# Where to buy distributor



## I'm3rd (Dec 24, 2003)

I need a distributor for my '94 Altima. I want a genuine OEM Nissan distributor at the lowest price. I have found an online source for $388.99 + $10 shipping and $50 core charge. That seems high for a distributo, does anyone know of a place for a better deal? Thanks.


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## Darktide (Jul 29, 2004)

first off what you have found is NOT genuine OEM Nissan. If there is a core charge then what you have is a rebuilt. And from my understanding, anything other than brand spankin new from the dealership will leave you doing the job again anyway. Don't cheap out on yourself, just go to the dealership and save yourself a ton of hassle and grief

Darktide


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## LONDONDERRY (May 19, 2004)

Darktide said:


> first off what you have found is NOT genuine OEM Nissan. If there is a core charge then what you have is a rebuilt. And from my understanding, anything other than brand spankin new from the dealership will leave you doing the job again anyway. Don't cheap out on yourself, just go to the dealership and save yourself a ton of hassle and grief
> 
> Darktide



Couldn't have said it better. I believe that Hitachi makes the distributor and the typical cost is ~$500.00.


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## I'm3rd (Dec 24, 2003)

OK guys, looks like the $519 price at the local dealer is the way to go, I don't want to have to do this twice. Thanks for the info.


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## Darktide (Jul 29, 2004)

not a problem. I've seen a lot of posts in the past few months dealing with this problem over and over again and it seems that almost everyone who found a cheaper rebuilt unit ended up having the same thing happen to them (the o-rings let go). I'd hate being in your position and I hope I never find myself there. I wish there was a website like gmpartsdirect.com for nissan where you can get OEM GM parts from a dealership, with a good discount. Oh well, maybe someday

Darktide


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## I'm3rd (Dec 24, 2003)

Well, I went to a large Nissan dealership in north Atlanta area today to buy a NEW distributor as recommended by several of you guys. The parts manager tells me that Nissan dealership garages only sell or install Nissan authorized remanufactured distributors and he has no way to order a brand new unit from Nissan. The "Nissan authorized" unit is $520 and is warranted for one year. I plan to call several other Nissan dealers in the Atlanta area tomorrow and see if I get the same story. 

Anyone have any advice on whether the so-called Nissan authorized rebuilt would be a satisfactory replacement, or is it no better than than the rebuilts I can get for roughly $130 less from online auto parts stores? Actually, the $388 rebuilt unit I originally asked about was at a Nissan dealership in Richardson, TX so I suppose it would be the same unit as the local dealer charges $520 for. 

What to do, what to do, I'm getting a little bit tired of chasing my tail around the tree on this thing.


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## LONDONDERRY (May 19, 2004)

I'm3rd said:


> Well, I went to a large Nissan dealership in north Atlanta area today to buy a NEW distributor as recommended by several of you guys. The parts manager tells me that Nissan dealership garages only sell or install Nissan authorized remanufactured distributors and he has no way to order a brand new unit from Nissan. The "Nissan authorized" unit is $520 and is warranted for one year. I plan to call several other Nissan dealers in the Atlanta area tomorrow and see if I get the same story.
> 
> Anyone have any advice on whether the so-called Nissan authorized rebuilt would be a satisfactory replacement, or is it no better than than the rebuilts I can get for roughly $130 less from online auto parts stores? Actually, the $388 rebuilt unit I originally asked about was at a Nissan dealership in Richardson, TX so I suppose it would be the same unit as the local dealer charges $520 for.
> 
> What to do, what to do, I'm getting a little bit tired of chasing my tail around the tree on this thing.



Call around. If you must go with a rebuilt, then I would get one from Nissan. The issue with rebuilts, has more to do with the who is rebuilding it and under what quality control. For example, the little electronics shop down the street that rebuilts distributors for $130, as you mentioned, doesn't have the same manufacturing and quality control procedures is place compared to a well established place. I work as a mechanical/ manufacturing engineer, and I'v seen and experienced this so many times. The old saying " get what you paided for" or " if it too good to be true"


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## JAZZaltiKA (Jun 10, 2006)

hey guys....how about a after market distibutor!!? Ignition coil!?? is it available?!


