# 2 Alternators Fails Within 2 Months



## leepold (Aug 20, 2011)

I am sorry to say my 98,000 miles 1997 altima gave me nothing but problems since I purchased it used in 2008 with 72,000 miles.
2 months ago brake light and battery light went on after driving with a/c on for 1 hour. Right away I purchased a rebuilt alternator at auto-zone and once installed the lights went out. Today the lights came back. I am worried. Good thing auto-zone will replace it but if alternator fails so quickly could there be a problem inside? There are 2 existing problems I didn't get to fix. Horn doesn't work all the time and tranny position light are off. Recently engine light went on and tells me I need 02 sensor and knock sensor. Any ideas?


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

Problem = Autozone reman alternators. Crap shoot at best. Get a real alternator, OEM from Nissan, or, well, at least Autozone has that warranty...what is it these days? 1 year or 3 years?

SES light - Replace that O2 sensor and knock sensor if you want, or do a search and I'd bet you'd find the real issue behind those 2 codes.

And can you quantify the statement "nothing but problems" ???
Seems to me like an alternator and a couple of codes over the course of a few years doesn't constitute "nothing but problems". Sounds more like 2 problems that haven't been fixed properly, rather bandaid-ed and/or ignored.


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## leepold (Aug 20, 2011)

jdg said:


> Problem = Autozone reman alternators. Crap shoot at best. Get a real alternator, OEM from Nissan, or, well, at least Autozone has that warranty...what is it these days? 1 year or 3 years?
> 
> SES light - Replace that O2 sensor and knock sensor if you want, or do a search and I'd bet you'd find the real issue behind those 2 codes.
> 
> ...


Here some of the repairs I had to do since 2008:
Mass Air Flow Sensor (took 6 months to diagnose -car would not run and die)
A/C Compressor
Front and Rear engine supports
Leaky Radiator Replaced
rear and front lights several times,windows getting stuck, small annoying things
brakes twice
full tune up and I am still getting lousy mileage.
Look I am not saying Altima is a bad car, but on the other hand I have a 1997 Saturn sl1 I purchased used in 2007 and the only thing I replaced on it was temperature sensor ,brakes and full tune up (gets fantastic mileage). Probably my altima was not as well maintained as my saturn. But its still strange that the altima sold originally for over $25,000 and the saturn was sold new for $12,000. The altima was owned by an old lady from suburbs and the saturn by a young person that lived in a heavy traffic city area. Go figure that one out?LOL.


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## jdg (Aug 27, 2009)

MAF - that should've been an easy diagnosis with the proper test equipment
A/C compressor - a crap shoot, seals go bad, bearings go bad, it happens
Engine supports - hard driving usually, but if it's a little old lady, maybe environmental factors
Radiator - too many thoughts for that, it happens
lights/windows - Seems like I read about a lot of newer-ish Nissan's having electrical problems that end up being related to grounding issues.
Brakes - little old lady riding the brakes going down the highway?
Lousy mileage - hundred different factors there, most of the time leading back to a heavy right foot
In other words, that list doesn't sound all that bad...but that's just me. I'm used to old-ish/used cars and expect stuff like that.


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

ill wholeheartedly second the auto-zone crappy alternator idea. i had 2 die in 2 days when i was in virginia last year. right from the shelf one died on the bench. but with a no questions asked warranty, ill deal with it. the 3rd ones been going strong now for a while.


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