Yesterday afternoon my car started making some strange wining sounds. At first I assumed it was the supercharger, which ****ed me off because I though the bearings/gears were already going bad.

This morning I get to work, and everything seems normal minus the noise. I'm in the office for about 5 minutes when my boss tells me that there's smoke coming out from my hood! Run out side, pop the hood, and see the the alternator is ON FIRE! I had taken an extuingusher with me, so I put it right out.

Doesn't appear that anything else (including the harness(es)) were damaged.

I didn't notice anything wrong electrically. Car ran fine. I had blown a fuse a few days ago (the cig lighter), but I didn't force a bigger one in there or anything.

Why in the world would this happen? I know its been a recall from some 97's, but hadn't heard anything about 99's. The alternator has 88k miles on it.

Thank goodness I park right in front of the main office windows. If this would have happened any other time, I wouldn't have noticed (ie, if the car was in my garage) and could have destroyed the car or much, much worse.

Nuttin but bad luck with the car recently.

 

dam that sucks man, i'm real sorry bro and i'm glad that u spotted it before things got worst...dam your luck sucks lol...i would definitely talk to nissan about that and see if there may be a recall on those as well?

 

That could have been an alternator under recall.

 

nah..

my altenator just went.. and even though i have a 97 i wasn't in the recall list

just spent $350 this weekend

 

ya i have a 97 and wasn't under hte recall.
200 at autozone after the core. lifetime warrenty

 

i shoved a 25amp fuse in my cig lighter and it doesnt light anything on fire. i think you should get the recall

 

Bad alternator setting a car on fire is not uncommon. It's just a simple eletrical short. You are very lucky that you put it out in time. Buy your boss lunch since he saved your car. A car making funky whining noise is never good.

 

Judging by Nissan's OEM, how likely is it that they know JNC1Ablah blah blah 005+ needs a new alternator but 001 to 004 doesn't need it? They ought to just replace them, they don't coincidentally go bad in 5-6 years. Lucky I pulled in and no question dealer said you get a new alternator.

 

Well, the alternator is replaced.

AAA sent a flatbed to my office, with was a PITA, but it worked. I got a re-man'ed alternator from Hutchins Automotive for $120 + core. Not too bad.

I'm still freaked about this. I'll be checking under my hood everytime I go anywhere for weeks. Just thinking about the potential for damage if this didn't happen where it did scares me.

The alternator was siezed when I got it out of the car. I don't know if its being siezed caused the fire, or was because of it, but it wouldn't readily turn. It took some work, but I got it spinning again. I was affraid I wouldn't get my core $$$ back if it didn't spin.

For what its worth, I think having the SC installed made changing the alternator easier than on the NA car. Having the top bolt already out and the alternator swung down made the process a lot easier.

 

Mine wasn't on the list either but I figured Ejj got the alternator with the new motor (probably not though).

I could have put you on to a website where I got mine for 160 and its better than my last 2.

 

Nope. This was the original alternator that came with the car. It lasting 88k miles doesn't bother me. Just the way it went!

 

wow, they take core even if it was on fire??

either way, i'm glad ure car didn't get any more damaged than it could have.

 

Will find out tomorrow.

Because its a re-manfactured and not re-build, I think they will. With a re-man'ed alternator, the only old part that they use is the case, so as long as the case is intact (which it is), I should be all set.

 

This weekend a girl I know her 96 maxima GLE caught fire like yours under the hood. She said she was at a gas station and didnt even know how to pop the hood. Some guy came up and said your cars smoking under the hood. He popped it and poured his fountain drink on it to put it out. Turns out it was the alternator.

 

I had to replace 3 alternators on my old 95

 

What? That sounds like something out of a movie, some dude just pours a drink on a woman's motor? That's plain dumb. I love the web!