97 Altima Chronic Alternator problems

Hey Guys,

I need some ideas. My 97 Altima is having its 3rd alternator put in today since June 06. I am sooo frustrated. Its at 120,000 miles. This is the 5th alternator since 2000. This last one only lasted 2 weeks. I have tried 3 different places. I really like this last place (they replaced the last one two weeks ago) but as of this morning they don't know why the parts are dieing. The car has a new battery, new plugs, new belts, new fuses, new brakes, new axels...its had +$2K in work done in the last 3 months...and still this morning that damn battery and break light turned on..sure enough bad alternator. Can it be I am just have rotten luck with these refurb'd alternators or does anyone else have any ideas? Two weeks ago I had 2 days from the point the battery and brake light came on until it was dead completely. Both times I have been running the radio, lights, defroster, heater all at once. Is there a chance having everything on would cause some sort of short?

Any help would be appreciated!

~ Lady_326

Hey Guys,

I need some ideas. My 97 Altima is having its 3rd alternator put in today since June 06. I am sooo frustrated. Its at 120,000 miles. This is the 5th alternator since 2000. This last one only lasted 2 weeks. I have tried 3 different places. I really like this last place (they replaced the last one two weeks ago) but as of this morning they don't know why the parts are dieing. The car has a new battery, new plugs, new belts, new fuses, new brakes, new axels...its had +$2K in work done in the last 3 months...and still this morning that damn battery and break light turned on..sure enough bad alternator. Can it be I am just have rotten luck with these refurb'd alternators or does anyone else have any ideas? Two weeks ago I had 2 days from the point the battery and brake light came on until it was dead completely. Both times I have been running the radio, lights, defroster, heater all at once. Is there a chance having everything on would cause some sort of short?

Any help would be appreciated!

~ Lady_326

I have seen one of the wires break by the hood latch , witch can give you a high charging voltage and a battery light. Other than that , check your grounds and make sure it's secure and clean with good contact.

I bought one from Auto Zone a few months back and had no problems. It cost $150.00 and its not that hard to replace

Your alternator will run every accessory at once without burning up. I paid $99 for a lifetime warranty alternator this week from AutoZone. The alternator I removed was from AutoZone and less than two years old. Connecting one lead of a DVOM to the negative battery post and the other to the alternator will measure how good your ground connection is. While load testing for max alternator output, the DVOM should read no more than .2v. Reading more than .2v under load shows excessive resistance in the ground connection between the battery and alternator. Resistance in the charge circuit can also be measured the same way. Connect one lead to the alternator output and the other to the positive battery post while load testing the alternator. If you read more than .3v there is excessive resistance in the positive side of the charging system. Just like golf, the lower the score the better the connection!

do not buy from auto zone or advance.. its well worth paying xtra for one from napa.

do not buy from auto zone or advance.. its well worth paying xtra for one from napa.


As you can see from my previous post I put a Auto Zone alt in my Atima in Oct. 2006. I still have it with no problems. I had 4 Pep Boys alternators put in a Maxima before having a dealer install a factory rebuilt unit. The problem seems to be with diodes the work intermittently.

I have a 98 altima and am having similar problems. The third replacement in 6 months is starting to fail (battery and brake light coming on simultaneously). Could there be another issue in the car that causes the alternator to fail?