Current Events > Car people - Any idea diagnosing what's wrong with my 96 Maxima?

(+) Yeah! (+)

My battery and brake lights came on while driving on the highway today. Google searches tell me to check the alternator, but I just got a new alternator within the last like 2 years.

The only other weird thing that's been happening is the car vibrating while at stops. It just kinda pulses from normal to "a tad concerning". I'm failing to diagnose this one through Google searches but my assumption is these two issues are related somehow. The latter started happening a couple months ago, and the former just happened today.

Any ideas? Fuel pump? Serpentine?
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its a 96 maxima in 2018
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it's jaundice
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The only other weird thing that's been happening is the car vibrating while at stops.

i'm not a car guy but i'm pretty sure that's really bad.
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Letron_James posted...

its a 96 maxima in 2018

ill buy a new one as soon as i find a money tree

but also accurate
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yeah, when a car of mine started shaking at stops it was the alternator
if I shifted it into neutral it would stop shaking

the a/c being on would make it screech too, I bet that was the battery
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Pancake posted...

The only other weird thing that's been happening is the car vibrating while at stops.

i'm not a car guy but i'm pretty sure that's really bad.

I mean, depends what it is, but my old car had a cylinder misfire that did that which was easy to fix, just half the spark plugs were inconveniently placed. The engine light turned on for me and any mainstream car place can check the codes at that point.
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The former is likely a stripped wire, pain in the ass to find it.
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prince_leo posted...

yeah, when a car of mine started shaking at stops it was the alternator
if I shifted it into neutral it would stop shaking

the a/c being on would make it screech too, I bet that was the battery

really your shaking was from the alternator? do you know why?

if i can trace all these issues to one thing before going to the mechanic tomorrow that'd be ideal. and hopefully its like a belt or something and not the entire alternator.
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Letron_James posted...

its a 96 maxima in 2018

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Pretty sure we have a car board for this
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I should also mention some heavy oxidization on the negative battery terminal. so yeah probably alternator.

mother fucker.
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so i looked into a bit more and i think the problem is more of a belt or pulley thing. i brought it to a mechanic telling him the problems and what i think it is and he was insisting it could be the alternator.

i told him to let me know before he does anything because if that's all he comes up with, i'm going somewhere else
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Take a multi meter and check the voltage at the battery, and at the alternator. If you got a remanufactured one instead of an actual new OEM unit, they can very realistically fail within two years. I had an Autozone reman alternator die within 5,000 miles.
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Bloodychess posted...

Pretty sure we have a car board for this

Weird crowd on that board, I try to stay away.
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Fuparulez posted...

Take a multi meter and check the voltage at the battery, and at the alternator. If you got a remanufactured one instead of an actual new OEM unit, they can very realistically fail within two years. I had an Autozone reman alternator die within 5,000 miles.

the shaking and squealing leads me to believe its something to do with the belt powering the alternator though
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Make a trailer for your car like that one guy did

Never know what works...
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Ac compressor gets unbolted from the after removing bottom splash should to remove serp belt from tensioner. Right next to the compressor is a coolant hose that is rotted away in like 85% of Maximas of that vintage.

The problem was the serpentine belt.

Or should I say, wasn't the serpentine belt? There wasn't one. It must've worn down to the point where it finally broke off yesterday. I was looking at the power steering belt and seeing that, so I thought that was "the belt" and everything was fine. But nah.

I just hope the belts were just old and there wasn't something else causing them to wear down

I'd be cocky that I diagnosed the problem myself but I didn't even notice the lack of the belt so... D;
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Another update guys...

This is something I've found peculiar since I first was checking out the pulleys. I tried to get a picture as best I could. It looks like the crankshaft is not aligned with the rest of the pulleys in the system. Is this ok or do you guys have any other insight on this? Nothing really feels loose down there so idk what it could be.

(Crankshaft is on the left, alternator is on the right)
https://imgur.com/oLaFjUh
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bloodydeath0 posted...

i told him to let me know before he does anything because if that's all he comes up with, i'm going somewhere else

And that is where you fucked up. If I was working on your car (not at a shop, but if you just brought it to me) Id just flat out refuse to look at your car.

No one wants to go through the time and effort of diagnosing a problem just to have the work done elsewhere. You bring your car to a mechanic because youre paying for their knowledge and experience.

But a bad alternator could easily lead to the belt wearing out and breaking early. If the bearings on the pulley wear out and cause more drag than normal, the belt slips which leads to it both wearing out, and causing the alternator to not charge. A missing surpentine belt is the symptom of another problem, not the cause. You would have noticed your car getting hot if it had been missing for long and it wouldnt cause your issue of shaking at a stop. However a dragging pulley, either on the alternator or one of the others, can put extra load on the engine which would cause it to bog down when the car is at idle like at a stop. If you simply replace the belt and do nothing else, the problem will come back sooner or later.

Edit: after re reading your OP, the vibrations have been happening for a couple months but the lights just came on recently, correct? Im assuming one of your pulleys has been dragging for months and the extra load has been causing the vibrations at idle when the car is in gear, which accelerated the belt wearing out and breaking just recently. No more belt means no power to the alternator and any other accessories it drives.

dodgefan91 posted...

And that is where you fucked up. If I was working on your car (not at a shop, but if you just brought it to me) Id just flat out refuse to look at your car.

i agree with you. i misworded my post, sorry about that. i didn't tell him i was going to leave, i'm not that much of an asshole. but i did tell him to let me know if he thinks it's a bad alternator for financial reasons. alternator is much more expensive than a belt or something simple.

the rest of your post makes sense to me. like i mentioned, i'm a bit hesitant to say the belt simply broke off from wear. i'd guess something is causing it.

is there a way for me to check this myself? i'm bringing it into the same guy i mentioned in the OP tomorrow to just replace the belts, but maybe if its just a bearing i can talk to him about that too.

also did you take a look at the picture in my previous post? is that alignment anything serious looking to you?

edit:
https://imgur.com/UCoIu35
Here's a closer picture at the crankshaft and idler pulley.
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I assume the guy youre bringing it to will check the pulleys. You should be able to spin the alternator and idler pulleys easily by hand without the belt on and they should feel smooth. Any grinding noises or what feels like rough spots when you try spinning them would be a sign of something being wrong. The water pump or any other accessories driven off the belt are a little harder to check since they wont spin as freely but its just a matter of feel and a mechanic should know how to do that, although it usually is either the alternator or an idler pulley in my (limited) experience. I also assume once he replaces the belt, hell use a volt meter to check that the alternator is charging the battery, since a failed alternator can cause more resistance and wear on the belt even if the pulley itself is fine.

As for your pic, its hard to tell but they dont look too far out of line. Its pretty common for there to be a small amount of offset so I doubt that is the issue. It would take something fairly drastic to make the crankshaft pulley to move back so Id assume its been that way since the day it came out of the factory.

Cool. Thanks a lot man I appreciate the help (and all other posters ITT too).

I'll post another update tomorrow when it's all said and done
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