theMax

My brake and battery lights on the dash are comming on and off.

They both come on and go off at the same time. I took the car to autozone and they said the battery was low but the alternator checled out fine. I got the battery charged but the lights came back on 3 days later. They also said the battery checked out fine.

I have 41K on the car and a optima red top a few months old, also a UDP. Anyone have similar problems or can suggest a solution?

sloppymax

iTrader: (8)

i had the same thing. it took about a week and half before the alternator went out. it showed it was charging fine at first even after lights initially came but it stopped charging shortly after.

theMax

Did you do the repair yourself? I priced an alternator at autozone for $279, ouch!

sloppymax

iTrader: (8)

i picked one up at a local alternator/starter shop. i think i paid $155 after $20 core return. it was a reman just like the one autozone, advance auto, etc would carry. i paid SR20DEN to replace mine since he was doing some other work to the car.

theMax

Anyone know how hard it is to replace the alternator? I've repaced the belts and it looks tight in there.

terryKS

Here's a link to R&R alternator I used:

http://www.motorvate.ca/mvp.php/500

I had the exact same problem with the lights on my 01 AE. Alternator failed me totallly after about 2 weeks. As I was driving home, gauges started acting funny, stereo turned off. I knew that batt was about dead, just hoping to make it home! As I pulled in my driveway the Max died. Typical Nissan, didn't leave me stranded!

Not a bad job to replace. Took me about and hour and a half to remove and the same to reinstall. Hardest part seemed to be feeding the alternator to its location(its a little tight).

I opted to have my alt. rebuilt locally. I have found in the past that the rebuilt alt & starters these days dont seem to be QC'd very well. More often than not, Ive had to take 1 or 2 alternators back before I got a good one. This is my opinion on this matter!!
It cost me $100 to have new bearing/bushings & regulator. If you go to the parts store and get a rebuilt I highly recommend you have them put it on their test machine and test under a load before taking it home. It isn't a bad job to do but I'd of been really upset if I got it all back together and they gave me a bad alternator(believe me its happened before). Just my .02!!

Best of luck!

theMax

Did you remove the rad to get the alternator out?

Also, 3 of us in this post have AE's, is our alternator different?

sloppymax

iTrader: (8)

i only found 1 part number in nissan's fast parts cd. we did not have to remove the radiator to change the alternator.

Lontar1

iTrader: (5)

it is an easy job... just need patience. Call autozone you can get one for 200 lifetime... good luck, follow the motovate link abpve and you are good to go....

Whtmax'01

I had alternator replaced for $250 including labor. i watched the mechanic do the install, it didnt seem hard , he took off belts, then ac compressor and then finally the alternator. I think it took 20 min to take off the parts , and same amount to put back on.

nissanluva

Had to replace mine on my AE a couple of weeks ago. Had it done at Nissan dealer. Bill came to $433 - luckily I was still under extended warranty so I only paid my deductible. I saw 1 other person had theirs fail at almost exactly the same mileage as mine did - 31K..... Now my CEL is on. 2 problems in 1 month Thank God for my Civic

terryKS

No I didnt remove the radiator, no need for that. You just remove the fans & fan shroud(one piece). All thats involved with that is, 2 bolts on top of rad. support, unplug two wire connectors, unhook your top radiator hose and lift the fans out in one piece. Takes about 4 minutes to remove.

You could maybe get away with not removing the fan. The only purpose is to give you more access while removing the alternator. Seems to me that it is well worth the couple extra minutes to remove the fans for the added room to work in though! HTH