Replacing Alternator

[Colonel]

I got the lucky chore of at least attempting this task this weekend. I thought I might share a few "lessons learned".

There are tons of threads asking about the lights and smart aleck answers but nothing to address the fairly simple task of R/R, so I put this together to help address areas of possible confusion. This should be a very simple task for anybody that can change their own oil.

• Prior to unbolting anything to replace:
  • Disconnect the battery. Clean the outside of the battery terminals and the inside of the cables lightly with steel wool or sand paper of 200 grit or higher.
  • Disconnect the Alternator ground (12mm). I used an extention with a socket to get at it.
  • Disconnect the Alternator harness. Its stubborn but DONT yank on the wires of the harness.
  
  Inspect all three connections for oxidation or broken parts and then reconnect to see if your symptom still exists. If they do, then pull the battery and alternator and have them both bench tested THEN replace faulty part.
  
• They have revamped the idler tension bolt on the pulley face assembly (mine is an 01). Its no longer a wimpy little un-flanged brass nut anymore that can be easily stripped. Its now a big beefy nut(they took it off an idler assembly in stock). Make sure to get a better bolt to replace the piece of trash bolt that came with the car.
  
• Because you need to loosen this bolt FIRST as well as the top bolt (both 14mm), make sure you use a GOOD 6p point wrench or you'll strip it like I did.
  
• A total of eight bolts: 4 for the AC compressor, 2 for the Idler pulley, and two for the alternator. DO the Idler pulley first. If you have issues with either bolt on the idler pulley there is no reason to pull the compressor as you will not get it easily lined back up because the belt will be to tight. Ask me how I know this.
  
• The "check the alternator through the battery test" isn’t worth doggy do do. I also found this out the hard way. I would have thought they would hook up the alternator to some gizmo to test it, as they said they can test it on the car. When the Oil light and Brake light lit up, I knew what the basic cause was. I had it "tested" on the car and they said the alt was bad, which I suspected.
  
  I had disconnected the battery and unclipped the alternator harness and alternator ground prior to attempting to uninstall the alternator and finding the stripped bolt. Once I stripped it (well, very close to being stripped) and had put on penetrate for about 24 hours with no success, I put the whole thing back together to take it to a shop to have the bolt removed. I reassembled and low and behold, no warning lights lit up. The bolt to the ground was tight; the harness was also tight prior to uninstalling. The only thing I can think of is that some oxidation happened somewhere and by "removing" the connections scraped it off enough to make it work.
  

All in all, if I had not run into the stripped bolt, it would have taken about one hour to do a R/R. In hind sight, even though I spent tons of time on the bolt it DID save me 200 bucks for a new alternator.

I read some threads from a while ago stating you can get an alternator for about 80 - 100 dollars. The cheapest I could find was 180 dollars, but it was a no-name 90 day warranty alternator which I would not put in my car. Most averaged between 225 and 250.

MotorVate has a really helpful website (Pointed out by Lontar1) with pictures to give more detailed information. While the guide is for a Fourth Gen, the principal and components are the same.

MotorVates Alternator Replacement Guide

Yet more testimony to make sure to make sure to loosen the idler pulley bolts FIRST.

Originally Posted by Love_00_Max

To keep folks updated on the tensioner pulley bolt -- the replacement bolt would be strut hat bolt (14mm).

The OEM bolt is butter and a socket cannot access it, so with a wrench the probability of rounding it off is definetly a possibilty (as it happened to me and others).

Originally Posted by djfrestyl

I just replaced the alternator on my 5.0 gen. Took me roughly 3 hours, including a quick search on the forum and finding a replacement nut for the stripped tensioner pulley nut. The OEM one is butter soft.

I didn't touch the fan shroud or the radiator. No need for draining coolant, no need for removing the fan assembly.

The AC compressor, however, ABSOLUTELY MUST be unbolted and moved to access the long bolt at the bottom of the alternator. The alt will can come out from under the car and the new one can be inserted from under the car.

This is the easiest method, and will save some time over the motorvate write-up.

[talkinghorse]

Great write-up...thanks! Out of curiosity, how many miles are on the car? Both my 4th Gen Maxima and 5th Gen-equivalent I30t have in excess of 100K and I'm kind-of expecting something like this to go.

[Colonel]

Originally Posted by talkinghorse

Great write-up...thanks! Out of curiosity, how many miles are on the car? Both my 4th Gen Maxima and 5th Gen-equivalent I30t have in excess of 100K and I'm kind-of expecting something like this to go.

