On my way home from work today all the lights in my guages and instrument panel started to fade and things like the windows and wipers are all moving slower than normal. This sounds like an alternator right? Just came out of the blue..

So how much does the Dealer normally charge to replace the alternator? Can I get it cheaper? Do it myself??

 

dealer will be a lot of money. Go to autozone and pick up one from them, but when you get it ask them to test it because you dont want to go home install it and its a dud. Most alternators you will get are going to be refurbished. The install takes probably hour/ hour+1/2, you will also probably want to get a new serpentine belt while your at it for maintenance.

here's a write up with pictures makes it real easy.

http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/500

 

could be your light dimmer control ghosting around...
could also be your battery simply going outta life...
lastly, if it is your alternator failing, you should get two lights on your instrument clutster panel. both the brake light and the battery light will lit up. when this first happens, you have about 1-2 days of crank power left if your battery is full.

if you are getting the alternator replaced, avoid dealership as they will charge you too much for it. go to a local mechanics shop, it's a 1.7-2.3 hour job, labor should be around 150-200 bucks. an alternator at the local parts store shoud run you from 130-170 bucks with a huge core return charge. autozone's duralast alternator is rated to run at 120 amps while your factory alternator runs at 90 amps. autozone's alternator will have a lifetime warranty. with a factory alty, you'll sht in your pants if it breaks again.

if you want to install it yourself, it isn't a hard job to do at all. the most difficult part is getting the long 14mm screw off near the headers area. it's hard to maintain reach and turn-span is very small. other than that, it's a cake to do. i did mine twice already. first time was a btch, then it turned out to be a bad alternator anyways, so i replaced it for free and did the job again. never had problems with it so far.

enough said, the rest is yours.

 

^^^^ the factory alt for 4th gen's is rated at 110 amps the last time I checked

first stop by autozone, pep boys, sears, etc. and have your alternator checked. You either have a loose wire somewhere or your alternator is on its way out. If one of these places find your alternator is bad call up your local dealer and find out if you're covered under the alternator recall.

 

There's a 110 and 125 amp alt for our cars. Take it to a shop for install so you don't get ripped by the dealer (unless it's not too cold for you to do it yourself). I installed a new one last Thursday night in 21 degree weather.

 

Just did mine myself two weeks ago in the snow. It was an easy job. Dealer wanted $268 for the alternator. I got a rebuilt one from Advance Auto Parts for $206 (plus core charge). I replaced the belt at the same time, of course. The belt was $25. It was an easy job that can be done with a few wrenches and ratchets with extensions. The replacement alternator had a metal piece attached where the bolt runs through it. This piece was about an inch long and threw everything off (original bolt was too short, pulley alignment). I was pissed and took it back to Advance and showed them the problem. They gave me a hack saw and I cut off the piece right there. No problem.

Recommend you clean your battery posts and connections first. I had severe corosion on my SE-R once and it interfered with my accessories.

Recommend you take the car to one of the national chain autopart stores and have them test your electrical system before you buy an alternator. All but Sears will do it quickly and for free. It may not be your alternator.

Also, I did not get a battery or brake light when my alternator went. All I got was a dead battery.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the tips. Definitely no brake or battery lights. The ABS light came on for a little while. The odd part is it was fine yesterday morning, last night it started to fade the lights on my dash and all electrical things generally and this morning it didn't want to start. So I took the subway to work.

I really hope it's the battery.. I think it's the original battery and I just hit 100000 miles so.. We'll see.

 

Everything you described leads to the alt going bad. I've been through this 4 times and everytime it had the same symtoms.

 

that little extra piece that someone was talking about that sticks out will compress once u get the bolt started in the hole

 

yeah, my bad... factory alty is 110 amps, not 90. i was mistaken it with my other car. sorry, but the rest is true to my best knowledge.

 

Wow - 4 times?? Why would it go bad that many times?

 

Call your dealership with you're VIN number too, to see if it is under the recall.

 

I think from the miles I would driver per year and the load of my stereo system.

 

There is a recall on your year alternator - the dealership should do it for free

EDIT

sorry didn't see that -

 

It may or may not be under the recall. He'd have to call Nissan with his VIN.

 

Nice - Is there a national number to call about this or just local dealership?

Are there other recalls on the 98?

 

The recalls were for 97's.

 

97's and some 98's as I've been told by multiple dealers. I may be wrong though, and they may be too, afterall who can trust the stealerships anyways?

