I think it's the Alternator?

meanS4teen

meanS4teen

Spectator
95 240sx w/redtop SR

When I was installing a pulley on the alternator I foolishly decided not to take off the positive terminal from the battery. Anyway of course while I loosened the belt the wrench touched the alternator and it arced (Beautiful colors by the way).

When I installed everything back my accessories didn't turn on, so I revved the motor and all was good. I drove it out for a little bit and then all of a sudden I started to loose electrical power and while I'm driving the car shuts off and my battery goes dead, NOT COOL AT AN INTERSECTION!

Gratefully my friend was around and he charged the battery(3 or 4 times) every time it died until i got home. So is the problem the alternator sucking the life out of the battery or not giving sufficient voltage or do I just need a new battery and the arch is pure coincidence?

Thanks in advanced!
 
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check to see if u blew one of the fuses,
if the accessories dont work its probably one of the fusible links
 
Well the accessories do come on but only when I rev the engine. But revving the engine doesn't sustain the power and everything shuts off any way.

Do you guys know of an easy way to test for this?
 
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I figured as much, that i had to have shorted it out or something. I'll wait for some more opinions and then I'll call JDM of Miami! lol Unless someone has an S13 SR Alternator for sale on the forums.
 
always better to have more then one opinion. what your saying sounds like what happend to me when my alternator was bad
 
just check the fuses, if they r all good then its probably the alternator,
if it is the alternator u can buy a new alternator from discount auto parts with a life time warranty, u can u an s13 ka one u just gotta drill out the threads for the tensioner
i got mine for a 100
 
OK guys I replaced the alternator checked the fuses and went to turn on the car. The car had the same symptoms but motor didn't start this time at all. Jumped the battery nothing again. Last thing I tried was a push start and it finally turned on but after 10 mins it idled rough and went dead and accessories never turned on.

I read some of the other threads and I'll try what they did, but any other ideas would be helpful.
 
A rule of thumb when working on cars is this....ALWAYS go back to your last modification or the last thing you did. Here is what you should do before you go blowing money on parts.

Remove your alt, remove your battery. Bring both of these items to an auto parts store and have them test both. This will let you know whats really going on....for free.
 
I believe the grounds are good too if I looked in all the right places, Alt grounds are good. I replaced another blown FL 75a fuse and now my accessories gratefully turn on. The car turns on now too when in a rolling start and stays on perfect.

However after I turn off the car it will not start/crank (no clicking just quite) from me turning the key just my accessories turn on.

The day this happened I also replaced the clutch master/ slave cylinders and took out the damper with a friend. So could it be something weird from that? But I really doubt it. Any more ideas? Thanks again this thread has been a lot of help so far.
 
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Did you mess with your clutch pedal at all? If so, check the switch on the clutch pedal. Check the connections to your starter, if possible test that by jumping it, or tap on it with something while someone trys to crank the car over.

I suck when it comes to troubleshooting ignition and electronics man....but just keep going with the process of elimination. Google search how to jump a starter, or test a starter im not sure how to do it...that should narrow down whats going on.

IMO, if the car runs fine when you push it now....you have fixed 90% of your problem...the rest of your problem lies in your ignition...starter, clutch switch...etc. Have fun.
 
my car is having the same problem i just changed the alt last night ran it to work and same crap happend batt dies and if i jump it when i dissconect the neg it turns off so the alt is bad but! i just changed it and when i did i removed the neg and it didnt turn off ?? wtf is going on
 
I took the battery into advanced to have it checked and its excellent. Checked the relays, good. Saw a pinched wire and fixed that. Checked the clutch switch, good. Finally hit the starter and still... won't start. I'm having a friend come over tomorrow to look at it, we'll see what happens, I'm done for today.
 
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