Greetings, i have a 2002 maxima with 120k miles, Monday I was driving when I noticed my brake and battery light came on. I was doing about 30mph ac was on low. Did a quick google search and saw it was the alternator. Went to autozone and they did the check through the battery to confirm. I purchased a duralast brand new one (125 amp) lifetime warranty. They did a bench test and it passed.

Prior to repair voltmeter readings
Car off: 12.8
Engine running: 13.8
Headlights and ac on: 12.6

Today I attempted the repair myself. Followed the guide I found here on the forum. Immediealty after replacing the alternator. Voltmeter was reading 14.0 with ac and headlights on but a lot of noise was coming from the car. Like a squealing/whining and a rattling. I tighten the ground on the alternator and tighten the belt.

Now my car won't start if I don't press the gas. The engine will turn over attempt to start but die. Pressing the gas keeps it from dying. When the ac is on there's a rattling sound coming from around the engine. And the car has a constant whining noise. Its low but noticeable. I believe the rattling noise is from how I stuck the compressor back in after I replaced the alternator. Something must be put of place. Also when the ac is on the car seems to leak water. Worse of all the voltmeter readings are worse.

Car off: 12.8
Engine running: 13.6
Headlights and ac on: 13.0

Any insight on why the slew of problems. I spent about 10 hours on the car. Anybody in Brooklyn that wants to work on the car or any mechanics you can recommend is also welcomed. Thanks for reading.

 

Belt too tight/loose?

 

find a sport on the belt between two pulleys and push down on that section.

How much will it move?

You want it to move a little but no more then 3/8 inch would be ideal.

 

So I went to a local garage this morning. The noise related to the ac was due to a loose cable hitting the fan. They also told me since the alternator is new I have to do e idel relearn procedure and drive around a bit for the car start to return to normal. Anybody else ever heard of doing a idle relearn after replacing the alternator?

Will play will the belt tomorrow if I'm still have trouble. Will also try the spot test. Thanks for the replies guys.

 

Idle relearn after replacing an alternator? Seems like a scam to me. Why would have to mess with ECU after replacing an alternator?


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Yeah that sounds fishy to me. I did my alternator twice about 6 months ago. First time I didn't replace the belt and it blew the bearing in the brand new alternator. I am also extremely stubborn and didnt follow the guide although looked at it and decided to attempt it from the top and took out my rad and did a coolant flush at the same time. If you DONT replace the belt you might have overtightened it and blew the bearing due to the fact that the old belt is already extremely pliable.

My suggestion?? Purchase a new alternator under warranty as well as a new belt and preform the repair again... more than likely you blew the bearing out. Either that or your pulley bearing is shot on the tensioner.

 

Thanks for the reply Brudface. I bought a new belt but ended up using the old belt. The new belt gave a horrific squealing noise. The alternator has a lifetime warranty so gonna have a shop due the replacement. Took me from 9am-6pm. I'm sure second time around would be quicker but I really don't wanna go through it again.

 

It is not difficult to replace the alternator. You will be surprised how much faster you can do it the second time. Just look things over twice, tight up everything properly, and make sure the belt is tight good, but not too much. I replaced my alternator and used the old belt and car has been running great for almost 2 years now.

 

Trust me it IS much easier the second time lol.
Just a question as well, are you 100% positive that your going throught the belt tightening procedure properly?? I only ask this because you said the new belt was squealing. And it is always wise whenever doing a repair and you don't know how old the belt is to replace it as well 35$ for peace of mind is well worth the added headache of being stranded on the highway and having to pay gouged tow rates.

 

I think the problem was going to junkozone LOL

 

Gonna try to find a write up on replacing the belt, I think that's where my error is. When I put everything back together I just did everything in reverse. So I tighten the top tensioner bolt first before I tigthen the pulley bolt. First time I started the car the idle was fine and the volt meter read 14.0 with the headlights and fan on but the car just gave a horrible loud whining noise. Now with the headlights and radio on I get 13.3-13.4 on the voltmeter. Now sometimes the car idles fine other times I have to press the gas. It was suggested that I blew the bearing so gonna replace the alternator again on Saturday. Before i do that gonna go to a local garage and have them do a throttle body cleaning. Going by the consensus and will attempt the replacement again myself. Lol. Prior to purchasing the alternator I did read reviews that autozone alternators are junk lol but I figured what the hell life time warranty why not. I hope I don't end up regretting those words. Will keep you guys updated.

 

Quick update. This morning I woke up to move the car due to alternate side parking. The idle was really rough compared to other cold starts. Really loud squealing noise and smoke was coming from under the hood. By the time I popped the hood and looked the smoke was gone so I didn't see where it was coming from but there was a burnt rubber smell coming from the alternator section. Since I used the old belt I'm assuming the belt is worn and too tight hence giving me the smoke, squealing, and burnt rubber smell. Sound about right?

 

Okay so your right the belt tightening sequence is off... so tighten the top bolt to the point where there is no slack WITH the idler pulley loose enough that it will move. Then check your belt tension it should be tight but not crazy *** tight. Then tighten the idler pulley then tourque down the top bolt. The squeeling is more than likely due to the belt being tooo tight. An overtightened belt can screw up way more than just your alternator. There is a free fsm on the org that is extremely useful especially in the descriptions of how to do certain things that sometimes nobody thinks about.

 

Here the thing when it comes to Alternator, that the voltage reading should have a range between the low 13.4 to the high 14.5, that's a good alternator but the bad side is the regulator, is you can't check that through a voltage meter since it integrated into the alternator so you don't know what the reading is, so as you did, got it off and took it in to have it bench tested. However I am a little perplexed that you said it passed, if it did, why did you replace it with a new one? Did you have your battery tested prior to having the alternator tested? Also like the guys said on the board have your belt check for tension make sure it has at least 1/4" of deflection otherwise too tight will squeal or too loose will slip. Hopefully you figured it what was causing the no start. As far as the relearn, that's bogus, that is not needed at all especially alternator change. Only time with relearn is done if it a throttlebody was replace since the 5.5 gen has no throttle cable, so it used a Throttle pedal sensor driven by the wire that when it would need a relearn procedure done.

 

Sorry due to my lack of detail what I said was misconstrued. I had the new autozone alternator bench tested before I left the store and it passed. Prior to that the original alternator was not bench tested. Due to the following symptoms, battery and brake light on, loud whining, and low volt meter reading I suspected the alternator to be bad. I recently had the original alternator bench tested and it failed.

I attempted another alternator replacement for fear that I pulled the bearing on the autozone alternator. You guys were 100% correct. Second time was so much easier then the first. Had the autozone alternator bench tested and it passed, so I didn't pull the bearing. Picked up a new belt. A buddy of mine who is more mechanically inclined then me replaced the belt. No squealing, no smoke, no burnt rubber smell.

However car still had a issue with a rough idle on a warm start. When the car is cold it starts and idles fine.only after it has been running if I shut the car off and turn it back on it will idle so low and just shut off. After reading multiple threads the consensus was to perform a throttle body cleaning. This morning I went to the dealer since I don't know any other shop that could properly do a cleaning. They did the cleaning and idle relearn now the car idles fine at running temperature. Thanks to everyone who posted. Thanks to this forum that has a great replacing alternator thread.