PiXiE

(1997 Nissan Maxima GXE, 106k Miles, and no the alternator isn't covered under the recall.)

The recall is for Max's produced Feb. 97 -> Feb 98. Mine was produced in Aug. '96.

Well, 3 days ago, my alternator started to go out, initiating it's unpleasant demise by the turn signal turning off my stereo. Later with the AC off, the stereo cut out by itself. I do have a quality 2 channel MTX 8102 amp driving a set of component polk momo's, but I assure you that it is wired correctly. I went around yesterday with an ohm meter looking for shorts and found none.

The battery checks out fine, although it's pretty weak now from being drained a few times by corroded battery terminals, stupid friends playing the stereo for hours on end etc... Hot Texas Sun frying it while I lay out on the beach etc...

But I load tested the battery and it's fine. However, my alternator was puting out around 7 amps when I checked it (Autozone with a charging system tester, they're so nice!).. That's at 2k RPM. (I went ahead and purchased a new battery and charged it all ready for the new alternator... Walmart Everstart Max-1N 1000CA, fits perfectly like it was meant for the battery tray, unlike the stock battery which has gaps, although this might be beneficial for catching battery acid :> ). Hey, 3 year free replacement, bigger battery, 7 year prorated warranty, can't beat that.

So I purchased a new alternator from Autozone (lifetime warranty Duralast, 125A, and the Hitachi I just took out of my 97 GXE was only 100A) It was marked clearly 12V100A... For the unbelievers I can take a picture if you want.

Long story short, the new alternator I put in is identical in casing, but I can't get the belt back around the alternator and A/C compressor at the same time... I used the belt tensioner adjustment bolt to loosen the belt to take it off originally. Is it possible that the bolt is bunged up some how? The pulley doesn't seem to move when I adjust the bolt now.

The car's up on jackstands in on Long Island at Brookhaven National Labs where I am working for the Summer, and I'm out of commision till I can fix this. I'm pretty mechanically inclined, but I'm somewhat confused as to why the belt won't go back on..

I mounted the little L bracket on the new alternator exactly as it was on the old one, however my assisant (a slightly ditzy fish, college freshman) did not hang the L bracket on the side of the engine before I bolted the back bolt of the alternator in. So, I had to take the L bracket off, mount it to the engine, then mount it back to the alternator. Otherwise I couldn't swing the alternator up because the bracket would catch (I didn't feel like fighting that big bolt on the back of the alternator again).

This gives a little bit of play in the positioning of the alternator, so I tried both extremes, the second time with the bracket in the same position it was originally (I'm pretty sure).

Well, I can't get the belt back on, I need about a quarter-half in of movement in something. The A/C compressor can't be wrong, 4 bolts, sinched up tight and you can't put that thing in wrong. The alternator is questionable.

Could the tensioner pully be the culprit? If it somehow dropped into the fully down position and won't move that would be a problem. The bolt didn't seem corroded and didn't snap off or anything.

Any ideas? Help?

96SE5Spd

I just did this yesterday so maybe I can help, you did loosen the bolt in the middle of the tensioner pulley right? Assuming you did that the alternator if it is the right one will go back on in the same place as before you shouldn't have to worry about adjusting where the alternator sits, so the problem has to be with the tensioner. Ok make sure that the rod that connects the tensioner pulley to the adjuster is all the way to the top of the adjuster, meaning that you loosened the adjuster all the way until it wouldn't turn any more. Grab the bolt on the adjuster and pull up it should move assuming that there is nothing wrong with it, this will pull the pulley up you may have to have some one hold it with their hand while your under the car putting the belt on. Reply back to this and let me know what is happening and I'll see if I can help you out if this is not the problem.
Ryan

PiXiE

Thanks for the reply!

I just finished getting everything bolted back in..

The trouble lies in two things... Number 1, I put the L bracket bolt, the one that screws into the other long side of the bolt of the alternator (back side) on the top side instead of the bottom side of the corner of the alternator. That is, the right side of the car, the primary bolt for the alternator there I put the little lip on the top instead of the bottom..

The problem is that when you do this the tensioner is stuck in the downward position.

To rectify this situation I just unscrewed the bolt, and put it on the right way (with the lip on the bottom). Before this however, I tore apart the tensioner, took it out, and that's when I discovered what was wrong... So in all, I got to clean and regrease the tensioner pulley (wasn't noisy, but it certainly isn't now), WD40 the tensioner bracket and bolt (slides nice and easy now :>) and put it all back together... It worked beautifully once I got it on correctly.

I was just tired yesterday and made a silly mistake. Welp, I gotta take the old 100A Hitachi back to autozone to get my core charge (110 + tax) and take the old battery to Walmart to get my core charge on that (5 bucks).

It works beautifully now... I had already replaced the alternator/AC belt 10k miles ago, so I just dressed it liberally with belt dressing before I put it back in. It's nice and happy now.. (not that it wasn't before). The belt tension is back to the standard 20lbs pressure with 1/2in deflection at the longest span.

Thanks for the reply again, I hope this information helps some other poor soul who makes the same mistake in the future.