# 98 200sx se alternator problems/ battery charging



## blazinjohn (May 17, 2005)

well i'm having problems with the charging of the battery. i was driving on the freeway for a good 40 mins then i turn the lights on and 5 mins later the airbag light on my dash starts blinking. then after about 10 mins the car starts to lose power and the rest of the dash starts to dim badly. well i get stranded and a friend takes me to replace the battery i bough 3 days before that. well i replace the battery and the car starts to work fine. i was told it was the alternator so i change the alternator and i was told when disconnecting 1 post from the battery either negative or positive it should stay on. well i was sceptical so i tried it on my brothers scion xA and it is true the cars stays on. see the thing is when i disconnect mine the cars turns immediately off. i dont know if this is what nissans do or my car is messed up. please try your 200sx and let me know if your discconect your post while the car is running if it will remain on. i just changed the alternator today and i will keep you informed on if the alternator helps out. if you have any anwsers please feel free to email me or simply reply on this post. the only mods i have put in this was was a hotshot intake and a 2 1/2" cat back exhast. everything else is stock [email protected]


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## Skoodles (Jul 31, 2004)

blazinjohn said:


> well i'm having problems with the charging of the battery. i was driving on the freeway for a good 40 mins then i turn the lights on and 5 mins later the airbag light on my dash starts blinking. then after about 10 mins the car starts to lose power and the rest of the dash starts to dim badly. well i get stranded and a friend takes me to replace the battery i bough 3 days before that. well i replace the battery and the car starts to work fine. i was told it was the alternator so i change the alternator and i was told when disconnecting 1 post from the battery either negative or positive it should stay on. well i was sceptical so i tried it on my brothers scion xA and it is true the cars stays on. see the thing is when i disconnect mine the cars turns immediately off. i dont know if this is what nissans do or my car is messed up. please try your 200sx and let me know if your discconect your post while the car is running if it will remain on. i just changed the alternator today and i will keep you informed on if the alternator helps out. if you have any anwsers please feel free to email me or simply reply on this post. the only mods i have put in this was was a hotshot intake and a 2 1/2" cat back exhast. everything else is stock [email protected]


take your car to your local autozone or w.e store you have around your house and get them to do a check on your batter what theyll do is check to see the volts and if the volts drop then is a bad alternator. ive knoticed that alternators for our cars go out pretty easy ive had 3 in like 2 months. when the alternator is dead usualy the Brake light and the battery light will be verry dim glowing. hope you get it fixed good luck


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## IanH (Feb 11, 2003)

blazinjohn said:


> well i'm having problems with the charging of the battery. i was driving on the freeway for a good 40 mins then i turn the lights on and 5 mins later the airbag light on my dash starts blinking. then after about 10 mins the car starts to lose power and the rest of the dash starts to dim badly. well i get stranded and a friend takes me to replace the battery i bough 3 days before that. well i replace the battery and the car starts to work fine. i was told it was the alternator so i change the alternator and i was told when disconnecting 1 post from the battery either negative or positive it should stay on. well i was sceptical so i tried it on my brothers scion xA and it is true the cars stays on. see the thing is when i disconnect mine the cars turns immediately off. i dont know if this is what nissans do or my car is messed up. please try your 200sx and let me know if your discconect your post while the car is running if it will remain on. i just changed the alternator today and i will keep you informed on if the alternator helps out. if you have any anwsers please feel free to email me or simply reply on this post. the only mods i have put in this was was a hotshot intake and a 2 1/2" cat back exhast. everything else is stock [email protected]


The battery will go flat in a day or two if the Alt is bad. 
When the battery terminal is disconnected, either one, and the engine is off, the car will have no power. Do not do this with the engine running. 

If this is what you did, and i think thats what you said above, and the engine then stopped then yes the ALt is bad. 
The reason you should NOT do this is that without a battery the voltage from the ALt can spike and damage the electronics. Older Electronics are more susceptible, newer chips have better over voltage protection built in. 

I agree get the ALT tested. 

Keep your paper work receipt etc as these re-builts are poor quality and do not last like the Nissan originals. 

Good Luck


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## znamya (Sep 21, 2004)

I dont think Removing the post from the battery is a good idea when the car is running, first of all, the voltage change may cause to harm the electronics secondly, it is dangerous for you, dont do it.


