The Nissan Path

My dealer is jerking me around about my alternator going flaky... I measured 13.6V after having trouble starting it, the FSM from my interpretation says 14.1-14.7, and they are now claiming that after tightening the terminals it's reading 13.9 and that is 'within spec'.

Can anybody out there go poke a multi-meter onto their battery terminals with the truck running and see what you find for extra verification please?

The clamps are definitely crap. Just yesterday, my 05 went dead in the walmart parking lot.

I already have a small nail wedged in the negative clamp, now it appears my positive clamp is stretching as well.

I will put my multimeter on it tomorrow.

i havent tested the pathy alternator, but a normal 12V battery charger will give between 13.4 to 13.9V

The charger voltage should never exceed 13.9 volts for long periods
or 14.4 volts for short periods (about 6 hours max).

13.9 is the best "safe" option for chargers.





*edited as per advice below so no one blows their ECU*

I agree with Marwan, anything over 13v is probably OK.

Be careful if you start pulling battery terminals off while the vehicle is running. I had this issue the other night (due to the loose terminals) and accidentally pulled the negative off while it was running. It caused my airbag light to start flashing. I had to do this to fix it:

http://www.thenissanpath.com/viewtopic. ... 538fc51928

Disconnecting a battery cable on a computer controlled vehicle is never a good idea and could take out the ECM in the process.

Hey Racer,

I finally got around to checking my voltage with my multimeter. Immediately after startup, it measured 14.6v. After 10-15 minutes of idling, it dropped to 14.4v.

That's the same as my old honda always was. Not sure what the spec is on your v8, but I doubt its different than the v6.

Based on that, I'd say you are running a tad low voltage...