First, thanks to all those who helped me diagnose my alternator issue. (Charged, wouldn't charge, had "10 minute delay" charge, etc.).

Here's my question: when I was visiting family over Christmas I had a reputable shop replace the clutch, and while they had it told them to replace the leaking front valve cover gasket. Clutch is great, but whoever did the valve cover gasket missed a chunk of OEM silicone, and unbeknownst to me at the time, was pouring a fine stream of oil out - passenger side, directly above alternator. I went to swap out the alternator today and see that it's caked with oil/grime, especially the connector.

I'm wondering - I know alternators are pretty tough, but could THIS have caused my failure? Just curious if I should try to have the shop eat the cost. Now, before you get all gung-ho and have me trying to own the place, let me say it's the original alternator, with 243,000 miles on it. (Clutch was original, too, same mileage...gotta love a Max that lasts!).

Thanks,
Jack

 

yes oil can damage the alternator and cause it to fail

 

Thanks. I figured as much, but frankly I wasn't sure how conductive oil is, or what effect it could have on the armature/windings, et cetera.

Thanks.
Jack

 

as far as i remember oil damages the lacquer around the copper windings. every single wire in that ball of winding is separated from eachother with that lacquer

 

my first alty had 221,000 miles on it and was soaked in oil. did'nt do anything until 1 day she just up and died. have had 2 napa alternators since and i put a piece of roofing shingle that i cut and wrapped around compressor line for ac and bent it under tc to keep from killing off my 2nd alty. works like a charm!!

 

Has anyone actually disassembled their altenator to prove this? If you guys would wash your engines down at least once a month this proobably wouldn't happen or fix the oil leaks!

 

That might be a bit harsh. Washing once a month sounds fine, but then again, who's to say that contamination due to water (or the impurities therein) wouldn't hasten the death of the alternator or other under-hood components?

As for fixing the oil leaks, well first - the Max is, unfortunately, known for this problem. In my particular case, it was fixing the leak that worsened the problem. Okay, to be fair, it wasn't fixing the leak that was the problem, it was trusting that someone at a shop could be trusted to do what *I* should have done.

At any rate, the alternator's dead at 243,000...and I figure I got my money's worth, so enough said.

Thanks guys,

Jack

 

The oil clogs up the brush holder assembly causing them to not make contact it also causes the carbon to build up around the slip rings causing them to short.the actual windings of the rotor and stator are not effected by oil as they are epoxy encapsulated and also have a heavy varnish rated upto 500*f the oil will also affect the rubber seals on the DE and SRE bearings causing them to swell and sling the grease out and fail.

 

I used to work for rebuilders.Cardone,bluechip,start to finish,excel automotive .

 

i learned how to rebuilds starters and alternators but for as often as that happens nowadays, i havent rebuilt one in a long time. no need to wash them every month, just cant let oil puddle on them

thanks for clearing it up, always thought the lacquer was affected

 

I saw Max Ride's solution; it is similar to what I have planned to do. Except I was thinking of aluminum roof flashing. After a quick look I wonder how and what to attach this gizmo to? I have also considered spraying degreaser right into the alternator and giving it a good cleaning when it starts to look heavily oiled. I've replaced two alternator's in 122,000 miles. The first one was warentied, this one is not because pep boys caught on to the leaking/alternator relationship. We've had this Maxima 16 years and right after we bought it my wife became totally disabled. I don't foresee us buying another car. Uhh, my other car is a 1974 Triumph TR6 which isn't working and my son has a 2000 Subaru 2.5 RS with a badly BLOWN engine. I'm 65. Thanks for any help.

 

Also don't you forget to tighten the exhaust manifold, after i changed alt and my vc gaskets i still had a oily residue from exhaust gases on the corner where the two lil brackets mouts the alt onto the engine ,which lead me to change the manifold gaskets (oem).
If i had searched i could have saved me some labor

 

just fix the damn oil leaks. ghetto jamming stuff in there to deflect oil. a roof shingle? really? I hope no one gets your cars when you are ready to sell them.

 

I didn’t go through all the comment on this thread, I’ll just say that oil will ruin the alternator and according to the person who rebuilt mine water will also ruin it. Mine I believe went out because of oil, I think I failed to push the dipstick all the way in and oil leaked from there on the alternator that is just below.