I've had my alternator replaced 2x's in the last 26 days. Get the car back and the very next day the battery and brake light are back on. I couldn't take the car back to the shop right away because I needed it to get to work so I drove it like normal with those lights on continuosly. My electronics were not acting weird like they usually do so when the outside temp got above 90 I turned on the A/C, and would you believe the lights went off?

Took the car back to the shop later that day and showed them, they were baffled. I've been driving like that all weekend now. Btw, today I took the car to Advance Auto to have them check my alternator, (I later found out that they supply my mechanic his parts). They come back and tell me that the alternator is fine but that my starter is the problem. Anyone else here with a similar problem? I find it hard to believe that my starter is the root cause of my lights being on.

ps; Advance Auto was not aware that it was my car that their bad alternators were being put on.

 

It's not uncommon for the places to give you crap remanu alternators that are defective right out the door. These remanu companies just clean the thing up a little and put it back in a box.

 

pretty much all "rebuilt" alternators and starters are a crap shoot. You don't know what the history of the unit you are getting. Was the car totaled? burned down, dropped, etc., you might be getting a starter from someone who crank the sh_t out of it because their car didn't start and kept cranking until everything was cooked inside. The rebuilders will just put together a starter with some new brushes and a solenoid, maybe a bearing or two. The same is true for alternators, they'll change out the voltage regulator but you might be getting someone elses burnt out windings. Some places replace everything, bearings, brushes, solenoids, rectifiers, etc. but most places only replace what is needed. I remember getting an rebuilt unit once from autozone for an altima and they put the one way clutch/bearing on the pulley backwards. Once you put a load on the bearing, it slips. Car charges if it is first started but once you drive for a while, the car stops charging. I brought it back to the store, they threw the "rebuilt" alternator on the machine and tested it. It tested out fine, I had them get me another one to compare and when the guy at the counter brought out the 2nd rebuilt one, you can clearly see the one way pulley was on differently (backwards).

The maxima don't have a one way clutch so, you don't have to worry about that. It is always a good idea to have your battery charged up with a battery charger before driving off after you install the 2nd alternator. Some alternators will burn out if your battery is low and it is doing all the work when you first install it.

 

I think I used the warranty on Autozone reman. starters 4 times on my second 4th gen. one was dead out of the box, one died after a couple days, one lasted a few months, last one was good until the tranny blew. It was an automatic so it was a hassle getting stranded but other than that changing the starter was a 10minute drill. 5th gen is a manual so having a ****ty starter wouldn't worry me, I can push start with no problems, it's flat here.

I don't feel the same about the alternator, I would not buy rebuild with that. Generally if you buy new once you put a couple thousand miles on it you can be reasonably assured it's going to last a lot longer than that. Reman. has a very indefinite lifespan, could be today, could be 10 years. Some things it's ok to roll the dice on but to me the alternator is not one.

 

you can always rebuild your OEM one its not that hard in fact it takes less time to rebuild it then it does to get it out the car.here is a link to a place to buy parts.
http://www.transpo-usa.com/

 

Maybe the altenator doesn't start charging until the electrical load gets to a certain point, which is wrong. Get a volt meter and see what the voltage is. When the car is running it should be 14.1 to 14.7.

 

I haven't seen 14 volts with either of the replaced alternators. The best this one gets to is 13.91 even without anything on, all the doors closed and me rev'ing the engine to 2500 rpm's. I'm about to just buy another one myself and have it put on if they can't get Advanced Auto to shell out the bucks for a new one.

 

there is def a problem with the alt.it sounds like aftermarket rotor and stator in it and yes the it should start charging at either a certain RPM or when a load is placed the problem is usally the air gap between the rotor and stator you should see about 14.1-14.7 at around 1000 rpm atleast thats what i remember from the Delco CS130D alts which is about the same as the hitachi units.

 

And it's cheaper than bought a re-manufactured piece.

And yeah, the re-manufactured pieces it's like a russian roulette.

 

I took my car to my local Nissan dealer bright and early this morning and asked them a few questions based on the misinformation that the so called tech at Advanced Auto had told me. I also had them run a quick check on my alternator. Turns out it is bad and at its best its only putting out 13.93 volts.

Armed with this information I went over to Advanced Auto (my mechanics parts supplier) and displayed a little bit of ger with them. I finally left after they said that my mechanic could get the new alternator from the Nissan dealer and that they would cover the difference in price; about $125 dollars. My car should be repaired and back to normal in about 4 days.

 

I would be hesitant to take advice from anyone at a auto parts store. There is a reason they are behind a counter and not fixing cars.

 

Not to mention when they are giving advice pertaining to labor they didn't do