Well many might have read my old thread, where I had the same problem over the course of about 2 months where my car was acting very shady; ie, abs light coming on, car not starting 2 times, interior lights dimming hardcore. This was on the oem alternator with about 100k miles on the clock. Well the car finally died and it was definitely the alternator that was the culprit. Got a brand new alternator off ebay and had a local shop install it on a brand new altima red top.

Everything was fine for like 2 days. Car felt much stronger. But then 2 days later I noticed the 'battery light' on the dashboard faintly flicker briefly and randomly between 1-2k rpms. It would never stay on for more than a second or two, or until I revved it over 2k. Well as time has went on, it's now been about 2 months with the alternator and the light has been flashing more often and for longer durations. It still occurs between the 1-2k rpm range, but this time it sometimes stays on for about 4 or 5 seconds. About a week ago I was with my girl and when we got back to the car I started it up and it felt very sluggish and felt like it was gonna die but I gave it a few neutral revs and it was just fine. Then just yesterday the car just randomly died on me while driving. But it started right back up and seemed strong and fine. The dash lights are still very strong at night and everything seems fine. But the battery light just makes me feel very unsafe and uncomfortable with this alternator.

I have had the alternator and battery tested 2 times, and both times they said both were fine. However, I was never able to replicate the battery light issue while they tested it, so there was really no way they could see if that's the culprit.

Today I replaced the positive battery terminal connection with a new oem one and stripped and cut back the wires since the ends were extremely corroded. However, battery light issue still came back while driving.

Now, my question is....what are my possible culprits here besides the alternator itself? The voltage regulator? I'm wondering what the odds are the voltage regulator is bad? Has anyone had an issue with theirs? I checked the ground connection on the alternator and it 'seemed' to be fine...and the belt seemed tight and snug, so I don't think the tension would be an issue. No whining sounds at all.

I'd just hate to dish out another 250 bucks for a new alternator only to have it not be the issue.

Thanks in advance

 

This is so far beyond me. Sucks though man, hopefully it's just an easy fix.

 

loose grounds maybe? i dont know how many there are but you could be on the right track w/ voltage regulator, sorry dont know much about battery issues. how many hours did you drive the car in those 2 days?

 

anybody know of a way to pull a wal-mart hiest on car parts not really at wal-mart but generally speaking at any parts store?

Wal-Mart Hiest: Purchasing something at any Wal-Mart location w/ the purpose of only using the product once or twice only to return it in good condition not to long after the purchase date because of there no questions asked return policy.

if there is a way maybe try it w/ an alternator.

i admit. i did it once w/ a portable dvd player, im goin to hell because i was not going to sit on a 7 1/2 hr plane ride to oregon w/ no entertainment. i told them my brother didnt like it and it was the wrong one, they sympothized w/ me and said, "he's an ungrateful lil' shit!", lmao i love the brutal honesty of older black women, that shit kills me!

 

^^ lol

 

I had a similar problem a few years back. Basically, every so often my alternator would stop charging the battery, and the car would run in battery eventually causing everything to shut down after a certain amount of time. I checked and changed the battery and alternator, only to have it happen again. The ABS light is in series with the battery and alternator and shuts down without ample power.

My problem was a short in the fuse box causing the a short across my alternator. I checked all the fuses using a multimeter and found the problem fuse. I don't remember off the top of my head what it was, but it was in the fusebox in the driver side. Also, my connector on the alternator was a bit loose, so I snugged that up with some rubber o-rings.

 

Doesn't the alt have a warranty? Why shovel out money when there's a warranty. I was gonna point to the pos batt terminal but sounds like you already covered that. I would check all grounds, the connection to the fuse box, and easily checkable things b4 I pointed to the alt, though however when you say it was fine for 2 days with the new alt and then started f'in up again kinda points me back toward the alt. Also, maybe have your timing checked

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/ramblings-12/my-input-lexus-vs-acura-191199/
i remember texashonda posting something like this, it may help you out alot.

 

thanks a bunch guys

yep, alternator does have a warranty, but unfortunately it's an ebay alternator...thus I'd have to remove it from my car, ship it back, and have another one sent to me. that's probably a week downtime without a car. Lesson learned...I'll never buy an alternator online. So it's gonna cost me about 250 for a warranted alternator installed locally. Going to the store to pick up a multimeter and do some more examination.


But odds are i'll just need to get a new alt

 

it wouldnt hurt to check your grounds. sometimes corroded or loose grounds makes your car go nuts. it did that to mine.