Only 54K and change. To clarify, I didnt replace the alternator. Due to my saga above, I think I had "accidently" cleaned off some oxidation somewhere. I wonder how many people have replaced perfectly fine alternators? Because that test the performed was a joke in my book.

[carsarecool]

This is a great thread, I'm gonna try and do some cleaning and tightening myself however I'm at 123,000 miles and had a "brake and battery" light combo come on for about a minute earlier this week. Also once in a while now, the alt. squeals REAL loud when the car is at idle and its drawing a lot of current
(like stopped at night in the rain, brake/head lights on, wipers, heater, radio, defroster and heated sea and if i put a window down the gauges dim and it squeals)
So I might be looking at a new one but we'll see first

[808MAX-SPEC]

Great write-up. Pics would be nice. Did you have to remove the radiator fans to get to alternator? It's a PIA to get to.

[Colonel]

Originally Posted by 808MAX-SPEC

Great write-up. Pics would be nice. Did you have to remove the radiator fans to get to alternator? It's a PIA to get to.

No, I see no reason to remove the fans. I pulled the right front wheel and spent most of my time working from under minus removing the connectors and such from the alternator. Removing the four AC compressor bolts and moving the compressor out of the way seemed pretty easy to me. That was the OEM manual way to do it and it seemed good.

Pics would be nice, but its really self evident which bolts are what. If someone wants to host them, I can do it. But I have a free webshare that I use that gets overwhelmed by high traffic.

[Scottwax]

Originally Posted by carsarecool

I'm at 123,000 miles and had a "brake and battery" light combo come on for about a minute earlier this week. Also once in a while now, the alt. squeals REAL loud when the car is at idle and its drawing a lot of current

Check the belt first, make sure it isn't slipping.

[Lontar1]

Best write-up ever for Alternator replacement up with pics....

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

[Love_00_Max]

When I replaced my alternator, I had to get the fans out.
Overall replacing the alternator is not a fun job but I wouldn't go to the extent to say it is a very tough job. If one has tiny hands it is a big plus.

[irish44j]

this thread added to the "installation instructions/how-to" sticky...thanks.

[djfrestyl]

Bumping this thread to add my 2 cents.

I just replaced the alternator on my 5.0 gen. Took me roughly 3 hours, including a quick search on the forum and finding a replacement nut for the stripped tensioner pulley nut. The OEM one is butter soft.

I didn't touch the fan shroud or the radiator. No need for draining coolant, no need for removing the fan assembly.

The AC compressor, however, ABSOLUTELY MUST be unbolted and moved to access the long bolt at the bottom of the alternator. The alt will can come out from under the car and the new one can be inserted from under the car.

This is the easiest method, and will save some time over the motorvate write-up.

[Love_00_Max]

To keep folks updated on the tensioner pulley bolt -- the replacement bolt would be strut hat bolt (14mm).

The OEM bolt is butter and a socket cannot access it, so with a wrench the probability of rounding it off is definetly a possibilty (as it happened to me and others).

[carsarecool]

Originally Posted by Scottwax

Check the belt first, make sure it isn't slipping.

Thats the thing, I'm pretty sure it is the belt slipping because too much current is being drawn on a failing alternator. I just had the belts replaced in april with goodyear Gatorback's, and now if say I'm at idle with the wipers, heated seat and radio on and i turn on the rear defroster it'll squeal.

[buellfire]

I just replaced my a/c-alt belt because of squealing. I found something strange. The prior owner had a shop replace the alt in Sept he stated that the belt had been slipping since. Lastnight I replaced the belt and went to tighten it.I found that the 14mm hat nut was on the wrong side of the bracket!!!! So when you tightned the nut it just raised up. I had to take apart the puley to slide the bolt/nut combo back though the hole in the bracket where they needed to be. This is why I work on my own cars. Has anyone else ever seen this? Hope this helps others.

[hoboscratch]

Just did my alternator replacement. I was expecting it to be a PITA but it took me about 45 min. Followed the steps above, but had a FSM on hand as well. FYI, use a box end wrench on the tensioner nut and you shouldn't have an issue with strippage.

[Professor]

122k on my alternator, also factory belts, what are my chances something lets loose anytime soon //?

[808MAX-SPEC]

Originally Posted by Professor`

122k on my alternator, also factory belts, what are my chances something lets loose anytime soon //?

You may want to check your belts for cracks. Other than that, consider yourself lucky if you had no problems with your alternator.

[upstatemax]

Glad to see this thread... I am about to swap out my Alt, again...

