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Did your alternator fail?

  • Yes

    Votes: 108 42.0%
  • No

    Votes: 149 58.0%

Alternator failure poll

76K views 444 replies 102 participants last post by  Eric L. 
#1 ·
NOTE (added by jaak): Please vote in this poll, even if your alternator has not failed. If you suffer the bad luck of it failing later, Private Message Eric L. and he will adjust the poll numbers to change your vote. The more votes, the better accuracy.

Please vote, even if you just like to read, not post. Thanks!


WARNING: BRAKE AND BATTERY LIGHT IS AN INDICATION OF PENDING ALTERNATOR FAILURE

After voting, please see this post for more details on the brake and battery light:

Brake and Batt. light link
=======================



After my alternator called it quits last week, I've decided to put up an alternator poll.

Please answer yes for bad alternator, no for good alternator in the poll. Also post a brief message beneath with the build date of your Murano if you've had a failure.

My info:

Failure at 13,700 miles. Build date 04/03.
 
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#3 ·
Alternator failure

My Alternator failed this weekend ( 34000 Km), had it towed ( all wheels off the ground). When I arrived at the dealership and told him that both the battery trouble symbol and the emergency brake light was on, he confirmed that the alternator had failed. How I hate idiot lights, the engineer in me would like gauges that give info instead of stating a possible problem.

My MO is the 5th Mo with the alternator that has failed in 18 months at this dealership, the first alternator that failed took 25 days to get a new one, after that, they now keep one in stock.

I seem to remember that I read some where in this forum that Nissan was using Hitachi alternator and have now switched to Sanyo, does any one else remember this??

I was informed that it will take 4 hours to replace the alternator as they have to remove the radiator to get access to it. I will let you know how the dealership does on this job.

It is nice to know that AMA ( Alberta Motor Association) has a poilcy that any AWD vechiles automacially get toewd with the rear wheels on a set of dollies, this has been policy since 1994.
 
#4 ·
Alternator Failure update

My Mo was fixed this AM and it was the alternator the mechanic took two hours to replace it instaed of the four hours the service manager told me. Really impressed with the Dealership as they did it first thing Monday morning after they said it might not be done until Tuesday.

If anyone ever visit Calgary ( The Calgary Exhibiti An Stampede is in July) and you need to have your Mo worked on, Staduim Nissan in the city's N.W. is an excellent choice for service.

!!!!GO FLAMES GO, BRING STANLEY BACK HOME !!!!!
 
#6 ·
Whoo Hooo! The cup goes to the 11th Canadian Province! Florida!;)
 
#7 ·
Alternator Failure at 5K

I have a 2004 SL AWD I purchased in December of 2003. The Alternator failed at 5,600 miles. The break light / Battery light came on last Friday and I got it into the shop today. The repair job was completed in about four hours and I have it home tonight.

I also replaced the drivers seat support frame at about 2,000 miles.

Nissan made the repairs without any issues and provided me a rental car while mine was in the shop.


Even with these issues I really like this car.
 
#9 ·
20% failure rate seems pretty high.

But we may have a 'squeeky wheel' phenomenon here, i.e. people who had the failure have a higher tendecy to report it than ones who did not.

Real number might be more like 10 failures in the population of this forum. There are about 1500 members of this forum, say 80% are real MO owners, so failure rate might be more like 10 out of 1200, more like 0.8 %.
 
#10 ·
Alternator trouble

While I agree with Cveet about the poll, in my situation where my dealership has recorded 5 alternator failures in 1 year on probable sales of 75 Mo's, it should give someone in Nissan a reason to pause and think about the issue.

However, I think that I read somewhere that Nissan has changed the supplier of the alternators from Hitachi to someone else.:25:
 
#11 ·
A 20% failure rate should have prompted a recall by now, so that may be unlikely. That said, I think the alternator failure rate is much higher than a very small percentage, as it has been clearly documented on FA and here that many owners have experienced premature alternator failures.

Its easy to dismiss the issue if you do not have it. But when it happens to you, yeah, you will wish more people reported the problem!

When I had my Murano in for repair, the dealership said they had replaced several alternators on Muranos already. Since this is a part which should rarely fail prematurely, this tells me that there is a problem with the alternators that Nissan is not telling us.
 
#12 ·
Had my alternator replaced on Monday.

We made it 21,000+ miles before the Brake and Battery Light came on notifiting us that it was time to replace it.

The only good thing about the whole ordeal was that it was all covered under the warranty.
 
