# My 1998 Altima GXE is electrically dead :-(



## alanatfl (Sep 17, 2012)

Greetings all,

I'm a new member, and I'm seeking some direction with fixing an electrical problem with my 1998 Altima GXE. The car has been working just fine until recently (i'm a maintenance fanatic), and I just passed the *250,000 mile* mark (i was so proud of my car!), when I left my lights on overnight and killed the battery. I sent my son outside to jumpstart the car with my Ford Explorer, to recharge the battery. When I went to see how he was doing, I noticed that the jumper cables were reversed, and he told me he saw sparks a moment ago. I disconnected and reversed the cables, and jumpstarted the car to charge the battery.

At this point I notice that the engine is running very roughly, and the dashboard was dark, and all gauges non-functional, the electric windows don't work, and the radio was also inoperative.

The car killed 2 minutes after disconnecting the jumper cables, indicating to me that the Alternator possibly got fried, so I removed the Alternator and Battery to take to AutoZone for testing and recharging of the Battery, and testing of the Alternator. Both units passed the testing, so I reinstalled them.

I started the car again, but the engine ran very roughly, and I still had no functional electronics (dash&gauges/windows/radio). Using a multimeter, I checked the Battery voltage, to find that it was slowly and steadily dropping from 12.35 VDC. I shut the car off when the voltage got to 11.5 VDC. Clearly, the Alternator is not charging the battery.

Reasoning that if the Alternator and Battery tested ok, then I must have a blown fuse preventing the car's electronics from powering up. I set my multimeter for Ohms, (with an audible tone to indicate continuity) I checked the fuses in the passenger compartment, and from the fuse boxes on the left and right sides of the engine. All of the fuses tested ok.

At this point, I have exhausted my knowledge of what to check/replace. Any thoughts/ideas/assistance provided is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Alan Campbell


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## smj999smj (Jan 1, 2006)

These are also classic symptoms of a blown fusible link, which is usually what happens when batteries are "reverse-jumpes." There should be a fusible link box near your battery. The one that often blows is the highest amp rated fusible link, which powers the alternator and a number of different things. My parts catalog shows a 100A and an 80A on the 98 Altima (as well as 40A and 50A), so it is likely one of those two. Nissan part numbers are as follows:

100A fusible link: 24370-79912
80 amp: 24370-C9980


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## alanatfl (Sep 17, 2012)

*Problem Solved!! *

The car is working! http://www.nissanforums.com/images/smilies/cheers.gif The solution turned out to be the main 100A Fusible Link in the Fusible Link compartment next to the battery. The only difficulty in changing it was the fact that this component does not just plug in like a normal fuse. There are screws on each side of the Fusible Link to secure it, and the compartment is VERY WELL SEALED (i guess to prevent corrosion & contamination of the contacts). Removing the two screws allows easy removal of the Fusible Link, and installation of the new one. After that, just button things up, and the repair is done!

Although I am not a mechanically inclined person, the engineering on the part of Nissan has impressed me. Fusing the main battery circuit protects the car's electronics from errors like reversing the jumper cables.

My extreme thanks go to everyone that I spoke to/wrote to on this issue, [NissanForums.com (smj999smj), AgcoAuto.com (Louis Altazan, and his fantastic radio show)] as I was clueless. 

Alan Campbell


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## grfgman (Jun 11, 2020)

smj999smj said:


> These are also classic symptoms of a blown fusible link, which is usually what happens when batteries are "reverse-jumpes." There should be a fusible link box near your battery. The one that often blows is the highest amp rated fusible link, which powers the alternator and a number of different things. My parts catalog shows a 100A and an 80A on the 98 Altima (as well as 40A and 50A), so it is likely one of those two. Nissan part numbers are as follows:
> 
> 100A fusible link: 24370-79912
> 80 amp: 24370-C9980





alanatfl said:


> *Problem Solved!! *
> 
> The car is working! Nissan Forum The solution turned out to be the main 100A Fusible Link in the Fusible Link compartment next to the battery. The only difficulty in changing it was the fact that this component does not just plug in like a normal fuse. There are screws on each side of the Fusible Link to secure it, and the compartment is VERY WELL SEALED (i guess to prevent corrosion & contamination of the contacts). Removing the two screws allows easy removal of the Fusible Link, and installation of the new one. After that, just button things up, and the repair is done!
> 
> ...


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