My alternator is an aftermarket piece with 2 yrs guarantee. well, time is up and I've already heard once whining sound from it, so I guess it's time to replace it or at least soon.

I checked on Amazon, Hitachi OE price $325, Gosh. I'm looking at either of 2 following:

1, used alternator from pick-a-part, here is the question, because our Maxi is about 15 years old, is there any other newer Nissan model vehicles that use the same type of alternator that I can harvest ?

2, if I have to go for a brand new one, what brand should I go for ? Aftermarket is like crazy, prices fluctuate from below 100 to more than 500, what is the rational price for a reliable alternator?

Any reply appreciated.

 

Rock Auto, new TYC alternator, 213826-$108.79 plus shipping. Comes with a lifetime warranty.
Use code in "How did you hear about us" 896A54E1A1C600 expires 9/14/16 and receive a 5% discount on parts.

 

Bad reviews on Amazon unfortunately

Any alternator on an "old" VQ (aka not the "HR" version, still has aluminum intake manifold) will work. If you can find a decent mileage 6th gen max (murano, quest) at the junkyard, go for it. I believe even the HR ones are basically the same, but I haven't tested fitment (will need some bracket tinkering and idk about the position on the block).

 

Parts store remans are usually garbage and you have no idea what you're getting at the junkyard. Changing the alternator is a PITA in these cars so just bite the bullet and buy Denso or Hitachi.

 

Most reviews are positive, but I take reviews with a grain of salt, e.g. the alternator is going bad, really, is it good or bad, no, stated it's going bad. Without personal involvement, these reviews are like tire reviews. Someone that doesn't have the slightest knowledge about tire construction/handling, etc, will say the tire is the best they ever had and in reality the tire could be turned inside out when pushing in on the tread.
Let's face it, the OEM alternators go bad or we wouldn't be having this conversation.
On the daughter's Maxima, replaced the original with an used unit ($35) and it's been fine, 260,000 miles, 2 alternators, not bad.
Just an FYI-Daughter finally purchased an Audi, so looks like the Maxima is going after 13 years.

 

OEM alternators take 15 yrs or over 150k miles to go bad a lot of times. These people bought it, installed it and it went bad soon enough that they were pissed and wrote a review. If it didn't fail, then there would be no reason to ever complain.
And we all know how fast replacement ones fail (days, weeks, months, good luck with years).

 

I do agree that remanufactured units leave a lot to be desired and would never purchase one, but never had a problem with any new, non OEM unit, alt or starter, and have used many.

RockAuto also has a WPS new alt for @ the same price, but they only come with a 12mo/12,000 mile warranty.

Just a side note-Yesterday had the modified RX7 Turbo out after a few months and although there was no indicator of no charge, just by performance of the car and accessories, realized that the voltage was dropping. Back to the garage and while running, 9.8 volts. Not too happy, especially when I installed a new 160 amp alternator last year, but turned out to be an easy fix. This was the second time that the nut backed off and charge wasn't getting to the bat. How the hell the nut could loosen is beyond me, but as the threads were compromised by the jumping current, used a dye to clean them up, a new nut with lock washer, then double nut.
Took it back out and good the rest of the day.

 

Thanks guys. I think I'll start from junkyard, it's only 30 bucks about 1/10 of brand new ones, I should like to take the risk. And maybe just lucky on me, my Maxi's compressor is easy to be pushed aside to let go alternator, so I don't have to remove cooling fans.

Find a used one from 2006 Altima with VQ engine, lucky.