help! is the issue my alternator? electrical nightmare

[tastyratz]

ok so heres my story. my alternator in my car was not charging very well and at idle all my lights would go dim/wipers slow down etc. I had to get several jumpstarts with this and i was sick of driving without my radio or anything electrical in fear of draining more than its weak output. Battery would hold those charges fine and is about a year old odyssey batt. My friend gave me his sohc alternator awhile ago and ive had it storing outside for like a month then inside for awhile. I finally got time to put it in the other day and everything ran great at first. i took it outside turned on everything electrical and my subs all the way up and nothing dimmed i was happy. the only thing that flickered is when i hit the breaks the interior light would quickly flicker but they used to just get really dark. every time i let my foot off the break though the brake warning light would go on. i drove down the street a few blocks and died right after. i had to get a jump which got me about 1 min down the street and i died again. the car was sputtering and running like shit then everything electrical went nuts. i had dash lights that were very bright, i had headlights and an interior light that was very bright but the car wouldnt start unless i had a friend charge it and hold that there awhile. i have no clock but the backlight lights. my radio flickers with and without power at times, i cant get my keys out and my wipers are going on when i dont tell them too. did i hook up the alternator wrong, is it bad to begin with or what? anyone else experience anything like this before? i gotta figure this out today cuz i have to get to work in the morning still! thanks

[tastyratz]

i brought the alternator and the battery to the local autozone and they tested them both for me. both of them are good. i hear what sounds possibly like arcing coming from what sounds like my starter now however so i dont know if that may be related. i put the alternator back in and it still doesnt work :-( any takes on this... anyone... bueller?.... bueller?...

[projectRDM]

Christ, trying to dechiper that gibberish was like reading Braille without a hand.

You've either blown a fuse/fusible link, or the alternator post is grounded, broken, or not making a good connection to the lower harness.

[stumpz]

i'll take a stab at it..but it could be overcharging somehow maybe?

[tastyratz]

i took apart and re-assembled the post so that should be good. i bent the terminal out from the alternator well and it shouldnt be grounding at the alternator. i checked a few regular fuses real quick but will get around to checking the links, etc later today more than likely. stumpz: it shouldnt be overcharging i wouldnt think because everything tested ok at autozone.

[projectRDM]

It's not overcharging. The warning light would come on if it was and you wouldn't have voltage fluctuations like you're having.

[idlafie]

Check for a short in your battery wires...both the positive and negative cables. Get a volt/ohm meter/continuity tester and test the cables while wiggling them. That will give you an idea if you have a short in the wires or not.
Hope this helps...
ID

[snp_ethan]

hey , this is weird, I am having a similar problem right now, althoug, I changed my alternator and starter last week, cuz it died on me, and on superbowl weekend, my car died on me while driving. at first we changed tha battery. and it ran good for a while, but today(the very next day) it died again, same problem. First radio flickers, and then turns off. lights are dim and rpm starts to drop dramatically. and so the only way i can get my car running is byt keeping rpm above 1 so that i can keep combustion going. I really dont know what the problem is, and I know is not the alternator and is not the ignition. althoguh lately the car has been doing a weird sound, as if the belts were kinda loose. anybody could help me? i have started my own thread so that people could reply to this

[s13gonwild]

I had that exact same prob. On my 89...it would spuutter like a backfire sort of way when i would floor it/around 3500k..at first i thought it was cap/rotor so i replaced it. Same thing, then i changed the alternator along with a new battery since my lights would dim and battery die all the time. And it went away, Also i noticed my ground wire connected to the battery termenal was loose. So i secured it and the problem went away and runs fine now. And i checked the fuel filter as well, that wasnt it so i guess it wont hurt to check it. but i doubt thats it. Also just incase, the wipers would turn on for NO reason..and the rpm needdle would jump up and down...try getting a NEW battery and NEW alt used parts sometimes play tricks on you. And the head unit would also turn off when i hit the brakes.

Good luck

[tastyratz]

i fixed it! it was my alternator fusible link that was causing all the issues. it was burned JUUUUUST enough so i t would arc sometimes and make stuff work then not work. i swapped it out with another one i had and boom all set :-) i knew it was something stupid like that...

[chilmieste]

whats a fusible link and where exactly is it located? PLease help im haveing the same exact problem and cant figure it out.

[kandyflip445]

It's a wire that's a fuse. It should have a little rubber thing on it that says fusible link. If you can grab it and not feel a solid mass in side its probably blown.

[chilmieste]

thanks. Tastyratz were exactly did u find yours? Also when replacing it, can i just use a wire or can i find this fusible link at any auto store, also what size? IS this one of the ground wires on the alternator or will i find it near the plug? What about the red thing on my battery terminal with 2 plugs going into it, how do i check that?

[kandyflip445]

You have to use another fusible link. It's a fuse...
IIRC it's color coded and you should get the same size. Just solder it in like a wire. An auto parts store should have it.

[chilmieste]

i ust chcked all fuses and the belt is proper tension now. batt and brake light are still on my alternator makes a wineing noise only on start up for about 20 sec then goes away. multimeter reads at 11.9 volts with car on. I just need to check the fusible links. I would like to check those first before i buy a new alternator again. Where are they located!!!???? someone please help.

[wutangben]

Ok, I am going to shed some light on this since I've had my fair share of electrical problems with my SR swap.

If you are having any problems like the ones described in this thread, here is what you should check:

Your alternator fuse (under the hood) I believe it is a 75 amp fuse. If this is blown, the car will not charge, your wipers will go on for no reason when you floor the car. Your tach needle will also jump around, and your whole gauge cluster will reset itself randomly. These fuses are expensive at the dealer $15, and you can't really get them anywhere else, so if you need one let me know, I have a bunch.

Another thing you want to check is your battery terminals and wires. Make sure they are clean (clean them with a terminal cleaner) and make sure they are on their nice and snug! When mine weren't making good contact, my car would sputter (backfire/misfire) when it was under a lot of load. It actually would only sputter/backfire when I would be flooring it with my boost up. I dealt with this problem for so friggin long before realizing that the fix was simple....

Another thing I learned is that if you don't have your alternator hooked up right, the car will only run on two cylinders. (don't ask)

One of my friend's SRed 240 was having all sorts of problems once, and it took Touge Factory a few weeks to figure out that all it was was a bad connection at the alternator. Seems like it really has a huge effect on our cars...

Hope this helps, wish I knew this stuff a half a year ago

Ben

[luckie2hav3her]

75A FUSE!!! go to ur local nissan dealership (parts dept.) and pick one up! pep boys dont have them.... my 75a popped had the same problem....new fuse problem solved! try it....