MA240SX | Forums

i get in my car and start driving like normal, and notice that my battery and brake dummies are lit up in my gauge cluster.

my brake fluids good, and i can see the button getting depressed like always where the ebrake is. not sure if the light also comes on when your brakepads are low. i doubt it though.

battery light makes no sense either, really. ive got a few-months-old reman'd nissan quest alternator with (now) a new battery. my battery just died tonight and i got another one, but the charging system lights still on.

belts good, connections are good, confused.

input is greatly appreciated.

First advice. Never ever use a "new" battery without first fully charging the battery. The battery sitting on the store shelf will slowly discharge. So you replaced a dead battery with an almost dead "new" battery. You end up with a dead "new" battery.

Second advice. I would have someone check the alternator. Reman'ed parts go bad all the time.

Third advice. Check all of your grounds. Make sure the bolt is making good metal contact. Check all of your connections, including both battery terminals, and all the harness connectors like all the connectors on the battery box area, the ECU plug, etc.

Fourth advice. Top off your brake fluid to the full line. Pull of the center console and unplug the switch going to the parking brake. If the switch is stuck, unplugging the switch will make the light turn off.

These are all the easy stuff. If everything checks out then most likely you have a short in the wiring. Then it's major big money time.

Batt light deff alternator and the brake light may be related alot of times when the alternator is not charging some systems are getting the power they need and will turn on dummy lights like that.

like kennn stated, in most cars that combo of lights means charging system failure.

check the fuses, check the batt and put a multimeter on the battery terminals when running and off to make sure you have the proper voltages. you can also disconnect one of the battery terminals while the car is running. if it dies, your alternator isn't charging.

charles, youre right on that. my battery light has gone off twice now, briefly, and the brake light goes off also. then they both come back on.

battery showed 12.5 while running, put the positive meter terminal on the power side of the alt and also got 12.5, which means shit.

took the car to advance where i got the alternator, had them test it. failed the test. went home, pulled the alt out, brought it back, and it passed. used some battery terminal cleaner stuff for the connections, put everything back together, battery light is still on.

checked the big fuse labelled 'alt' and its good. not sure of any other connections between the alternator and the battery.

i dont see how it would pass outside of the car, but installed it fails.

you should be getting more than 12.5 off of the alt when it's running, unless that battery has a hole in one of it's cells...or two.

i am unfamiliar with the nissan alternator setup, but it may not be getting signal from the car to "turn on" and thus isn't charging the car.

did you disconnect the + terminal while the car was running? if the alt isn't working, the car will die. but yeah, 12.5 is pretty low, even at idle if the batt is good. i'd trace out the wires that go to the plug (3 wire?). take a poke into the FSM and check out the wiring for it. should put you in the right direction.

shouldn't it at least be into the 13's if the alt is charging properly?

i'd check the FSM if you are looking for exact voltages, but IIRC it's supposed to be 13-14.5 or something.

problem solved. assumed to be a problem with the voltage regultor or whatever inside the alt, went to another advance to get warranty replacement and it fixed everything.

this is what happens when you nosedive into mud at summit. and any other random fluid issues in the engine bay.