 

yes, some 97's and 98's are covered. It depends on the birthdate.

 

Get a BRAND NEW Hitachi (OEM) alternator off ebay for about $140 for a 140amp and a 1 year warranty. My alternator is toast since I'm getting excessive ripple and it's charging my battery at 15.5 volts so even though my car is starting up no problem it's only a matter of time before my battery blows up so this is the route I'll be going once I have the cash

 

Hitachi sucks.

 

So it turns out my car was covered under the recall. Awesome. So I just dropped it off at Nissan, they're replacing it for free, and gave me a free 2005 Mazda 6 to cruise off the lot on for the next two days. Hell yeah!

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

So did you just check with a local Nissan dealer or is there a special number to call? My alternator is going out too and I need to replace it.

 

You can call the Nissan USA with your VIN to find out, and they will also check it at the dealer. The number is 800-647-7261

Just got my car back this morning and it's the most pleasant experience I've ever had a dealership. Turns out they are being super nice because Nissan sends out a survey after the recall about the specific rep that helped you. Pretty sweet.

 

I went in for an oil change after about 2 years owning my car used. Came out with a new altanator...they did it for me under warranty. 98's are covered depending on the VIN

 

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

 

I thought our alternator is 110 amps?

 

yeah, that's factory alty's. reman's can route more coils and gain from current compensations. autozone's duralast alty's are recharging at 125 amps.

 

What amps would be beneficial if I have a system and a monitor hooked up?

 

autozone's 125 amps should bode you well...

i used to work at a audio shop, hooked up many heavy duty sound systems. i found our maxima's stock alty to be a bit too weak. so if i were you, running a system and a monitor, i'd make sure to have on the 125 amp alty, optima yellow top battery, and a 1 farad capacitor per each 1000+watt amp. that should kill all power surges that dim the headlights.

 

Great. Thanks for the good info.

 

Well Friday I started smelling a burning rubber/plastic on the interior when I started the car. Popped the hood and heard a whining noise and thought that it smelt like it was coming from the alternator. Researched Friday night and found out about the recall. I thought cool. Sounds exactly like the problem I have.
("On certain vehicles one of the diodes used in the alternator may have been damaged when built. This can eventually result in failure of the diode and an electrical short, which could melt the plastic housing. If the combustible gas emitted by the melting plastic does not disperse due to air flow through the engine compartment, it could ignite and in turn ignite the fan guide in the alternator. Correction: dealers will replace the alternator")

Anyway, I call Nissan today and my 98 isn't one of the recalled ones...last 6 of vin ran from 900001-923624. Well my car is 927652. 4000 cars later. I was just wondering what the possibility of me getting one of the bad alternators and how long does it take nissan to manufacture 4000 cars at their plants...a week, weeks, or months. Also I don't know if they actually tracked back to the bad batch of alternators 7 years later or if they base the recall on the cars vins that have been repaired with the problem.

 

Well Friday I started smelling a burning rubber/plastic on the interior when I started the car. Popped the hood and heard a whining noise and thought that it smelt like it was coming from the alternator. Researched Friday night and found out about the recall. I thought cool. Sounds exactly like the problem I have.
("On certain vehicles one of the diodes used in the alternator may have been damaged when built. This can eventually result in failure of the diode and an electrical short, which could melt the plastic housing. If the combustible gas emitted by the melting plastic does not disperse due to air flow through the engine compartment, it could ignite and in turn ignite the fan guide in the alternator. Correction: dealers will replace the alternator")

Anyway, I call Nissan today and my 98 isn't one of the recalled ones...last 6 of vin ran from 900001-923624. Well my car is 927652. 4000 cars later. I was just wondering what the possibility of me getting one of the bad alternators and how long does it take nissan to manufacture 4000 cars at their plants...a week, weeks, or months. Also I don't know if they actually tracked back to the bad batch of alternators 7 years later or if they base the recall on the cars vins that have been repaired with the problem. Just wondering if I have a leg to stand on to try and get Nissan to cover the repair or if they will say that my car definately did not get one of the "bad" alternators and not cover it.

 

I had similar problems and i took it to the dealer. they just replaced the battery and it didnt do anything. they then repalced the alternator and its normal again, 500 bucks in labor later

 

So...Deezo says boo to Hitachi alternators (though as far as I know our OEM alternators are Hitachis). Can anyone suggest a good quality alternator rated at 125amps or higher? I don't put crap into my max, Thanks