I had mine replaced last year and this weekend my car started to act strange, radio cut out, dash acting funny and would not restart. I let it sit for about 1/2 hour and it started up fine and acted fine. I stopped by Advance Auto and they tested the battery and Alt, the battery tested fine while the Alt peaked at 14.8 amps at 2k rpms.

I need to get under the car and look far crappy connections.

[dineth00i30]

man i had my i30's alternator replaced and what a change! my headlights are brighter , my bose sub sounds totally different and the car is great now bcus, i got a new maf as well but changing the alternator was pain what i did was loosed up the ac from the bottom and took the alternator from the back.

[kaeroonsnake]

Here are a few extra hints for a 2003:

$150 for a reman alternator at autozone. Lifetime warranty but not a perfect fit. There is a sleeve in one of the mounting brackets where the long bolt goes tru. This was way too long, it would prevent the hook from catching on the long bolt, so that it would not tighten up, just spin..
Ended up tapping out the old sleeve from the original alternator and using that.

BRW the Dealer wanter $400 for the alternator,+ $200 labor.

On the 2003, I had to take off the fan assembly, the compressor and the idler pulley. (The pulley covers up one of the bolts). The idler pulley has multiple pieces to it, write down the order in which they come off...
Also the AC compressor has 2 sets of different bolts, so write down which bolt goes into which hole.

For the fan assembly, you need to drain the antifreeze.
If you detach the intake and outflow hoses, and the overflow tube, you can just lift the thing up and lay it on top of the engine. do not have to disconnect the electrical wires.


Reassembly was a pain, esp. putting in the long bolt. You can not see what you are doing, took me an hour to put it back in. Once the long bolt is in place, and the nut is on, you should put some pressure on the right end of the long bolt, ( I used a long stick) so that the hook will catch and not turn. This allows you to tighten the nut properly. This is a locking nut, takes a while and some force to snug it up.

Having a second person around for the reassembly is extremely useful. The whole process took more like 8 hours for me, so evidently YMMW.

[Scottwax]

Good luck on an Autozone alternator. Never had any luck with their parts. Hopefully you have better luck. Thanks of the tips you provided.

[McSteve]

I think he ended up replacing the alternator anyways a couple months later tho... So Break light and Battery light are definite signs Alt. is going bad...

[CMax03]

Originally Posted by Scottwax

Good luck on an Autozone alternator. Never had any luck with their parts. Hopefully you have better luck. Thanks of the tips you provided.

Other than ordering name brand items thru them such as Energy Suspension, along with chemicals and the like... their parts never fit anything worth a crap, not even back in the early 80'S!

[02shiftmaxima]

I just finished installing rebuilt alternator on my 03 maxima, and followed the basic steps to get to it. But I do not see why I needed to take out the fans and radiator, because the alternator in not even interfering with any of those parts. So I did the whole replacement without removing those parts. Thanks to ORG for helping me with installation.

[djfrestyl]

There is absolutely NO need to remove the rad or the fans.

[LA02MAX]

Just to add to this thread: Dave Burnette sells brand new (not remanufactured) nissan alternators for $250 + shipping. Definitely worth getting over autozone parts, IMO.

[JoMaxima]

Hey bud, I felt your pain. That was a really pain in the butt job! took me 2 try's to get the bolts tight enough too! I didn't get them tight enough on day one and the thing rattled like a sob until I got back under there and found a way to get leverage in that 1" in working space b/t the ac & it's spot on the engine.

Originally Posted by kaeroonsnake

Here are a few extra hints for a 2003:

$150 for a reman alternator at autozone. Lifetime warranty but not a perfect fit. There is a sleeve in one of the mounting brackets where the long bolt goes tru. This was way too long, it would prevent the hook from catching on the long bolt, so that it would not tighten up, just spin..
Ended up tapping out the old sleeve from the original alternator and using that.

BRW the Dealer wanter $400 for the alternator,+ $200 labor.

On the 2003, I had to take off the fan assembly, the compressor and the idler pulley. (The pulley covers up one of the bolts). The idler pulley has multiple pieces to it, write down the order in which they come off...
Also the AC compressor has 2 sets of different bolts, so write down which bolt goes into which hole.

For the fan assembly, you need to drain the antifreeze.
If you detach the intake and outflow hoses, and the overflow tube, you can just lift the thing up and lay it on top of the engine. do not have to disconnect the electrical wires.


Reassembly was a pain, esp. putting in the long bolt. You can not see what you are doing, took me an hour to put it back in. Once the long bolt is in place, and the nut is on, you should put some pressure on the right end of the long bolt, ( I used a long stick) so that the hook will catch and not turn. This allows you to tighten the nut properly. This is a locking nut, takes a while and some force to snug it up.

