# dim headlight



## Fred_Tao (Jun 25, 2004)

I just bought a nissan 94 altima gle and found that both of the headlight are very dim. One of my friends said the battery should be replaced. Is there any other idea?


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## Fred_Tao (Jun 25, 2004)

*brake and charge warning light are on at the same time!*

94 nissan altima,while driving, brake and charge warning lights came on at the same time and went off repeatly. the barke and charge same to work well, so I think that should be eletrical problem. Is there sb having the same experience?


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

thats the sign that the charging system is having problems. take your car into one of the auto parts stores that does free testing and have the charging system checked. more than likely, your alternator is on its way out the door.


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

this goes along with your other post. have the charging system checked.


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## Fred_Tao (Jun 25, 2004)

*Thanks. But I just don't understand why the brake light came on with the charge warni*



Asleep_94_Altima said:


> thats the sign that the charging system is having problems. take your car into one of the auto parts stores that does free testing and have the charging system checked. more than likely, your alternator is on its way out the door.


Thanks. But I just don't understand why the brake light came on with the charge warning light at the same time, and went off together.


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

thats just the way it works. the brake light will always come on with the charging system light when theres a problem with the charging system. im not sure why.


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## KA24Tech (Feb 2, 2004)

Also check the fuses and fusible links under the hood.

Troy


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## KA24Tech (Feb 2, 2004)

Asleep_94_Altima said:


> thats just the way it works. the brake light will always come on with the charging system light when theres a problem with the charging system. im not sure why.


What he said is true but both come on because the power going thru the charge light is reverse fed thru the brake light too causing it to light up as well.

Troy


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## Fred_Tao (Jun 25, 2004)

*thanks for the comments. but recently, the lights havn't lit up for a week. Does it m*



KA24Tech said:


> What he said is true but both come on because the power going thru the charge light is reverse fed thru the brake light too causing it to light up as well.
> 
> Troy


thanks for the comments. but recently, the lights havn't lit up for a week. Does it mean the problem has gone?


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## Fred_Tao (Jun 25, 2004)

KA24Tech said:


> Also check the fuses and fusible links under the hood.
> 
> Troy


why do I need to check that? I think, If the fuse and fusible link blow out, the light wouldn't light up at all. but they are just dim. I just changed new light bulbs, one became much brighter right away, but the other is just a little brighter than before, still dim. I suspect the headlight assembly is too dirty. Does it make any sense?


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## Fred_Tao (Jun 25, 2004)

*by the way, I checked my battery with multimeter, the voltage when engine is off is 1*



KA24Tech said:


> Also check the fuses and fusible links under the hood.
> 
> Troy


by the way, I checked my battery with multimeter, the voltage when engine is off is 12.6, after ignition of engine, it goes to 14.2. Does it mean it is good enough?


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## Fred_Tao (Jun 25, 2004)

KA24Tech said:


> What he said is true but both come on because the power going thru the charge light is reverse fed thru the brake light too causing it to light up as well.
> 
> Troy



by the way, I checked my battery with multimeter, the voltage when engine is off is 12.6, after ignition of engine, it goes to 14.2. Does it mean it is good enough?


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

thats about the correct voltage. alternators go bad for different reasons though. it might have a bad regulator or diodes. it might be perfectly ok. you wont know till you take it in and have it checked.


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## Wufaded (Oct 15, 2003)

my lights lit up and then shut off. i took it to get checked and the charging system was ok. then i drove to Los Angeles from PHX (~365 miles) made it ok. while in L.A. the lights came on again, and car died on me. dead alty. that was when i first got the car.

last year, the lights came on while i was taking a trip to the post office. a 10 min trip, but the car didnt start once i made it to the post office. dead alty.

so what im saying is that it can be totally random. the alt could last for weeks or crap out 2 mins after the lights come on. something is up with your charging system, have it checked out cuz eventually your car will die on ya.....dont want to be stranded.....


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

i merged these two threads cuz i think the problems are related.


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## Fred_Tao (Jun 25, 2004)

Asleep_94_Altima said:


> i merged these two threads cuz i think the problems are related.


Is charging system just the battery or including the alternator? If I go to shop to check charging, they just check the battery or check the alternator as well? As I said, I already checked battery voltage, everything seems to be fine. What else can they find?

another thing is the ABS warning light just lit up for 2 time in this two weeks. but as soon as I restarted the engine, ABS light went off. I am really tired of this car. Is there any relationship between charge and ABS light? Thank a lot for help.


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

charging system consists of, as you correctly guessed, the alternator and battery. when you take it to have it (charging system) checked, they will check both. you could also have a loose connection or possibly even corroded cables. as far as the abs goes, i thought the light came on during initial startup and then turned off when the engine is started. are you sure it hasnt always come on and youre just now noticing it? i dont think the abs light and charging system are related but seeing as how the brake light comes on along with the battery light when the charging system has problems, its entirely possible that it is. KA24Tech might have some useful insight to your dilemma as well.


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## Fred_Tao (Jun 25, 2004)

my car eventually got problem today. while the charge and brake light keep lighting up, the battery voltage goes to 11 when engine is running. it is very strange that when I turn off the engine, the battery' voltage went up a little to around 12V. Is there any idea? If I have to replace the alternator, what kind of alternator (new) can choose. Do I have to buy a nissan original one? thanks!


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

your alternator is shot. the voltage drops because of the load required to run the engine. the output goes back up because the load is gone. the fact that the battery charge comes back up is a good sign of your current battery condition. get the alternator replaced.


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## KA24Tech (Feb 2, 2004)

Fred_Tao said:


> Is charging system just the battery or including the alternator? If I go to shop to check charging, they just check the battery or check the alternator as well? As I said, I already checked battery voltage, everything seems to be fine. What else can they find?
> 
> another thing is the ABS warning light just lit up for 2 time in this two weeks. but as soon as I restarted the engine, ABS light went off. I am really tired of this car. Is there any relationship between charge and ABS light? Thank a lot for help.


These two problems are related. First something is causing the alternator to have a degraded output, so in a low load condition it will show a normal or near normal voltage level. The battery could be drawing more power than normal or the alternator is going bad internally. I would make sure all the terminals and connections are clean and tight and then take some preventative measures by coating the terminals with a thin layer of grease or battery terminal protective spray. 
The ABS light comes on because the ECU uses a voltage reference to calculate the variations between the transaxle speed sensor and the tone ring on the axle. The voltage changes are sending incorrect signals back to the ECU so it turns on the light. It will go off when you shut it off and restart it which is normal, but even the wheel sensor is bad (which is not your case) it will do the same thing until it is driven again. 
I recommend taking your car to a Nissan dealer or a good repair shop or even a good auto parts store where they can connect your car up to do a charging system test. In the test they load test the battery and do an alternator output test.

Troy


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## Fred_Tao (Jun 25, 2004)

thank a lot for the comments these days.my car is just fixed, I think. I went to a small shop today. My car was dead on the road where is 50 meters to the shop. the radio didn't work first, and horn did not work shortly after. I pushed the car to the shop. they checked the alternator and found the nut which connects the cable to the alternator is serverely rusty and loose. there was even no nut on it, just a plastic cap which held it. they put a new connector there and the car began to work perfectly. all the problems seem to be gone already.  . oh,god...


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

hehe, good to hear it was a simple fix.


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