I have a 2008 Frontier. Car wouldn't start this morning due to low battery (lights worked, tried to turn over, but wouldn't). I cleaned the terminals of corrosion, jumped it, let it charge for half hour while I was busy doing something, then went to O'Reilly's to have the charging system checked. They said the battery was fine, but there was a voltage regulator error and I needed a new alternator.
Can the voltage regulator fail intermittently? Because the alternator appears to be charging the battery now.
There have been no other indications of electrical problems.
My multimeter wasn't working so well (maybe needs new battery) and it was hard to get a reading to stay for long, but it did appear the battery had about 13.5 volts with engine running (and A/C on low I believe) and 12.5 volts with engine off.
I do have 230,000 miles on the original alternator, so I wouldn't doubt if it's going bad - I just want to make sure I understand what's going on.
Can the voltage regulator fail intermittently? Because the alternator appears to be charging the battery now.
There have been no other indications of electrical problems.
My multimeter wasn't working so well (maybe needs new battery) and it was hard to get a reading to stay for long, but it did appear the battery had about 13.5 volts with engine running (and A/C on low I believe) and 12.5 volts with engine off.
I do have 230,000 miles on the original alternator, so I wouldn't doubt if it's going bad - I just want to make sure I understand what's going on.