guys,

my brother's 97 maxima started whining and there was a burning smell coming from the engine bay ...

the whining probably indicates the alternator because the drive belts are intact.

I checked his VIN and it falls under the recall ... could it possibly be anything else??

 

More than likely. Just make an appointment with your local dealer and they will take care of it. Even if it isn't the alternator, you will get a free one installed.

 

called em up, they looked it in the system and said that the alternator was already replaced in 2000 by the prev. owners. ... damn.


i checked the battery with the car running and it was at 11.62V so i know the alternator is not charging, and the burning smell/whine is around the alternator.

this sux!

 

Just pick up one from AutoZone or Advance Auto Parts. It will be much cheaper there than OE plus they have lifetime warranty.

 

I think it is the alternator, tell your brother to get it replaced as soon as possible. I had the same problem with my max, I got a whining noise and burning smell for a while and then one day my alternator just started smoking up. Tried to restart car and it caught on fire, but luckily it was put out quick and no damage was done. My car was covered under the recall and I got a new alternator for free.

 

Maybe it was replaced with another defective alternator. If I remember, the alternator recall happened after 2000 so everything before can be culprit.

Did he replace it at nissan? When mine died, it was a couple months before the recall so I had a shop diagnose it and replaced it with another one, then the recall notice came in the mail so I talked to nissan and they said they needed to replace the one I had just replaced eventhough it was perfectly working just so that nissan can document that it was indeed replaced by nissan. Nissan even reimbursed the money it cost me when I got it swapped out at the other shop.

 

autozone, duralast, w/ lifetime warranty is $67 with core.

nissan said, while the car was brought in for 45k maintenance, they had the alternator replaced in sept. of 2005.

 

where do you go to find out if your car is on the recall list. i bought my 98 max used this july with 74,XXX so will i be able to get my alternator replaced by nissan?

 

google is your friend

http://www.nissanhelp.com/Ownership/.../NTB02-073.htm

 

call up your local Nissan dealer and give them your VIN to see if your car falls under the recall, I had mine replaced just this past September. They should still do it if its under the recall.

 

I double checked the label on the alternator w/ the specs and the alternator on the car now is the silver label, with "remanufactured" on it so it looks like it has already been replaced and i don't fall under that ....

 

Just double checking, but this doesn't apply towards 1996's does it? Pretty positive it don't, but it never hurts to ask.

 

Give the VIN to a dealer, best way to find out. My 96 had a recall on the O2 sensors but it was not all 96's, just specific VIN's.

 

thanks for the feedback guys ... just to close the thread, I ended up buying a duralast alternator for 159.99 at Autozone w/ lifetime warranty (i'm afraid i'll end up using it with the way duralast quality is ...). Before i bought it, i asked them to test the unit ... i've had to return 2 starters before getting a good one the last time i visited autozone.

anyways, it's my first time changing the alternator and damn, the hardest part was getting the alternator in and out of that area. With the fans out of the way and the ac compressor dropped, we were able to remove the alternator and put in a new one.

everything is good to go now!

 

You probably could have gotten a Nissan rebuilt for that or maybe a little more. Duralast is crap. Best to install it with wing nuts.