Altenators/96 Maxima

I'll bet your using an aftermarket rebuilt alternator for say pep-boys or NAPA or something like that right ?

I'll leave the answer to this question up to the members of the group, they should know my preachings by now.

Lets hear the answer to this one gang, what is this man's problem

Stop buying cheap aftermarket alternators?

No, Steve. The moral is, buy cheap after-market alternators WITH A LIFETIME WARRANTY so you can get good at replacing them without losing money, then go into business fixing your friends' cars.

Too funny!

Well guys, in each case I've had my car serviced by my local Nissan dealer and they are using Nissan parts. So do I or don't I go the Pep Boys route? I wasn't aware of a lifetime warranty from them.

This sheds a whole different light on things, I apologize for assuming that you were using aftermarket parts

I would have the dealer look into possible harness problems, bad ground connections and the sort.

Alright, I'm gonna confess here and I expect Steve from Hotlanta Racing to get up on his soapbox and flame me with eternal damnation for this, but I, too, put in an aftermarket alternator from a shop I thought sold good quality parts. It lasted 3yrs8months and went bad. The shop went out of biz 6 months before that. Soooooo, I went to the trusty O'Reilly's shop and got another alt w/ a lifetime warranty and made sure I kept the receipt. I don't expect this one to go bad before I dump the car, but if it does, it's easy to change out.

AutoZone also sells 'nators w/ lifetime warr, but O'Reilly's was a bunch cheaper in this instance. With these old cars, I think one needs to use a little common sense on where he spends his money. Sure, OEM parts would be the best choice, but is it worth spending that much extra on something so easy to replace that carries a lifetime warr? Last time I checked, Nissan parts don't carry a lifetime warr!! These are cars, not aircraft. When they get old, you don't need to be sinking alot of money on the best, most expen$ive parts on the planet unless they are collectors items.

Chris

Considering that the alternator job on a 95-99 Maxima isn't quite that easy (a 2 man job involving removing the radiator fans, un-bolting and moving the AC compressor forward, and then finally getting access to the actual alternator), you're better off sticking with OEM to minimise the chance of having to do that job again.

CD

Depends on the car, some aren't very easy to replace. And in my case, I don't get paid to replace ones that go bad so doing free work doesn't pay my bills. I learned long ago I lose money installing cheap alternators

-even- if I pocketed the difference in price between a good one and a cheap one. Same with cheap reman axles, it's not worth my time installing them as I -know- they are going to cause problems.

Another point I'm going to make is many times a nissan reman isn't that much more than a cheapo one. I know on my old 280Z a nissan reman was around $85 and autozone wanted $65.

One last point and I'll shut up.. I've seen 3 different nissans -totalled- from cheap alternators. On these cars, the alternator started severly overcharging which slowly roasted every electronic part on the car. Sure they'll give you another alternator but who gets to pay for the blown up FI computer etc.

There are places where aftermarket parts work OK, there are other places where it's just a bad idea. I have the experience to know which to choose, if you don't have this experience, you're taking a risk.

If you don't leave town and can limp home, buy a cheapo if you like.

If you have access to a covered, heated place to work on your car anytime you like, buy a cheapo.

If access to the part is not an issue, buy a cheapo.

If you don't have a family to protect by avoiding their being stranded, buy a cheapo.

But, I had an alternator quit at about 35,000 miles. Plymouth POS. Bought a reman Plymouth from the dealer, probably equivalent quality to O'Reilly etc.

In the next 40,000 miles, the alternator quit 4 times. The first time the reman quit, the car was wrecked because it should have been in another place, which it would have been if it weren't limping.

The last time it quit, I was actually driving to the parts place to get another alternator. Totalled at 78,000. I took the insurance check and ran.

JM

I agree, JM. Yes, I won't buy Chrysler anymore, either! Usually alternators don't just quit and leave you stranded, although I'm not sure about the new cars and their multiple computers, etc. On older cars, you will be able to run off of the battery for a short while. You'll know it's bad when the lights dim at low rpm's and then get brighter at higher rpm's. But you're looking at a dead battery pretty soon, so it's good to change it out asap. I speak from experience!

Back in '94, my then-girlfriend and I were driving around in her '85 Lazer. It had about 80,000 miles. The alternator had just been replaced about three weeks prior. (I don't have a clue what model it was.) It was just past dusk and we were about a mile from her place.

I suddenly noticed the radio display panel was flickering. I looked out and noticed that the lights were dimming. I told her, to gun it and get home (about two miles) as fast as possible. We ended up running two red lights which had just turned, and having to wait at a left turn light for what seemed like hours as she revved the engine in the hopes that it wouldn't die.

Finally we made it about halfway down the street from her house and the car simply stopped in the middle of the road. I got out and pushed it into her driveway.

The next day we went out and she bought a '93 Altima GXE.

yeah, those cars definitely let you know when their alternators were going out due to their sensitive electronics. I've been lucky on all the alternators that have gone out on me in that I had a few days notice when they were checking out.

Chris

No it never dimmed and brightened, because the alternator wasn't just losing one diode -- it would just quit altogether. And my ammeter had quit about the time the warranty expired. In the daytime I'd be tooling along right up until the engine stuttered and died -- at about

So there was not much warning. Towards the end, I pulled the dash apart and fixed the ammeter.

JM

Until you've replaced 5 or 6 cheap ones.. ;-)

You've got to be kidding. I just replaced the alternator on my 95. It was not difficult at all to do by myself, and I certainly didn't have to remove the radiator fans. Just unbolt the compressor and move it out of the way, remove the alty.

I never said you had to remove the fans or said that it was a 2 man job.

I'm glad you got it done yourself, the job is not that tough to do as you found out