I have a 2000 Nissan Maxima, 138000 mi. After my car has been sitting in near freezing temps, when I turn my car on the battery light and/or my brake light will come on for a minute or so, then after my car runs for a while, the lights turn off. I have not noticed the warning lights when the weather is warmer. Is this something that I should get checked out or can I attribute this to the cold weather? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
You say near freezing temps, so I'd be safe to assume that the battery is not frozen, besides it takes a lot more lower temp for the acid to freeze. So, if you have digital voltmeter (they are cheap, you can get one at Walmart for less than $15.00) when this problem occur, measure the battery volateg at the terminals. You should get between 13.5 to 14 volts. If not, I think it is co-incidental to the temp that your alternator is about to die, most likely a worn carbon brushes inside. In previous post someone mentioned that a low voltage (12.5 v or lower would cause the brake warning light to come on. This is true. The computer detects a low voltage and light up both lamps.) BTW, I replaced mine using Autozone alternator since it was much cheaper than dealer's, and so far it has performed just fine (30K miles ago).
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