# 2002 Maxima w/ flickering battery light and good? Alternator? Seeking help.



## rxloren (Oct 12, 2012)

Hi all, first I'd like to say this is my first post here and my first real visit. This place is fantastic for nissan owners like myself. 
Currently I own a beautiful 2002 Maxima GLE that has never given me an issue. Recently I've been concerned of a small problem that is occurring.

Usually after about 20 or so minutes of driving on a highway (usually) my battery light and oil and sometimes a couple others will flicker.. flicker on and off in no particular pattern... then it will stop. The other day after driving it for 35 minutes on a highway then running a few errands in the local town, meaning I parked and shut it off once after the highway trip, turned it on, went about 1 mile when the lights turned on and the car sputtered to a stop... it was as if the car was off and on at the same time (not a typical dead battery) there was enough juice to power the lights and keep the engibe idling, just not enough to run the car.. I turned it off and when attempting to crank it, it wouldn't. I got a boost, turned it over and drove home.. the next morning the car started fine after a 15 minute battery charge.
2 mechanics both told me that my alternator was charging consistantly at 14, 14.5... they feel the alternator is OK.
This happened last year and I replaced both the alternator and the battery. The alternator is no more than a year old. 
It's still happening and I'm concerned it will leave me stranded again. Don't know if I should go ahead and replace the alternator anyway? Both mechanics said the cables of the charging system, battery and alternator are fine.

Happened again yesterday afternoon... I was in traffic in a slow crawl... practically idling and the lights came on.. flickered on and off for about 10 - 20 seconds then shut off... I had the A.C. on during the crawl.

Did not happen last night on my way home from work. Radio was off, a.c. was off, just lights... car acted like a charm...

I'm about ready to trade it in but I don't want to. It's such a good car.. any ideas? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

Regards!
rxloren


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

rxloren said:


> I turned it off and when attempting to crank it, it wouldn't. I got a boost, turned it over and drove home.. the next morning the car started fine after a 15 minute battery charge.
> 2 mechanics both told me that my alternator was charging consistantly at 14, 14.5... they feel the alternator is OK.
> This happened last year and I replaced both the alternator and the battery. The alternator is no more than a year old.


When you say that you "attempted to crank it, it wouldn't." Does this mean that the engine would not physically spin by the starter. If that's the case, then it seems that the battery was discharged; either you have a bad battery or a bad alternator. It's also possible that there may be a short somewhere in the system that's slowly discharging the battery.


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## rxloren (Oct 12, 2012)

Yes, I shut it off then it wouldn't turn back on. Dead battery. Had to boost it. I'm thinking a short as well but it's tricky to diagnose. The ad system? The radio? Where would there be a likely short? I hate to give up on the car over this but I can't be left out on the road. Thanks for your reply and help!!


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## rogoman (Dec 16, 2004)

If you have an ohmmeter, disconnect the + battery connector and measure for any continuity from the connector to ground. You'll get some high resistance due to certain components being active. If you get a low resistance reading, start pulling fuses to narrow it down.


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