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When I am driving my car will suddenly stop accelerating ...


When I am driving my car will suddenly stop accelerating when my foot is on the gas pedal and the battery light will come on the dash. Mechanic's Assistant: Have you checked the fuses? The dashboard bulbs? The vehicle sti...

When I am driving my car will suddenly stop accelerating when my foot is on the gas pedal and the battery light will come on the dash. Mechanic's Assistant: Have you checked the fuses? The dashboard bulbs? The vehicle still has battery power ex. Lights, radio etc Mechanic's Assistant: What is the make/model/year of your car? But when I loose acceleration while driving, if I pull over the engine will still rev when I’m neutral or park Mechanic's Assistant: Are you fixing your vehicle yourself? What have you tried so far? 2011 Nissan Maxima SV I would like to fix it myself if possible Mechanic's Assistant: Anything else you want the Mechanic to know before I connect you? I tried replacing the positive battery terminal cable thinking maybe the connection was not as strong as it should be The batter is only about a year or so old

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Responses

Automotive Expert
"Hi, I'm Roy. Welcome to JustAnswer. I'm reviewing your question now, and will post back with your reply momentarily." You will see an option to receive a phone call prompted by the website, you can agree to or decline. If you do not wish to use the Phone Service, we can continue chatting this way back and forth until you are satisfied with my help. Who Am I speaking with today ?

Hi Roy. My name is Mike
Automotive Expert
Hi Mike hope I can help sorry to hear about your car not accelerating and battery light coming on , most of the time when I see that happen the alternator is not charging enough voltage to keep the car running good . I would have the charging system checked under a load with a tester first Just post back to me

Would that cause the car to stop accelerating when in reverse or drive, but still rev the engine when the pedal is pushed in neutral or park?
Automotive Expert
If you car gets below 11.5 volts the control units will not work correctly that is why you have a loss of power and battery light comes on also. I would also have the codes inspected with a scan tool . I would start by having those things checked first

The battery is testing 11.5 volts. Should the charging system be the same? Am I able to test that myself with a meter?
Automotive Expert
When running the car you should have a charging voltage of around 13 v. If not the alternator is not charging most of the time if battery low it can charge up to 14 volts

I just checked the battery while running and it is running right around that. The car will stay running while in park, but only sometimes when driving it will loose the acceleration and the battery light will come on
Automotive Expert
Okay if the battery light comes on I would replace the alternator next

Ok. Is there any other additional methods I can do to check the physical alternator before replacing it?
Automotive Expert
You can have it inspected under a load if battery light comes on the alternator is not charging under a load

Regardless if in neutral?
Automotive Expert
WE use a charging system load tester to check the system and diode patterns , do you have a code reader also to check for any codes ?

I do not have a code reader
Automotive Expert
That would be the only other thing I would check

Ok thank you
Automotive Expert
You can get a code reader at Walmart or auto parts store for around $20.00

Would it possibly be a fuse issue also?
Automotive Expert
Not likely a fuse issue

Ok thanks
Automotive Expert
Your welcome and just post back if I can help , have a great day Thank you Roy!

Thank you Roy
Automotive Expert
You’re welcome thanks again!

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