I have a 1998 Nissan Sentra XE and the battery wont hold the charge. I have changed the alternator and bought a new battery. The car runs as long as the battery has charge and then will die. My dashboard lights will not turn on either. Checked all the fuses and relays already. Someone mentioned a bad cable but where are the positive and negative cables grounded to? I cant seem to find the place...anyone know exactly? Or other thoeries on what the problem might be?
2007-04-15 10:25:06 · 5 answers · asked by Toro123 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Check your fuses under the dash.
15amp (ALT) just to make sure it's not blown.
When you replaced the battery did you clean the inside of the battery cable terminals? (crusty scale stuff).
2007-04-15 10:32:58 · answer #1 · answered by Mr. KnowItAll 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First I would recommend doing an AVR test to make sure your alternator is capable of putting out sufficient amps and then do a battery draw test to make sure it does not fall below 9.6 Volts.
If these tests pass, then do what is called a parasitc draw test. This determines if there is something on your car that is drawing more than roughly 30 to 50 milliamps when your is shut off and let sit for about half an hour. If this number is exceeded well then you know that you either have a faulty part, corrosion in a wire/connector, or maybe you have a stereo or telephone system in your car that is using more amps than it should. If so, you need to get a bigger battery. Hope this helps. To do a parasitic draw test, disconnect the negative batt cable and hook up an amp meter inline and take the reading. Hope this helps. Good luck
2007-04-15 10:44:04 · answer #2 · answered by Mark E 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its possible that you're battery wasn't even the issue... Sometimes the corrosion disrupts the ground connection and the circuit cannot be completed, your car might make a weird clicking noise when you try to turn it over but I've seen it where the battery seems completely dead! Its possible that when you tried jumping the first two times, the ground connection wasn't sufficient and therefor it didn't charge. When you charged directly to the battery terminal you probably disconnected the ground and after reconnecting, a better ground was established which allowed the car to start. If the corrosion was bad then it probably just lost the ground again a few hours later.
2016-04-01 03:05:53 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i own a repair shop and what you need to do is follow each cable and see where it goes to and look as you go along and see if the cable looks good or has a bad connection somewhere,you may find a spot that its bad at, or it may be corroded or not making a good contact at,but you,ll have to check them from the battery all the way down to the starter and to where the wires connect to, but you will eventually find it if you take your time and look real careful at it,good luck with it hope this helps.
2007-04-15 10:32:42 · answer #4 · answered by dodge man 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your alternator needs to put out 15 amps. I had the same problem with my wifes car and the guys at O'Reilly's swore that the alternator was fine. I made them give me a different one and the problem solved. The one they said was fine only put out 13 amps. Her car needed 15 to properly charge.
2007-04-15 10:50:31 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