Do your headlight seem to fluctuate brightness

[Lee614]

I swear I seem them dim or perk up sometimes.
Does anyone see this or am I nuts?

[13altima13]

Originally Posted by Lee614

I swear I seem them dim or perk up sometimes.
Does anyone see this or am I nuts?

Yes, it's happened to be also....usually after morning start up....but not always.
Assuming voltage regulator doing its job......

[Jayspexz]

my 03 altima does this also. its noticeable when I'm parked close to the garage door at night. Mind you I have HIDs installed. Don't know if its a problem.

[cwstnsko]

Might this have something to do with the "smart alternator" that I've heard the 2013 Altima has?

It reported does the majority of it's charging during deceleration to reduce drag on the engine.

[tharam04]

I see it dim on occasions, usually after pulling onto the main road after leaving my home.

[VandyZ]

I have seen this too. I kept telling myself it was my imagination. I guess it wasn't.

[RMAHER07]

{deleted post}

[trek2120]

Originally Posted by cwstnsko

It reported does the majority of it's charging during deceleration to reduce drag on the engine.

I'm curious how that works. Is the alternator is running off of the serpent belt and spinning all of the time? Is there's a clutch of some sort on the alternator where it can be disengaged?

[cwstnsko]

I would assume that essentially the voltage regulator could be programmed to be dynamic based on engine parameters related to acceleration vs. coasting. If the regulator calls for a lower voltage under acceleration, the load on the engine from the alternator would be greatly reduced. Under deceleration, the regulator calls for higher voltage and increases the load on the engine, further enhancing engine braking.

I would guess it's very similar logic to regenerative braking in a hybrid

[RMAHER07]

It's been happening on my car, (about once a day for the past week). It's been cloudy / rainy this week which I am guessing is the contributor to the issue.

[pissedaltimaowner]

You're not imagining it. I notice this each morning after I back out of my driveway and shift into D. Headlights dim momentarily and then go to full brightness.

[altimasl13]

I had nissan rep/tech look at my dimming lights Wednesday.
Showed them a video I made showing them when I turn steering wheel the lights dim and had a voltage meter showing the drop in voltage to around 11.8 volts.

They checked the lights with a light meter.
They applied a load to the battery and tested the lights.

In the end I was told the lights are fine.
But
Since I did not like the way the car runs off the battery so much, the nissan rep suggested that they can adjust the alternators logic output so it charges more.

That way the car will not run off the battery as much and the lights will not dim as much.
I was told it shouldn't affect gas consumption
The meter I have hooked up to the 12v outlet is showing car voltage higher. (Usually the meter ran 11.8 to 14.2v now it's running around constant 14v.

Haven't driven it at night yet to see if there is a difference..

[ItsMrMark]

What I can say about the headlights is they are about as bad as the set I had on my '69 Datsun 510! They are terrible!

[tharam04]

Since I have put HIDs in, I haven't seen my lights dim. I assume that is because HIDs use less power after the initial warm up and therefore aren't impacted with small power fluctuations.

However, I have noticed that if I repeatedly (at least about 2 times) turn the lights on and off (with the fogs on) that the RPMs will drop some as if the engine is about to stall.