Questions and Answers

Nissan Altima Eating Alternators Q. Hello Mr. Ciulla, I have a 1995 Nissan Altima, automatic transmission, 131,987 miles on it. Its a perfectly nice car except for the alternator and couple of other problems like the flashing air bag light, and the front oil leak from the distributor cap (the seal has been changed four times now!!?).

My problem is that this is going to be my THIRD ALTERNATOR that I will change for my Altima!!? I have no idea if its the way they built them or what? Every time I start the car it makes this clunk clunk grinding kind of noise until it just decides to give up on you in the middle of the road while on a stop light!

I am guessing, but I don't know, that my problem with the alternator is coming from the system I put in my car or my heavy usage of my CD-Player Every time I get in the car, or just my driving since sometimes I do get carried away (if you know what I mean) and redline the car. I have two 12" subs in the back with a 500 Watt 2 channel Amplifier connected directly to the battery with a fuse of course at the end of the wire (the section close to the battery).

The amplifier is also grounded underneath the cloth in my trunk. I don't know, could there not be enough ground which might be causing the problem? or is my alternator not handling or could not handel the charge? The wiring for the system was right, I'm sure of that or the system wouldn't work. I also have a radar hooked up in the car, and I have blue xeon lights with very high output power. What is my problem, what can I do to fix it, other than just keep buying new alternators every 3,000 miles.

Thank you,
Hashem

A. I would check fuse #31 in the under hood fuse box. If that fuse is burnt out, it may be the cause of your problem.

You say you have your amplifier connected directly to the battery. This is not good. It should be on a power feed that is hot only in ACC or RUN.

I would have the charging system tested and see what current demands you are making of the alternator. Everything needs to be turned on at idle to see how much current is being drawn. Excessively high current demands will wear out an alternator quickly.

But, if you are replacing alternators every 3,000 miles, the problem may not be the alternator, but rather where you are getting them. I would try getting another brand alternator from another source, preferably an alternator from a Nissan Dealer. I have seen runs of bad alternators before.

As for the flashing airbag light, the SRS module has detected a fault and the flashing airbag light is alerting you to the malfunction. You can access the codes by turning the key to the ON position and pressing the drivers door switch at least 5 times within 7 seconds. Then just count the flashes.

As for the distributor oil leak, I have had some success with using some Permatex® #2 under the distributor when I change the "O" rings.