last night coming home in the ute, pulled up at the lights and the idle dropped then engine cut out (yes it was cold).
went to hit the ignition key as per mnormal.. no turn over just a click.
Tried again, nothing. Turne immobliser on then off, still nothing.
All toher electrics still worked, just not kicking in.
Luck had the jump starter as it kicked to life straight away.
My feeling is its either the battery (3 years old), the starter or the alternator (not charging the battery.
any other clues before i spend more $$$

regulator and flat battery. Were your headlight really dim, and get brighter with revs? that's regulator.

The battery was flat, and at idle the alternator cannot keep up with headlights and ignition.

This is my diagnosis.

since it started with a jump start, it is unlikely to be the starter motor.

Take the battery to shop and get it tested.

If the battery is good, then that leaves the alternator.

If you were driving with your lights off, and no big stereo, then it probably is the alternator.
I found most dead batteries show up when trying to start the car.

yea your batterys prob flat man even if ur lights are still on it might have a little bit of guts left; dunno

I agree it's not the starter.

Start with cleaning the battery cable ends. If they are slightly corroded this behavior can occur.

well my 2nd hand recoed battery finally died.
Out of 6 pltes, 2 were empty of water, one was half empty and the chage in the water was down in the other 3.

New battery and started first go, even went better than usual. Might still check the alt as its a reco 60 amp, same time as battery 3 years ago.

if its the alternator wouldnt the dash charge light come on? Thats what happened to mine when the earth connection came off the alternator which then killed my it

charge light did not come on prior to dying, head lights did dim though.... apart from that day 2 is a dream of the new battery. Car actually drives like new so im thinking either the alt does not charge the battery fully (the tester shows it does though) or the poor quality battery i had was just a dud and did not provide full power as required.

Car doesnt misfire either yet in the cold.
I have a feeling its a spark problem ive been chasing which coincidently happened since putting in that cruddy battery and reco alternator.

Quote:Uh, any battery in this condition will fail:Quote:Even a high quality battery will fail when low on water!

Which brings up the question, why was it so low on water? Overcharging (voltage over 14.5 volts) and time (many months) can cause this. Part of our regular maintainence should be to check battery water level (every 8 months, according to Nissan in 1974). But if you have a "sealed" battery then no worries and no maintainence?

Quote:

I'm with dd on this one. I recon it was poor conections that caused these problems in the first place. By replacing the old battery with a new one means that you have played with the original connections at the battery terminals and therefore remade the contacts.
I have seen poor battery connections cause the problems that have been described on more than one occasion.