Thread: My car lost power and died...

I was driving home yesterday when I noticed the interior guages started getting dim. Shortly after that my CD player turned off. I continue driving and the guages are very dim and I can't see my headlights. At this point no warning lights have come on. A minute later it completely looses all electrical power, the engine shut off, and I have to pull over. Still none of the warning lights came on. My first thought was alternator, but the battery/brake lights never came on. I checked the battery connectors and made sure they were tight. I had to get a jump to get home. I got it started again at home and pulled the positive battery cable to check the alternator. It did not die, so I don't think the alt is the problem. Any ideas?

The car is a '97 SE-R with stock DE.

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I would say alternator, weird have you checked fuses and such?

Alternator.

If its the alternator, wouldn't it have died when I pulled the positive battery cable while the engine was running?

Does anyone know what voltage the alt should be at normally?

Check the voltage while running. Should be 14.4V or so.

If your alternator has died, then eventually the battery will be dead as well. If the alt doesn't charge it, and voltage is too low for the alt to keep charging the battery, eventually the car will run on battery power as well.

So, in time (and this depends on how badly the alternator is damaged), the battery will be dead, and have no influence on the engine running. Disconnecting the cables won't matter, since it's dead anyways.

Does increasing the RPMs cause the lights to be brighter again?

From what I understand, if I pull the battery cable while its running then the alternator is the only thing keeping the engine going. Right? I did that, let it run for 5+ minutes and it didn't die.

This morning when I started the engine, it was weak but started. The guages seemed dim so I revved it and they did get brighter and stayed that way. They didn't go dim or anything once it was warmed up.

Which fuses should I check?

check the fusable links under the hood....i had this same issue happen years ago....exact same symptoms....alt tested good....jump starts always worked as well as the few push starts i had to do.....turned out to be a fusable link under the hood......this was in a b12 sentra but i had the EXACT SAME issues

check the out put voltage at the alternator and the battery. make sure to turn on your lights to put a load on. Many times the voltage regulator will not act up until you put a good load on it. I would also run the a/c as well while you take voltage readings. if they check out okay make sure the main chassis ground is good. I have had a car leave me stranded due to corrosion between the frame rail and the terminal. As mentioned check the fusable links on the positive battery terminal.