Having a second person around for the reassembly is extremely useful. The whole process took more like 8 hours for me, so evidently YMMW.

[djfrestyl]

Again, to reiterate. You do NOT have to touch anything to do with the radiator or fans for a 5th gen install. AC compressor has to be moved out of the way, about 6-8 inches. That is IT.

[Colonel]

I am the OP of this thread. I did NOT remove the Rad or fans.

DONT REMOVE THE RAD OR FANS, YOU ARE CAUSING YOURSELF MORE GRIEF AND WORK THAN ITS WORTH!!!!

[hitlayers]

The link on this site does not work and since I'm not really a mechanic, can someone post step by step pictures on how to install an alternator on a 2000 nissan maxima SE. Thanks.

[J-Rod]

Originally Posted by Colonel

I am the OP of this thread. I did NOT remove the Rad or fans.

DONT REMOVE THE RAD OR FANS, YOU ARE CAUSING YOURSELF MORE GRIEF AND WORK THAN ITS WORTH!!!!

Yeah, no one reads the threads anymore they just go to the bottom with their question.

[djfrestyl]

Originally Posted by hitlayers

The link on this site does not work and since I'm not really a mechanic, can someone post step by step pictures on how to install an alternator on a 2000 nissan maxima SE. Thanks.

Sure, let me get out my kitchen utensils and spoonfeed the information to you. SEARCH, the guide is already out there.

[Phantom-V]

so i just did this yesterday and it took me like 6 hrs due to the fact that it was my first time and....i stripped the bolt for the tensor. Yeah, that bad boy just glazed over..lol. i had a strip bolt kit luckily so i just used that to get it off. Now, i'll go to Autozone and buy a new one. Hopefully i wont have fitment issues. sure saves going to the stealership.

[arthur glazier]

I just changed it yesterday on my 2000 max lets see if I can remember:
diconnect battery, jack up car remove pass side wheel, and plastic splash guards. 1 in wheelwell and 2nd under engine. Loosen the 14mil nut on the tenson pulley, then loosen 14mil tenson nut pointing up(its brass colored). At this point the tenson pulley should move up/down freely. Next I disconnected the alt ground and the plug from the alt. Then I removed the 4 bolts holding the a/c unit, then removed the 2 bolt for the alt(1 long,1 short).Now you move the a/c unit out of the way,push it to the driverside of the car, and the alt can drop down and out. I have a guy who can rebuild my alt. for 105.00(he has done other alt. and staters for me ,so I trust him). get a new alt. belt and check your power steering belt, because this is a good time to change it since your there. Reverse to install. It took me about 2hrs, its not that hard.good luck.

[Phantom 309]

Replacing alt in my 96 right now..can't seem to get 1 bolt out of the alt.It's a square nut.
Not sure if the original was replaced with this or not..everything seem pretty easy..just this 1 alt bolt is holding me up..suns gone down..will tackle it again in the a.m..gonna swing by autozone and check the tool section..Hope i can get this thing off..
Hmmm..it may unscrew from the backside..i'll check it tomorrow..

[djfrestyl]

First time I've ever heard of there being a square nut.

[mannetti21]

Also worth noting: When loosening the tensioner bolt, lefty loosey, righty tighty does not apply. Simple, stupid mistake that cost me another $20 and about 20mins of time.

[djfrestyl]

Originally Posted by mannetti21

Also worth noting: When loosening the tensioner bolt, lefty loosey, righty tighty does not apply. Simple, stupid mistake that cost me another $20 and about 20mins of time.

Uh...works for me. And I just did this about 20 minutes ago.

[Phantom 309]

Originally Posted by Phantom 309

Replacing alt in my 96 right now..can't seem to get 1 bolt out of the alt.It's a square nut.
Not sure if the original was replaced with this or not..everything seem pretty easy..just this 1 alt bolt is holding me up..suns gone down..will tackle it again in the a.m..gonna swing by autozone and check the tool section..Hope i can get this thing off..
Hmmm..it may unscrew from the backside..i'll check it tomorrow..

This 1st timer got the job done..It took a little time,but it's on there with a new belt..Shopping for a deep cycle battery today,since my son is pushing 12's in the trunk..The starter will be next on the list..At 311,000 miles,gonna try to keep it going a while longer..Great forum!

[djfrestyl]

^^ Your son might benefit by doing the big 3 upgrade since he's running a large system that seemingly needs a deep cycle. (Get an optima red top)