styliztik

Okay so like a year and a half ago. My original alternator died. I first replaced it with one from autozone and it only lasted 2 weeks. I replaced that one with another that last 2 weeks. And another after that as well. After that, I said **** this and went to napa, got a reman from them and installed it. It lasted 6 months. It went and I got another and it lasted 5 months until something finally broke inside and it made a grinding/whining noise that changed with RPM's. I got a new one installed last night.


This **** is getting old and I really don't want to sell the max but if it keeps up, I'll have to.

Now, some more background to this...

Right after I added factory fog lights, my factory alty went out. My car was pre wired for them so I thought all was good. I have 35w 8k hid headlights, 35w 3k hid fog lights with the rewire off the side marker, led side markers front and back, led tail lights and led corner.

Am I just getting bad rebuilds or what? I'm getting tired of this..

styliztik

(on mobile so I can't edit) I forgot to add that I know I'm not the first person to do those mods and it seems like its just me that this is happening too. Also, my fuses are good and I'm not blowing any

surban1

iTrader: (17)

rebuilt alternators are always a crap shoot imho.

CrazxyDominican

iTrader: (2)

Yeah basically its hit or miss with rebuilt alternators.. that's what the warranty is there for. DO you have a speaker system in the car?

infinimax96

upgrade to a Murno alternator. Better voltage output and will probably last longer then 6months.

styliztik

I do not have a system.

Is the murano alternator the exact same size?

Shift_A32B

iTrader: (14)

From which generation?

KidA157

iTrader: (1)

Bosch AL2365N New Alternator - $145.88 from Amazon. This is the route I went after wasting the time of 3 removals and installs of refurbished Autozone alternators.

styliztik

how long has it lasted? and it says that it doesn't fit my car

KidA157

iTrader: (1)

I found that part number from my previous Amazon order list and it was ordered/installed at the beginning of April, so 4 months now.

I looked a 1998 Nissan Maxima here and it lists the same part number directly from Bosch so I'd assume you're safe: http://www.boschautoparts.com/Vehicl...artFinder.aspx

Timm80

How old is the battery in your car?!

styliztik

A year old.

sonicrunch

Is it possible that you have to much amperage draw, thus overworking the alternator.

Also consider if the mount alignment is off, thus destroying the alterantor's bearings.

styliztik

Draw from what? That would make sense if I had a A speaker system to accurately reenact a Metallica concert inside my car but I don't. All I have is a aftermarket deck(cheap) and replacement speakers and hid and led conversions

malamgir85

as stated above, an alt could go bad due to a bad (old) battery because its over working to keep it at the voltage it should to feed all the component on your car while the car is running.

styliztik

My battery is only a year old.

nitromax

have the battery checked...age doesn't matter. your alternators were bad in less than a year. a defect is a defect.

T_Behr904

It is a roll of the dice with reman alternators, but I've had some last a long time, and some not. Same thing with starters. I used to work at an auto parts warehouse and we got defective returns on alternators all the time. Your regularly scheduled alternator failures are probably a sign of something going on, or just that you're having really bad luck with them. I'd check all your grounds and make sure they're good and clean, do a draw test on the battery, and double check all of your light connections since you have hid's. Since you live in Arizona I wouldn't suspect moisture to be a problem with corroded connectors, but you never know.

NiteShadeX

You need to go to autozone and get the 125 amp alternator. Stop getting the 110 amp. When my 110 died i got the 125 and its still running strong for 4 years now, and it handles all the extra audio and accessories crap

styliztik

Niteshade, please re read my first post. I am NOT going back to crapassholezone.

Tbehr, I do have some corrosion on my positive side of the battery terminal on the connector part where all the wires go.

I've checked a few grounds already and they were all clean on the connections. I got the 2 on the intake plenum and the one behind the passenger headlight. Any others?

muligan22

About 2 years ago my alternator on my 1995 Maxima died. Battery and brake indicator dash lights on. I had a reman from Motion Auto parts put on. No idea of brand. Since that time 3 separate times the dash lights would come on again. It came on again two weeks ago for a few minutes and then went off again. So instead of being away from home when it finally goes. I decided to get another alternator and do it myself. Last time I paid a mechanic to do it.
I ended up at NAPA. Although they do have new ones listed, its hard to get one. So I got their premium 125 amp alternator with a lifetime warranty. It comes pretested with a sheet showing its tested outputs. It also came with a sheet to fill out so you get a card in the mail to pay for towing, up to 60 bucks, if you get stranded due to alt failure. Every little bit helps. I figure if this one fails I only pay for labor. Part number 13-8982

A few notes on install. After I took the rad fans off I put a piece of 1/4 inch plywood taped to inside of radiator. This keeps wrenches from banging radiator. Notice the AC compressor bolts are same size (diameter) as the lower alt bolt you might mix them up. Don't because the alt bolt is longer. The lower alt nut, with the J shaped washer welded to it needs to hang toward the bottom of the alt not on top. Also it may help some if you take a dab of clear silicone and put in on that bolts washer and essentially glue it to the alt in the proper position. Give it time to dry before installing the alt. That way its in place when you install the alt and you don't have to try to hold the nut by hand. If it breaks off you may have to take the belt tensioner off to hold both side of the alt at one time. Unless you have a helper.

I also got a new pig tail connector. The one that goes into the alt and AC compressor and wiring harness. I wanted to try to remove any point of failure I could. Unfortunately I could not get the plastic connector to lock into the new alt. Even the old one would not lock in. So I had to take my alt back off again and sort it out. It was a small piece of plastic blocking it from seating. Once solved I clicked it in place and left it in while I re installed the new alt. I would recommend test fit yours first before doing the install.

I also put on a new belt. 14mm wrenches both box and ratchet are helpful. As is a 1/2 inch for the alt nut.

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Ca...982_0307343036

NiteShadeX

Im just telling u what worked for me. Do you have a system and alot of electronics? And are you replacing your alt with a 110 or 125? The problem isnt autozone, the problem is you need more AMPS

You need: 125 amp alt, optima red top battery, gold plated anti-corrode terminals, grounding kit. youll never have a problem again

styliztik

The only thing after market on my car electrical is the lights and a factory replacement stereo head unit and speakers. Nothing crazy. I've been wanting a grounding kit.

GGENIUS

iTrader: (1)

half of the time you can take a REMAN alt. out of the box at autozone and tell if its good. spin that pulley and itll whisper some secrets into your ear.

zack97GLE

How are you getting so close to the radiator when doing an alternator r&r? Seems like taking off bottom radiator hose only works ok, I removed and replaced my alt from the bottom, after unbolting the a/c comp (not the freon lines).

zack97GLE

and the Murano alternator, at least until 2007 still had a 110 alt.

styliztik

R&r? And I just bend the bottom hose out of the way. My hoses are in really good shape. Which is weird because I don't have splash guards lol

GGENIUS

iTrader: (1)

whatchu talkin about? who are you saying it getting so close to the radiator? one dude was just saying he uses a piece of wood to absorb wrench gouges. but youre right theres no need to remove the house completely.

GGENIUS

iTrader: (1)

r&r is remove and replace. instead of remove and install (r&i)

GGENIUS

iTrader: (1)

but hes right about the hoses. they bend a lot, no need to remove them. just the rad fan shroud.

zack97GLE

I get wanting to protect the radiator, maybe I did it a different way, but at no time did removing the alternator come close to hitting the radiator or fans, we did however take the lower radiator hose completely off.

styliztik

I've even left the fan shroud in lol

T_Behr904

You should just be able to unbolt and drop the a/c compressor out of the way, just be careful with the lines when you move it.