunately with YEN increasing 20% over previous exchange rates expect 20% more in parts cost averaging out to 12% on entire bill.

[Kiven422]

Just read the first couple of sentences and suggest you test your alternator.

[cientortas]

Sounds like the alternator. I would also make sure the alternator belt and associated pulley are good.

[yodawill2000]

And the ground cable on the battery.Both at the battery and the other end that attaches to ground.