Who builds good rebuilt alternators for Nissans?

[CBR.worm]

Our original alternator in the '97 Pickup lasted 13 years. It failed and I had it rebuilt by a local shop in late 2010, being wary of buying a reman alternator. Figured a local guy would do better (and maybe he did). After the rebuild voltage seemed lower than I expected, but it kept the battery charged and maintained that voltage with A/C, Wipers, headlights, etc running.

Yesterday the Brake and Battery lights lit up and not too far down the road the speedo stopped, the ABS light came on and then it quit running and coasted off the road. Tested - Alternator dead. It is kind of a pain to pull/replace and I don't want to do it for a third time. Any brands that are generally above average, or that should be avoided? It would be nice if I could buy one locally (NAPA, Advance, Pep Boys) but mail order would work too as long as it is a reputable company w/ warranty (ie - not Ebay)

I have seen WorldWide - but the reviews haven't been good. I have seen Denso and Beck Arnley - but neither had any reviews.

 

[Tegger]

Have you considered a factory reman from a Nissan dealer? Factory remans are usually the very best by a large margin.

 

[Towncivilian]

Factorynissanparts.com has a new alternator for $255 before shipping, not sure where that falls in your budget.

 

[Rand]

My dad's ranger alternator just went out

dealer wanted 300$ for reman 330 for new with 1 year warranty
95amp

autozone 130$ for 130amp lifetime warranty.

 

[mechtech2]

Bosch makes good rebuilds. Not the cheapest.

 

[user52165]

Originally Posted By: Rand
My dad's ranger alternator just went out

dealer wanted 300$ for reman 330 for new with 1 year warranty
95amp

autozone 130$ for 130amp lifetime warranty.


My 87 Accord alternator lasted 24 years. I am now installing the 3rd AZ "lifetime" Duralast unit in the past year. I should have had the original rebuilt. Sure they don't charge for the part each time. Buy what about my time to install? It is not an easy job on this car.

 

[Rand]

thats a good point but on the ranger its a 30min job max.. not worried about it.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: Towncivilian
Factorynissanparts.com has a new alternator for $255 before shipping, not sure where that falls in your budget.

See the core-charge? That listing looks like it's for a factory remanufactured unit, not a new one.

But since it's Genuine Nissan, this would be the one to buy, and the exact same part would be available from your local Nissan dealer.

 

[EricF]

Denso.. forget genuine nissan.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: EricF
Denso.. forget genuine nissan.

Who do you think makes Nissan's alternators?

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: Tegger
Originally Posted By: EricF
Denso.. forget genuine nissan.

Who do you think makes Nissan's alternators?


Hitachi. Or maybe now Paris Rhone. But a '97 is probably Hitachi.


Denso's parent company is Toyota.
You are likely to see a lot of Denso parts on Mazdas and Suzukis...even Hondas, but Nissan from that era used primarily Hitachi.

 

[Jarlaxle]

I think my Jeep has a Denso alternator...

Duralast Gold is pretty good: it's rebuilt, but only the case & pully are reused. Basically, it's a new alternator in an old housing.

Then again, the cheap Pep Boys rebuild in Liz's Grand National is still working perfectly after 4 years and a few 7500RPM blasts.

 

[CBR.worm]

The OE was hitachi. $255 is not out of the question. I had to buy a $100 battery today to get it the 60 miles back home from the side of I95 due to lack of time and the lack of ability to charge it on the side of the road.

The 'better' autozone option is $188. The Bosch reman is over $200.

It just stinks on a vehicle that is so reliable to have to fix one of the only things that has ever broken multiple times. There has to be a good option.

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Hitachi. Or maybe now Paris Rhone. But a '97 is probably Hitachi.

And the OP reports that his original lasted 13-years. So a factory reman Hitachi should last just about as long.

I've been through too many aftermarket remans to EVER trust them EVER AGAIN.

I drive enough that all three of my aftermarket failures were within warranty, so they didn't cost me any extra money. But alternator removal on my Honda requires removing the left driveshaft, and I had to do that too many times in bad weather to want to have to do it again unnecessarily. My current factory reman was twice the price of aftermarket, is now about 4- or 5-years old, and is working just fine, thank you.

 

[Donald]

I am surprised the one from a local rebuilder had problems. These days they mostly work on large truck and heavy equipment alternators and starters and would not stay in business if they had a lot of failures.

 

[Trav]

I bought one for the Infiniti M35X from an online Infiniti dealer.
Its new not rebuilt and wasn't much more than a rebuild from Rock.
New OEM Infiniti $323
Rebuilt from Rock Auto $258
AZ $190 for a cheesy Duralast rehash.

Nothing to think about here.

 

[MarkM66]

I'd give the guy who rebuilt it another chance. Or I'd at least take it back to him and let him know it didn't last very long.

 

[OVERKILL]

The Ford remans that we've bought are still going.

However the Bosch reman I bought for the Explorer...... Outlived the Explorer. I put it in the vehicle in 2001, my sister got rid of the truck a few months ago.

 

[Spazdog]

The only remans I ever had problems with were on my ex's Lumina.

Fortunately, it's incredibly easy to change the alternator on a 3.1 Lumina. Maybe 15 minutes tops. Unfortunately, I had to do it 3X before I got one that worked for more than a month or two.

I did have to replace an alternator on my Suzuki Swift, but that was due to a plastic shopping bag that made it's way into the alternator and wrapped itself up in the internal workings some how. Rebuilt by AlterStart in Cockrell Hill, Dallas, TX and never had a problem again. But I still avoid running over plastic shopping bags if I can.

 

[CBR.worm]

I ordered a 'new' hitachi from one of the Nissan OE websites for about $200 and no core charge.

I may set the other one aside for a while. I will check it out and see what failed. I may take it back to the rebuilder, but just so he can know what's up. He seemed to care last time, I just don't want to do this again.

I looked at buying the electrical parts, knowing that the bearings are good. the individual parts prics are crazy. The VR alone is $90.