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## blazinjohn (May 17, 2005)

*changed battery and alternator. anything else that nees to be changed*



znamya said:


> I dont think Removing the post from the battery is a good idea when the car is running, first of all, the voltage change may cause to harm the electronics secondly, it is dangerous for you, dont do it.


do you know of any problems that my car might have that would cause the battery not to charge correctly? i have a new battery and a new alternator and i haven't had any problems yet but i haven't drove at night time with the lights on. when i used to drive with the lights on is when my car would lose power and start to mess up because there was no power to run the electronics that were found in the car.


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## Insert Name Here (Feb 19, 2004)

I had my alternator changed aboot three times within a spand of 4 months and the last two times was within days, so I figured it was that the alternator that was bad everytime. Well the last time that this happened I thought well maybe I did something when I put it in and thats what caused to go bad and I took it to an electrical shop and they figured out that it was some connector that goes to the alternator the connector was like $20 and he changed it. He also said that the alty prolly wasnt bad, it was just the connector. U might wanna check that out too.


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## znamya (Sep 21, 2004)

blazinjohn said:


> do you know of any problems that my car might have that would cause the battery not to charge correctly? i have a new battery and a new alternator and i haven't had any problems yet but i haven't drove at night time with the lights on. when i used to drive with the lights on is when my car would lose power and start to mess up because there was no power to run the electronics that were found in the car.


Do you have a large oil leak from engine especially from the front main seal, if that is the case, then the oil from the seal goes to the alternator and can make it not work even in short time. Another advice would be to check the corrosion in the battery terminals, clean it very nicely with some special battey brush, terminal brush or something like that. Clean the terminal and the post really neatly, then put some vaseline on the connection. Corrosion really could be the simple problem. My friend with sentra had this problem.Like you, he changed battery alternator, nothing changed, then the mechanic cleaned the terminals, now the car is perfect..


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## blazinjohn (May 17, 2005)

Insert Name Here said:


> I had my alternator changed aboot three times within a spand of 4 months and the last two times was within days, so I figured it was that the alternator that was bad everytime. Well the last time that this happened I thought well maybe I did something when I put it in and thats what caused to go bad and I took it to an electrical shop and they figured out that it was some connector that goes to the alternator the connector was like $20 and he changed it. He also said that the alty prolly wasnt bad, it was just the connector. U might wanna check that out too.


i will most definately check that wire. well my battery got completely killed tonight after 10 mins of running the lights on with the fog lights. i wanted to check if the new alternator i put in yesterday fixed the problem. i was told to buy a factory one because the ones from autozone turn out bad most of the time. i'm goin to purchase a factory alternator. is there any alternators you guys recomend? because as of now the alternator i have will shut the car off when i disconnect 1 of the posts on the battery meaning it is no good. keep in mind with a fresh battery the car runs flawlessly


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## blazinjohn (May 17, 2005)

*update on alternator, bad alternator again*



znamya said:


> Do you have a large oil leak from engine especially from the front main seal, if that is the case, then the oil from the seal goes to the alternator and can make it not work even in short time. Another advice would be to check the corrosion in the battery terminals, clean it very nicely with some special battey brush, terminal brush or something like that. Clean the terminal and the post really neatly, then put some vaseline on the connection. Corrosion really could be the simple problem. My friend with sentra had this problem.Like you, he changed battery alternator, nothing changed, then the mechanic cleaned the terminals, now the car is perfect..


i had the same oil leak and i think that damaged my alternator. the pulley had to be changed along with the seal and now is fine. unfortunately the leak was fixed and then 2 days later the alternator started messing up. i have cleaned the posts along with everything very throughly so this cant be the issue. tomorrow i'm goin to replace the alternator with a factory nissan alternator and see if that works because the current alternator i replaced (from autozone) seems to not work. the same thing happened. i was driving at night and within 10 mins of driving with the lights including the fog lights dimmed everything and the car started to malfunction because there wasn't enough power to run it.


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## znamya (Sep 21, 2004)

blazinjohn said:


> i had the same oil leak and i think that damaged my alternator. the pulley had to be changed along with the seal and now is fine. unfortunately the leak was fixed and then 2 days later the alternator started messing up. i have cleaned the posts along with everything very throughly so this cant be the issue. tomorrow i'm goin to replace the alternator with a factory nissan alternator and see if that works because the current alternator i replaced (from autozone) seems to not work. the same thing happened. i was driving at night and within 10 mins of driving with the lights including the fog lights dimmed everything and the car started to malfunction because there wasn't enough power to run it.