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## JAZZaltiKA (Jun 10, 2006)

i have a '95 altima...with a little mods...i jst put in a adjustable FPR- had a hard time fit it in...too tight in the fuel rail area,.., do you guys know if there's aftermarket fuel rail available for KA motor?


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## I'm3rd (Dec 24, 2003)

JAZZaltiKA said:


> hey guys....how about a after market distibutor!!? Ignition coil!?? is it available?!


 All that stuff is available from online parts sources. The question is, is any of it worth bothering with? I'm beginning to wonder.

I am disillusioned with Nissan. If this was my old Chevy Celebrity I sold when I got the Altima a few years ago I could buy a reliable reman distributor at a local discount parts store for a fraction of what a Nissan dealership wants for a questionable reman distributor it claims is an OEM unit. Is Nissan a major US car builder or not? Mine was built in TN, but it may as well have been built in outer Mongolia as far as parts and service is concerned.


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## LONDONDERRY (May 19, 2004)

I'm3rd said:


> All that stuff is available from online parts sources. The question is, is any of it worth bothering with? I'm beginning to wonder.
> 
> I am disillusioned with Nissan. If this was my old Chevy Celebrity I sold when I got the Altima a few years ago I could buy a reliable reman distributor at a local discount parts store for a fraction of what a Nissan dealership wants for a questionable reman distributor it claims is an OEM unit. Is Nissan a major US car builder or not? Mine was built in TN, but it may as well have been built in outer Mongolia as far as parts and service is concerned.


Understanably your car is experiencing some issues. Keep in mind very few 10 year old cars don't have any problems. I know tons of Nissan owners that lover there cars, and find them reliable. The distributor issue your experiencing is more common than not. If you do a post search you'll be shocked on the magnitude of this "oil-in distributor" issue. The only reason most everyone is reccomending a new distributor is because of the reliablity of rebuilts. For myself I went through 3 rebuilts in 6 wekks before I coughed up the extra cash for a OEM one. No with that said, I'm not saying all rebuilts are bad, you can try one if your short on cash, and you might get lucky as I'm sure some owners do. However, just make sure you understand the warrenty on a rebuilt before you install it. I wouldn't go with anything less than a 1 year warrenty. 
Nissan North America, has a manufactuirng facility in TN.


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## Darktide (Jul 29, 2004)

First off let me get it out of the way that I am a die hard chevy fan. I own a nissan altima because I know of their reliability. I worked at an auto parts store and over 2 years I saw quite frequently people with nissans that have cleared 300k miles.

All cars encounter issues now and then. Nissans are no different. The main difference between your altima and your old Celebrity is that your celebrity could quite possibly been the largest turd to ever ride the roads of america besides anything Chrysler or Volkswagon. You could get parts cheap for your celebrity because it was GARRANTEED to break down more often. Domestic vehicles require a lot of work and effort to maintain. Since owning my Altima I have had absolutely no problems with it. I've been able to just enjoy the ride instead of wondering what part will break next. Granted i'm young and have mechanical apptitude so I don't mind fixing things like that, but I truely enjoy the reliability of the nissan.

The only two issues I know of for Altimas are the distributor and the intake gasket. Other than that I can't think of much. 

Like I said don't get me wrong, I love GM (check the avatar). I own and take a considerable amount of pride in my 1981 Trans Am. I put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into that car. But I like to have a car that doesn't need the attention all the time too.

That's my rant and I'm sticking to it.
Darktide


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## LONDONDERRY (May 19, 2004)

Darktide said:


> First off let me get it out of the way that I am a die hard chevy fan. I own a nissan altima because I know of their reliability. I worked at an auto parts store and over 2 years I saw quite frequently people with nissans that have cleared 300k miles.
> 
> All cars encounter issues now and then. Nissans are no different. The main difference between your altima and your old Celebrity is that your celebrity could quite possibly been the largest turd to ever ride the roads of america besides anything Chrysler or Volkswagon. You could get parts cheap for your celebrity because it was GARRANTEED to break down more often. Domestic vehicles require a lot of work and effort to maintain. Since owning my Altima I have had absolutely no problems with it. I've been able to just enjoy the ride instead of wondering what part will break next. Granted i'm young and have mechanical apptitude so I don't mind fixing things like that, but I truely enjoy the reliability of the nissan.
> 
> ...


