OTM Help: 1995 Nissan Pickup

[apex2apex]

Hi all,

My dad's 1995 Nissan Pickup wouldn't start couple of weeks ago, so we replaced the battery. With the new battery, the truck started and ran fine. But after several hours of sitting, the truck wouldn't start again.

Now the car still starts with jump, but now the battery and brake lights in the dash are on. Dad took it to a mechanic, and the mechanic said it's bad alternator.

I will probably replace the alternator and the belt this weekend, but is there any simple test I could do to better pinpoint the problem?

Thanks for the help,

Alan

[black roadster]

I'd agree on the alternator. Might take the new battery and/or old battery to O'Reilly or Autozone and have them test it. Sometimes bad alternators toast new batteries too.

[sammm]

Put a voltmeter on the battery when the truck is running. See if it's reading more than 12v (or whatever it reads when it's not running).

[Darron65]

It's possible; an alternator can drain the battery if a diode shorts. Replacing it could easily be the end of the problem. Was the alternator bench tested or did the mechanic just make a random guess?

[apex2apex]

Thanks for all the advices guys.

Not sure if the mechanic bench tested it. I will do the voltage test.

[Nexus Flux]

Put a voltmeter on the battery when the truck is running. See if it's reading more than 12v (or whatever it reads when it's not running).

Yea, but not too much more. If it's above 14.5 V then it's probably the voltage regulator on the alt and it could overcharge and ruin the new battery. If it's below the reading that you get when the car is off, then it's not charging.