marcstert

Hi, Yesterday, my nissan sentra 1994 (245000km) started to be weird.
The only way I could get power on the wheels was to slightly press
the gas pedal. If I pressed more than that, the motor wanted to die
and the car was able to run at idle speed. It was not possible to go
more that 5mph.

By turning the headlight off, I gained lots of power so it was possible to
shift speeds. But 5 mins later, the motor started to do the same but
headlight off. I got stuck. It was impossible to start the car. The stater
did not wanted to do anything. So I thought my battery was dead from
a bad alternator.

Somebody came to boost my car and started instantly. The cables was
on my car for like 10 seconds. I drove my car with lights turned off to
my house and didn't have any problem.

This morning, the car started by itself easily. I measured 12.5V on the
battery and 14.0v car running. So everything looks good now. Anybody
have any clue what's wrong with my car?

(Edit: I had to replace my meter fuse recently)

Regards,
Marc

mack1

Hi Marc and welcome to TSF,

Sounds like you might have a loose connection. Try clean the battery posts and put some grease on them when you put them back. Check the connections at the alternator. It has to have 12 volts excitation for it to work. Normally this is provided by the ignition switch. Also, check the ground wire from the battery to the engine. Might need to take it loose, clean the conector and the block point.

If the altenator was putting out 14 volts, it was working at that time. If you have a meter on the dashboard, keep an eye on it. You can always tell if the alternator is working at night just by looking at the brightness of the headlamps as you run the engine up.

Hope this helps,
Best regards,
Mack1