I really need some help here and I hope someone can be gracious enough to offer me some assitance.
I started my car and about 2 minutes later before I drove off, I had a very dimly lit charge light come on. I figured maybe I was having a charging problem and that I should be able to get home like that. As I was driving on the high way it seemed to get a little bit brighter, then it did get quite bright and it died. After towooing it home I did notice that my coolant and oil were low. BIG MISTAKE, I know! So now when I try to start it the starter engages and just sort of whines, sounds to be attempting to start but not actually turning over. Please help, any thoughts or advice? Thank you in advance.
So was the battery dead? In other words, was the charge light indeed related to the battery not charging?
What exactly do you mean by "the starter whines"? Is the starter turning the car over in the sense that you see the belts move, etc? If an engine is seized and the starter is good, it will not turn over at all - the starter may, in attempting to start the car, burn out. Or is the starter just spinning very quickly? If the car is indeed turning over (you see the belts move, but the car is not starting), check to see if you have spark. If you don't have spark, pull the distributor cap off and see if you see the thing in the middle (called the "rotor") spin. If you don't see if spin, you may have a broken timing chain (or belt - not sure what a 94 altima has). If you do see it spin, you may have a broken coil or ignitor (I think Nissan calls an ignitor something else, but it basically just makes/breaks a contact, controlling the voltage to the coil - what used to be referred to as "points". The modern designs are electronic). There are ways of telling if one is bad so just tell us what you see.
Driving without oil or coolant is a very bad thing - you could have done a lot of damage (like seizing the engine). Can you turn the crank pulley by hand or maybe with a wrench? If you can, your engine is not seized. Because it overheated, it could still be that the head is warped or your headgasget may have blown. Let's hope this is not the case.
Report back with your findings -- hopefully it is something simple and cheap. Remco
Thanks Remco, I appreciate it, I will be checking the things you mentioned later this afternoon.
Battery was not dead. Starter whines, well it appears to engage and attempt to start the motor but the motor will not turn over. Amybe a little quick. Will have to check the belts for movement this afternoon. Aslo, the timing chain had been rattling of sorts for the last 6 months, i was told that it was just one of the guides and that it should be fine, with this new development I am starting to suspect as you mentioned, the timing chain. Fingers crossed.
Sorry to respond so late, I had to leave on vacation and was unable to do any checking of my car. The belts driving the alternator do in fact turn. That is about as far as I have gotten and will begin to check for spark and pull the cap. What specifically should I be looking for with the cap etc. Should I attempt to start while the cap is off and check for it spinning? Tahnk you in advance.
Start the car and see if you are getting spark. If you are getting spark (even a weak one), your timing belt cannot be broken. (It might have skipped a tooth or two, causing a no start but there are many more things to check before you assume that is true).
If you are not getting spark, pull the cap off and inspect it visually. Look for cracks in the cap, worn contacts, etc. If that looks good, see if the rotor (the thingy in the middle) is spinning. (you may want to just turn the crank shaft with a wrench - some cars don't like to be started without a cap). If you don't see anything spinning, your belt might be broken - that would be bad news.
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