# 2009 Altima - Computer Problem?



## Ashley2994 (Jul 6, 2015)

If this has been posted previously, my apologies. I purchased a 2009 Altima in 2012 with 56k miles on it, fast forward to now and I have 82k miles on it. Last week I noticed that my battery light AND brake light illuminated on my dashboard while going to work, and then turned off after 5 minutes. It also did the same thing on my way home from work so I did some research and found that when both of these lights are illuminated it means that your alternator is bad. I took it into a service station and they ran a diagnostic on it - the battery and alternator checked out fine however I needed my rear pads and rotors replaced. After driving away the lights still came on intermittently.

This morning I was going to have a family friend who is a mechanic look at it as the lights were still coming on. I decided to take it to O'Reilly to have them do another diagnostic to see if anything new was wrong. I put my car in park and left it running. I had 3 error codes, however no recommendations were given as to what caused it or how to fix it. The employee wanted to check the battery so when I went into my car to pop the hood, all of my lights on the dashboard were illuminated, I was idling higher than normal, and the clock on my radio was flickering.

I shut my car off, then tried to restart it and I wasn't able to de-press the brake to start my car. I hit the on switch and it clicked then died. The employee that checked the battery said it was putting out at 11.9 volts, however it wasn't cranking out the amps it should be. I spent money on a new battery and the lights on the dash went off. I called the family friend to inform them of the new battery and they said that the battery won't cause all the lights on my dashboard to turn on or to flicker, and that it could be an internal computer error. I'm just wondering if anyone out there may have an idea as to a possible cause to this or what else it could be. I have an appointment tomorrow morning at a Nissan dealership for them to check it out. Thanks!


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## cj1 (Oct 21, 2014)

Hold off on the dealer. You may have a fix with the new battery especially if it replaced the original.


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

A properly operating charging system puts out about 13.2 to 15.0 volts. A battery should normally have a static charge of 12 -12.6 volts. If a battery is not good, the charging system may not be able to charge it properly. If a vehicle is not charging properly and the battery is good, first thing to do is to turn the key to the "on" position without starting the engine and make sure the charging system warning light is on. If the bulb is burnt out, the charging system will never charge. If the bulb is OK but still does not illuminate, the circuit may be bad and needs to be diagnosed. If the warning light does illuminate, then the next thing to check is to make sure the circuit between the battery positive post to the connection in back of the alternator is good. So, before assuming an alternator is bad, make sure this circuit is good and battery voltage is getting to the alternator. It's also important to make sure the alternator belt is tight and not slipping and the battery connections are clean and tight.


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## Ashley2994 (Jul 6, 2015)

Thanks for the responses. I took it to the dealership and the alternator needs replacing, as well as a front sway bar link and rear axle seal. Luckily it's covered under my extended warranty. Thanks again!


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