Such a positive upbeat attitude, love it... If you ever have free time on your hands, they perhaps you can use your mechanical apptitude in replacing the starter on my 96' Sentra. 
Time's been a precious commditey since I had my daughter 2 yrs ago.


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## bill52 (Jul 25, 2006)

I'm3rd said:


> Well, I went to a large Nissan dealership in north Atlanta area today to buy a NEW distributor as recommended by several of you guys. The parts manager tells me that Nissan dealership garages only sell or install Nissan authorized remanufactured distributors and he has no way to order a brand new unit from Nissan. The "Nissan authorized" unit is $520 and is warranted for one year. I plan to call several other Nissan dealers in the Atlanta area tomorrow and see if I get the same story.
> 
> Anyone have any advice on whether the so-called Nissan authorized rebuilt would be a satisfactory replacement, or is it no better than than the rebuilts I can get for roughly $130 less from online auto parts stores? Actually, the $388 rebuilt unit I originally asked about was at a Nissan dealership in Richardson, TX so I suppose it would be the same unit as the local dealer charges $520 for.
> 
> What to do, what to do, I'm getting a little bit tired of chasing my tail around the tree on this thing.


Hi. My 1995 Altima GXE quit on me out of state and because of that is now in a dealer's repair facility. I was told the same thing about Nissan using only remanufactured units supposedly because they are no longer making 'new' distributors, and when they told me the distributor had a $499 price tag, I let out a 'holy crap!'. What a surprise! I bought my car this year - it only had 69,xxx miles on it and I was hoping to get a reliable car. That seems questionable now from what I'm seeing in the forum. Anyway, I opted to keep the old distributor (paying the core charge) in hopes of being able to replace the seals and keep it as a spare - I don't want another similar repair bill for this. I'm going to pick up the car on Thursday and drive it a few hundred miles to make sure that the problem is fixed before I try the long trek back home. BTW, they also told me the warranty was 12/12 on the distributor.


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## LONDONDERRY (May 19, 2004)

bill52 said:


> Hi. My 1995 Altima GXE quit on me out of state and because of that is now in a dealer's repair facility. I was told the same thing about Nissan using only remanufactured units supposedly because they are no longer making 'new' distributors, and when they told me the distributor had a $499 price tag, I let out a 'holy crap!'. What a surprise! I bought my car this year - it only had 69,xxx miles on it and I was hoping to get a reliable car. That seems questionable now from what I'm seeing in the forum. Anyway, I opted to keep the old distributor (paying the core charge) in hopes of being able to replace the seals and keep it as a spare - I don't want another similar repair bill for this. I'm going to pick up the car on Thursday and drive it a few hundred miles to make sure that the problem is fixed before I try the long trek back home. BTW, they also told me the warranty was 12/12 on the distributor.



No good...
Once the original distributor is bad no sense in keeping it as a spare unless know what component in its bad and you plan on rebuilding it yourself. For example, it could be the photo-optic sensor, which is expoxied in place, or the encoder wheel, seals, ect. In general if the dealer has replaced it, there's no need to test drive it a few of hundred miles, it should be good. The warrenty is typical of dealship parts.

Good luck
Frank


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

this is my take on distributors. you can pay the 5XX dollars for a the nissan oem brand and when it dies (in 2 weeks or 10 years, doesnt matter for my point) than you can fork the money out for another because nissan doesnt give a lifetime warranty on pretty much ANYTHING. OR you can go and buy one for 159 from auto zone (like i did) and if/when it goes bad, you get another (for* free*!!!). for the 5-10 minutes it takes to replace it and check the timing, id rather spend my money wisely and buy aftermarket. i have never had a problem with an aftermarket dis for my altima. shit, ive had more problems with the msd i installed than i have had with the dis. just my .02 but i know how to spend wisely - and i do.


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## NAPAguy (Sep 20, 2006)

My user name says it all but... 

http://partimages.genpt.com/partimages/543492.jpg

Line Code	NND
Part Number	9520701
Description	Distributor (Electronic w/ Module) - New unit!!


List price is only $313...you should be able to get it for much less if you go to the NAPA store in your town


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