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1984 Nissan 720 stalling out with some interesting electrical problems


J-Grams

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Howdy folks,

Well I had an interesting day with my truck. It snowed a bunch where I live and conditions were poor to say the least. But on my way up to Mt Hood, I started noticing some electrical problems:

 

The radio started cutting off with the upstroke of the wipers and turning back on with the downstroke.

 

My turn signals and hazards ceased functioning

 

Finally, the car stalled out and wouldn't start again.(After the car stalled out I got the hazards to work momentarily and then I tried to switch them on and off again and got nothing)

 

Well after I got a ride to work and worked all day, I came back to my truck and it started up. I was letting it run for a while while I was cleaning all the ice and snow off and then it died again(I'd say it was running for about 10 minutes). When trying to start it seems like it starts to turn over but doesn't quite get all the way and sometimes nothing happened at all.

 

Well thankfully I got a ride home and I'm leaving it on the mountain today. Any ideas on the issue would be much appreciated. I gotta get this thing home!

 

Thank you,

 

Jensen

 

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The radio started cutting off with the upstroke of the wipers and turning back on with the downstroke.

 

My turn signals and hazards ceased functioning

 

Finally, the car stalled out and wouldn't start again.(After the car stalled out I got the hazards to work momentarily and then I tried to switch them on and off again and got nothing)

 

 

This is exactly how it would act with a non charging alternator and a dead (almost) battery. The restart is odd though.

 

Clean the battery posts and cables and tighten them on. Connected to the positive battery post is a short black wire going to a connector with three wires (also short with connectors on their ends) Two green and one black. Inspect them for being melted or loose.

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I would agree, it sounds like it's not charging, and the battery was almost dead.

When it sat the day, the battery recovered just enough to have a lucky start, you should have put it in gear and drove like you stole it, you might have got 5 or 10 miles as long as the headlights and everything else was off, they don't run long with the headlights on.

A modern radio cutting out is a symptom of low battery, had it happen a few times myself, but I knew what it meant and got home before it quit.

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Thanks for the replies everybody. I'll go check out that wiring tomorrow, I know the terminals are fine I just replaced them about 2 months ago but I'll give them a double check just in case. I have a feeling I might need to get a new alternator.

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Storage battery.... think of a bathtub. The tap dribbling water in is simply the alternator charging. When tub is full, the extra just flows out the overflow drain. The large drain in the bottom is for the starter and water splashed out of the tub (by the bather) is for running the vehicle like the lights. Generally anything taken out suddenly like starting is put back in over a short time and the tub topped back up by the open tap.

 

If the tap is shut off (alternator stops working) there is lots of water stored in the tub for many starts (drain) and running of the vehicle (splashes) The tub works normally until the water almost runs out.

 

If the tub were empty (maybe there is a leak somewhere) the water flowing in (charging alternator) would still allow it to function normally (splashes) but there would be no reserve saved for starting.

 

 

Your description seems to indicate a non charging alternator.

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Sorry for the late reply. My truck was stuck up on the mountain for awhile but finally got it home and installed a new alternator. Works great for the moment, we'll see what happens next! Thanks for all your help everybody.

 

-Jensen

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