# 1997 Altima problem



## Insane1 (Sep 6, 2007)

Okay, I hope I post this right since this is my first time posting here, but I have a 1997 Altima (Unsure on type, it has a "LIMITED EDITION" piece on it, however) and need help with a problem. I've owned it for around a month or two now, it's got near 105,000 miles on it, and seemed in good condition although it has had a freedom design spoiler (correct type for the car) and PIAA 1430 universal foglights (bulbs blown, originally the switch light worked but after the battery change and the wire connecting to the battery moved around a bit the switch light no longer comes on) added, the pervious owner had installed, but removed a 5-CD changer and had cut the wires leading to the spoilers brakelight (presumably stopped working. A universal brakelight apparently was installed on the spoiler. Just a short time ago I put electrical tape on the exposed wire ends). Onto the actuall problem and off of the information on the car; recently I had found when I left school that my Nissan Altima's battery and brake lights where both lit up, the car started when I first tried it. However, upon parking and attempting to start a short time later, my car was unable to start without being jumped. After traveling a short distance, and idiotically using my radio, finding it just garbling, my Altima started idling at 500 RPM and was "Threatening" to stall whenver it would idle for a short time. Note my spedometer, as well as a few lights on my dash, where acting up by now, my Spedometer occasionally shooting between zero and my speed, and a few lights were blinking on and off, including my airbag light. It finalling stalled out in a parking lot. When my friend and I attempted to jump the Altima again, it would start up immediatly, but once the cables were disconnected, if we let the car fall below around 2000 RPM for too long a time, the car would stall and die. At this point the battery was making a buzzing sound whenever the key was turned onto the electrics, and a short time later my automatic locks even failed to work. At this point we figured it was the battery, since the car would still run when the RPM was higher. We went to auto zone and replaced the battery with a new Duralast Gold (I believe it was 750 cold cranking, if that's what it's called. The old battery may have been...I believe around 300-ish (that's just by memory, it may have been around 600) and had a letter with the number "35" next to it. Unsure at the moment but I'll update this post when/if I find out the exacts). The car started up fine, and a few problems were actually fixed such as one of the speakers being picky about when it worked (which seems to have been fixed, the speakers actually sound better and seem to have alot more 'power' to them), and the lights on my dash occasionally dimming or shutting off while driving (seems to have been fixed as well, both of these problems would occur or be fixed after sitting in a hot parking lot for a time with the old battery, oddly). HOWEVER, the Battery and Brake lights are still on when the car is running. It's been around a day since I've changed the battery, and the car has been started a few times and has been driven over 60 miles since then. Note to be sure I also filled up the Brake fluid to see if that light was a seperate warning. No change.

Thanks in advance for any help!


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## thealtimadriver09 (Sep 6, 2007)

Your username should be Inluck1, because I just had this problem a week ago, my friend ... and good news is, I drive the same exact car and the brake/battery light came on for me, also. Bad news is, you spent 80 dollars on a battery you didn't even need. Your problem is your alternator. The alternator takes over after your battery starts the car, keeping your battery nice and charged. If an alternator is OUT, your battery cannot charge, hence your car not starting. Common problems of an alternator going out are radios going off and on, stalling, etc. An alternator cost about 175 at AutoZone, but if you take them back your old alternator, you'll get 50 or so back. O'Reilly's or any other parts store close to you should be cheaper. Hope this helps, man, and good luck.


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## thealtimadriver09 (Sep 6, 2007)

Also, when an alternator goes out, your battery is forced to supply power to the car/electrics and a battery just is not that strong. Good luck, bud.


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## Insane1 (Sep 6, 2007)

thealtimadriver09 said:


> Your username should be Inluck1, because I just had this problem a week ago, my friend ... and good news is, I drive the same exact car and the brake/battery light came on for me, also. Bad news is, you spent 80 dollars on a battery you didn't even need. Your problem is your alternator. The alternator takes over after your battery starts the car, keeping your battery nice and charged. If an alternator is OUT, your battery cannot charge, hence your car not starting. Common problems of an alternator going out are radios going off and on, stalling, etc. An alternator cost about 175 at AutoZone, but if you take them back your old alternator, you'll get 50 or so back. O'Reilly's or any other parts store close to you should be cheaper. Hope this helps, man, and good luck.


See I just KNEW this was the right nissan forum to post this question at. 
I'm glad I've run into someone else with the same problem and car, I just got told from at least 2-3 other people it's likely the alternator, so I'm going to have it checked at a local repair place my family knows well to get it checked while we get the fog lights taken out (can't afford the bulbs at $40 per bulb) among other things checked. Which is a good thing, since the car was starting to act like it did on the old battery a few days before it died (including the front speakers being "picky" again). As for the wasting money on the battery, I'm not too sure it was "wasting" per se with how much better it ran on when we installed it  . I'd call it a bit of an excuse for an "upgrade". And yeah this did help alot with confirming what the problem could be, so thank you very much for the reply! Murphy's law had it's way with my 89 Blazer (astoundingly bad wave of problems one after the other in a REALLY bad order), so hopefully any luck I'm given' will help me out here. ^^;


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## Insane1 (Sep 6, 2007)

Ah, as an update thanks again. It turns out the alternator WAS going, and it's getting replaced today, thanks once again for the help!


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