Alternator\Battery Problem, need opinion

[S13Enthusiast]

Car : 1990 240sx KA24E

Today when I go to start my car, there is absolutely no power, and im sure when I parked my car there last night my lights were not on.

So I get a jump and start the car fine and let it run for 1min or 2 and turn on my headlights and the car loses power and dies, cant restart at all.

Get another jump and let it idle for 5 min and just turn on my defroster and car dies and doesnt restart.

Get one more and keep my rpm's at 2000, warm it up, and drive around a little bit around the parking lot to put some load on the engine. After warm up I still cannot turn on my headlights at idle or anything else or the car will die out.

Should I just replace the battery? Or does this sound like the alternator?

Thanks Guys

[citizen]

get a voltmeter and check~

[IvanAtSPRacing]

try fully charging your battery before running your car. Its actually not good for your alternator to use it to recharge a dead battery.

Check your battery cables. There are more problems found with them then with batterys or alternators.

[S13Enthusiast]

Well I'm at school, so I dont have a volt meter or a charger

Im going to try and take out the battery and have it load tested at the auto store to see if thats the problem first

[michael1284]

similar problem happened to me, being 14 yr old car, have you ever changed the alternator? that was my problem. it would charge up, and just slowly die, i would see the lights slowly die out haha.

[mds04086]

this same thing would happen to me except my car like to wait and cut out when i was driving down the road. It turned out it was my alternator draining my brand new battery. The easiest way to check is to start your car, let it idle, and disconnect the neg. battery cable if the car dies its your alternator. my alternator gave out at 80,000 miles

[FaLKoN240]

I'm having the same exact problem, replace the battery first. Then the car will start. The battery is prolly old and no longer holds a charge.

[michael1284]

I'm having the same exact problem, replace the battery first. Then the car will start. The battery is prolly old and no longer holds a charge.

DO NOT JUST GO WASTE UR MONEY ON A NEW BATTERY TRY THIS FIRST:

this same thing would happen to me except my car like to wait and cut out when i was driving down the road. It turned out it was my alternator draining my brand new battery. The easiest way to check is to start your car, let it idle, and disconnect the neg. battery cable if the car dies its your alternator. my alternator gave out at 80,000 miles

try that first before you go waste all your money on a new battery just to find out it's fine. or just go to autozone and let them check the battery for you.

[Naro182]

I recently had to replace my battery/alternator/starter last month. One of the most confusing problems was the fact that the positive harness that connects to the main fuse box in the s14, was all corroded and causing the car to die for no reason. Replaced it with a length of stereo wire, 4 gauge i think. Works perfectly now...

Replacing the alternator is suprisingly easy. Well except for the thirty degree weather that was freezing my ass off.

[bobafett]

ok hows this for you guys:

car kills 2 optimas in about 100 miles of driving. ok, obviously the alternator is bad, no big deal.

so i change it with my friends alternator off of his old motor, the alt is supposedly newer, and looks very new compared to the rest of the engine. he told me he has has 0 problems with this alternator

anyway i get it installed and the car starts up fine because of the freshly charged battery, but the battery light on the dash is flashing, which is never did, even before with what i assumed was a bad alternator.

so i test the voltage, and it drops when i turn the headlights on, goes back up when i turn them off, and doesnt change at all when i rev the car. also runs really rough...

ps voltage is like 12.16V - 12.36V depending on what accessories are on.

any ideas?

[idlafie]

ok hows this for you guys:

car kills 2 optimas in about 100 miles of driving. ok, obviously the alternator is bad, no big deal.

so i change it with my friends alternator off of his old motor, the alt is supposedly newer, and looks very new compared to the rest of the engine. he told me he has has 0 problems with this alternator

anyway i get it installed and the car starts up fine because of the freshly charged battery, but the battery light on the dash is flashing, which is never did, even before with what i assumed was a bad alternator.

so i test the voltage, and it drops when i turn the headlights on, goes back up when i turn them off, and doesnt change at all when i rev the car. also runs really rough...

ps voltage is like 12.16V - 12.36V depending on what accessories are on.

any ideas?

Your buddy's alternator may also be crap. A normally functioning alternator will put out about 14 volts at the battery post when the engine is running. Check your battery post wiring between ground and between the battery and the alternator. Make sure none of the wires are cut or shorted out. You might want to take your buddy's alternator to the auto parts store & have them test it too!!
Anyhow, hope this helps...
ID