jboulukos

I recently had my BRAKE warning light come on intermittently in conjunction with the CHG light. Had the alternator rebuilt and both warning lights turned off.

Update The alternator was put back on today and started right up. No warning lights were on during idle, with gas and while driving. There is no longer a buzzing noise from the black box adjacent to the battery when the headlights are on. The voltage is 14.6 at idle and 13.4 under load (radio, high wipers, high heat, rear defroster, high beam headlights). The car drives much nicer now. Thanks for all the help, suggestions and advice. I learned about "parts house" and rebuild shops. Also learned a bit about alternators as well as v belts and how to put them on. I'm glad there is a CHG warning light in the car and I'm glad its now off.

Thanks for the great post! I took two of mine apart and did not find a copper washer on either of them (just some wet metallic grime). Added a small copper washer from home depot to give the blade some space from the blade housing. Didn't get it to work yet. Just curious, how did you "kick start" the blade on the first one?

Update: The alternators diodes, rectifier, regulator and bearings needed replacement/rebuild. Rotor and Stator were polished as well. I'm impressed with the work, price ($85) and fast service. Tomorrow i'll put it in and give update on the outcome regarding test drive and warning lights.

I've done a few.

I agree. I found a rebuild shop that is testing it free of charge. Thanks for the help. I'll post the outcome.

Thank you for the clarification. Being specific and typing Napa or Autozone would have been great the first time. Both have fewer letters than Parts House as well.

Ok went to a starter and alternator place and was quoted $100 for rebuild.

Can you explain Parts House? Is it a business that sells and tests auto parts?

Added the 12 gauge wire and nothing changed.

This is fantastic information. I have the 12 gauge wire and I will add the ground to see what happens. I just drove about 10 miles. Since replacing the belt, the car runs a little less effortlessly(more rough). I looked at belt tension and decided to try to push the alternator further along the mounting arm. The thumb pressure test on the belt is about right (.5 inches depression). The car definitely makes a whistling/new noise (different than a squeaky belt and not the buzzing noise while using the headlights). At initial idle, the CHG and BRAKE lights are on. After warming up, the CHG light flickers at a stop in sync with the turn signal and BRAKE light is off. Upon accelerating, both CHG and BRAKE warning lights come on. Once I let off the gas, the CHG light goes off, and the BRAKE light goes off and on as it pleases and doesn't necessarily remain on other than when accelerating. The braking ability of the car seems fine, normal, unchanged. I'm not too concerned about this. However the CHG light bothers me as it is in conjunction with the whistle and the rough acceleration. I'm concerned the alternator is either not on correctly or is having difficulty spinning with the belt. Can an alternator fan lock up or develop an increased resistance to spinning? Does the height of the alternator mounting arm play a role?...The mounting arm can pivot from the nut on the cylinder head. Maybe the new whistling noise is the fan belt breaking in? Either way, it doesn't seem to be running as smooth. Almost like it has a hesitation at times. It felt like 45-50mph was more labor for the car than usual. Almost as if something was holding it back a bit. When reving the engine in park, the engine sometimes will die. Other symptoms that have been present before all this are as follows: -the need to feather the gas pedal lightly when initially accelerating from a stopped position or else it will hesitate and possibly die. -car requiring gas during initial start up or may die.

How was the fit?

Update: Added brake fluid, brake pedal has more height from floor when depressed. Voltage taken engine idling: 14.28 with load: 12.55, increases with depression of gas pedal Put on new fan belt. The ribbed side on the inside due to V cut. On the old belt, the ribbed side was outward as it was the widest part. Interesting to me. Voltage taken engine idling: 14.50, CHG light now off with load: 13.62 depressing the gas pedal turns both CHG and BRAKE lights on When the car is at idle, turning on the headlights creates a continuing buzzing noise and turning on high beams increases the noise. The noise seems to be coming from inside the black box adjacent to the battery. Detached brake booster hose and idle was noisy. Put my hand on the hose and there was a strong vacuum pull towards the manifold. I wasn't able to take the car for a test drive today. new belt, ribbed side down black box that buzzes when headlights are on Oliver loves laying by the Datsun

The 2 brake master cylinder lids were significantly difficult to remove and I believe it was due to the plunger "thingies" doing their job. Lots of pulling and wiggling to remove the lids.

Update: I checked the brake fluid and it was within the min and max lines although the two brake master cylinder lids were quite difficult to remove. I took off the 3 connection wires to the alternator and cleaned the metal connection sites with a wired brush. One has a plastic surround to it so I wiped it off best I could and re-attached them. I inspected the fan belt (picture attached) and it looks pretty cracked up so I will replace it tomorrow. As far as the interior warning lights go...upon starting up the car, the CHG light flickers at idle. When i give it gas, the CHG light stays on consistently and the BRAKE light comes on as well. When the engine returns to idle, the BRAKE light is off and the CHG goes back to flickering. The brake pedal is more than 2.2 inches from the carpet/floor so its within norm however the pedal depresses easily without much pressure/resistance perceived through the foot. I plan to replace the fan belt tomorrow and will do the voltage test again (forgot my multimeter at my home). Any advice on how to make certain the belt is tight enough? Do I push the alternator with one hand and tighten the nut with the other? I also replaced the fuel filter today. Here's the old belt.

I recently switched air cleaner assembly covers, changing from a clean one (which didn't quite fully seal the top, to the original that closes down nicely. The clean air cleaner assembly may be from an earlier or later model with the 2 prominences coming from it into pipes instead of just rubber hoses. I will attach a pic later. Anyway, the rubber seal on the inside of cleaner lid didn't quite line up with the air filter like the original lid. Now that I have switched them, maybe I will get a better vacuum? Might have been a factor...

Is the brake booster hose near the brake master cylinder? I plan to get a new fan belt as there is no telling how long the belt has been on prior to 2009 and approximately 25K miles I have driven it. I know belts last a long time but its an inexpensive upgrade for the piece of mind. I'll do the volt testing again and all the other suggestions. Also, I have yet to inspect the brake fluid level.

Are these "ground wires" the 3 wires attaching to the back to the alternator?

I'm new to this. Are you referring to continuity and ground tests of rotor coil, continuity and ground tests of stator, and continuity tests for the 6 diodes?

Ok I did some voltage checks with an auto-ranging multimeter. Here are the results: car off: 12.7 car on but not started: 12.67 engine running: 14.32 engine running with load (radio on, wipers on, heat on high, high beam headlights on): 12.53 I noticed the CHG light on and sometimes flickering as well as the engine hesitating a bit (inconsistent running sound and shake). I recently changed the head gasket and had to remove (then reattach and tighten) the alternator mounting arm nut due to it being attached to the cylinder head. Could that have increased the slack in the belt and have a negative effect on the alternator? When applying force upward on the belt with one finger, I can lift it approximately 1 cm and it seems pretty taut. Any input on the results of this test? Does it incriminate a bad alternator?

to test the alternator, the service manual suggests using a "30-Volt voltmeter and suitable test probes." Can you recommend a voltmeter and shed some light on how to test it?

The brake and CHG warning lights came on yesterday. The braking power decreased as I noticed having to depress the pedal with more force from my foot. The car has a 1 year old battery. I plan to do an inspection of the brakes and master cylinder. What are the main things to look for when inspecting the front and rear brakes as well as the master cylinder?

I've noticed that my B has no EGR valve. Would putting one on improve performance, fuel efficiency or emissions? Any benefit or detriment to having one on?

Thanks. Yeah I like the stock original look. I have the Datsun FM radio but refuse to put it in. Don't want the car to have any options except Auto trans.

Here's a European magazine ad I had framed in a frame found in a garage sale...