Now you are saying the alternator messed after 2 days of front main seal change and pulley(which pulley) change. I am not sure but can they be related? because when you replace the front main seal, you remove the belt going to the alternator also. Mechanic did something wrong maybe. More experience guys in alternators in this forum should help you. But mines is just a suggestion


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## IanH (Feb 11, 2003)

znamya said:


> Now you are saying the alternator messed after 2 days of front main seal change and pulley(which pulley) change. I am not sure but can they be related? because when you replace the front main seal, you remove the belt going to the alternator also. Mechanic did something wrong maybe. More experience guys in alternators in this forum should help you. But mines is just a suggestion


Good point, if the belt slips you dont get a warning light and you dont get full charge, so the battery goes flat under load. 
Worse in the rain, been there, done that.

Ok, next, the Alternators from Autozone should be and are fine. 
Just keep your paperwork because with any re-built part, Alternator or starter, is more prone to failure with time than the original parts. 
The Nissan one from the dealer WILL be a re-built unless you specify new and new is expensive. 

That out of the way I suggest you take the car to Autozone and get them to test the Battery and alternator. They do this for free on the car. 
Take your bill for the alternator so if they don't have one in stock they can get one on its way before you take the old one off. 
Charge the battery before you go. You don't want a flat battery messing up the diagnostics. Ie you want to be able to test the battery with a charge. 

Then you can proceed to fix the problem.

Good luck.....


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## Insert Name Here (Feb 19, 2004)

blazinjohn said:


> keep in mind with a fresh battery the car runs flawlessly


My car ran fine and flawlessly for a couple of days and then it would go out and I changed the battery twice one was my optima battery and the other was just a normal battery from auto zone. So it doe sound to me like a connection between the alty and the battery.


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## blazinjohn (May 17, 2005)

*installing new alternator (factory alternator)*

well i'm getting a factory alternator for 231 at my local nissan dealer. i'm going to install the alternator this after noon and will let you guys know how my car will turn out. i'm to the point of frustration with this issue


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## blazinjohn (May 17, 2005)

*car fixed!*

i finally got my car working! it runs beautifullly with the alternator from the factory. please if you have a bad alternator pay the extra money and get it. dont get the one from autozone and have the same issues with the alternator not workin. i want to thank everyone for helping me out.


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## IanH (Feb 11, 2003)

blazinjohn said:


> i finally got my car working! it runs beautifullly with the alternator from the factory. please if you have a bad alternator pay the extra money and get it. dont get the one from autozone and have the same issues with the alternator not workin. i want to thank everyone for helping me out.


Pleased its all fixed. Thanks for the update.
Do you know if the Nissan Alternator from the dealer was new or Re-built so people know what to ask for ?
If new I think the price was reasonable.


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## blazinjohn (May 17, 2005)

*yes it was a brand new alternator*



IanH said:


> Pleased its all fixed. Thanks for the update.
> Do you know if the Nissan Alternator from the dealer was new or Re-built so people know what to ask for ?
> If new I think the price was reasonable.


yes it is brand new. the core charge was 75 but i'm going to take it back today. the total price with tax and everything was about 240 including the core charge refund. i highly recomend factory. autozone sucks and would never buy an alternator or anything from my car there again after this experiance!


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## znamya (Sep 21, 2004)

blazinjohn said:


> yes it is brand new. the core charge was 75 but i'm going to take it back today. the total price with tax and everything was about 240 including the core charge refund. i highly recomend factory. autozone sucks and would never buy an alternator or anything from my car there again after this experiance!


Not that expensive, if my alternator goes, I will buy one from the dealer then, Happy that you are all set.


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## Insert Name Here (Feb 19, 2004)

Well im happy to hear that you got it replaced and u fix the problem. I wish that my alty was that cheap, here from the factory, I think I was qouted aboot $350-400 with the core exchange. (Im not sure)


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## scooterbob (Jun 16, 2004)

blazinjohn said:


> yes it is brand new. the core charge was 75 but i'm going to take it back today. the total price with tax and everything was about 240 including the core charge refund. i highly recomend factory. autozone sucks and would never buy an alternator or anything from my car there again after this experiance!


I totally agree about Autozone! I personally have had the same thing with 3 different alternators from there. Finally went to a Nissan alternator and problems were gone. There are a lot of posts i've read in the past to support autozone being crap for alternators. I remember ignoring them like an idiot before spending the money for a genuine part.


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