#15 ·
Seems to me I have seen two different lev 1 symptoms.
1- just stops charging
2- bad bearings

Seems like it is just a POS.

Homer
 
#17 ·
Won't buy another Nissan

My alternator went out on 6/21/04, 14.5K miles, as I was cruising down the Interstate in the left lane. No power, had to cross over 3 lanes to get to the shoulder. I was about 4 hours from home, didn't know anyone. I had to be towed only a few miles to a dealership. I got to the dealership about 2:30 pm. They knew the MO was undrivable, they knew I was from out of town, they knew I didn't know a soul, and they didn't look at it until the next morning! I had to get a rental, get a motel room and NISSAN WOULD NOT PUT UP A CENT OR REIMBURSE ME FOR MY COSTS! To make matters worse, I was told a replacement would take 3-5 days. It did take about 2. I contatcted Nissan, they told me that I should have taken out the extended warranty because that would have covered the cost out of pocket for me. ZERO CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!!!
The only two reasons I am keeping the MO now is:
1) I like it.
2) Can't afford to get out of it at this time.

DON'T BUY NISSAN!!!!
 
#18 ·
Re: Won't buy another Nissan

beemer-biker said:
My alternator went out on 6/21/04, 14.5K miles, as I was cruising down the Interstate in the left lane. No power, had to cross over 3 lanes to get to the shoulder. I was about 4 hours from home, didn't know anyone. I had to be towed only a few miles to a dealership. I got to the dealership about 2:30 pm. They knew the MO was undrivable, they knew I was from out of town, they knew I didn't know a soul, and they didn't look at it until the next morning! I had to get a rental, get a motel room and NISSAN WOULD NOT PUT UP A CENT OR REIMBURSE ME FOR MY COSTS! To make matters worse, I was told a replacement would take 3-5 days. It did take about 2. I contatcted Nissan, they told me that I should have taken out the extended warranty because that would have covered the cost out of pocket for me. ZERO CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!!!!
The only two reasons I am keeping the MO now is:
1) I like it.
2) Can't afford to get out of it at this time.

DON'T BUY NISSAN!!!![/COLO
R]



It is true that Nissan doesn't do a thing if you do not have the extended warranty (please people, don't post about how your very nice dealership gave you a free loaner etc.. since officially, NNA has no obligation to give you a loaner). When my alternator went south, I asked for a loaner and was denied as well. I suggest you call NNA using the 1-800 number in your owners manual and bring your case up with the regional rep. Perhaps they can at least give you some compensation (say, split the cost with you). At the very least, you would have reported to NNA about a dealership with subpar customer service.
 
#19 ·
NNA's 1-800-WE-DON'T-CARE is the number I called, and the Nissan regional rep there kept quoting to me that it is not their policy, should have taken the extended warranty, etc. I do realize they are not responsible, according to the owner's manual, but leaving someone stranded, in a place far from home because a warranty item broke and THEY can't get a replacement part for several days should be considered extenuating circumstances and they should have at the very least met me halfway. The total $ amount we are talking about is less than $250, hardly a great amount to a multi-billion dollar, international automotive manufacturer.
It is their lack of customer service and their attitude towards the customers after the sale that I have the problem with, not the vehicles.
And I remain,
 
#20 ·
beemer-biker said:
NNA's 1-800-WE-DON'T-CARE is the number I called, and the Nissan regional rep there kept quoting to me that it is not their policy, should have taken the extended warranty, etc. I do realize they are not responsible, according to the owner's manual, but leaving someone stranded, in a place far from home because a warranty item broke and THEY can't get a replacement part for several days should be considered extenuating circumstances and they should have at the very least met me halfway. The total $ amount we are talking about is less than $250, hardly a great amount to a multi-billion dollar, international automotive manufacturer.
It is their lack of customer service and their attitude towards the customers after the sale that I have the problem with, not the vehicles.
And I remain,
Sorry to hear that. It is no wonder Nissan ranks very low in customer satisfaction in all those commercialized surveys.
 
#21 ·
Eric,
In reference to you saying I should have reported subpar dealer experience to NNA, I did, and was told by NNA that they don't tell the dealers how to do business. The individual dealerships run them the way they want to, without NNA telling them what they can and cannot do.
I agree, no wonder that they rank low, makes you wonder how they keep going!? :confused:
 
#22 ·
It's well past due for them to tell their dealerships how to do business. The better ones sell more product and create very happy customers.

I keep waiting for the popping sounds as they remove their heads... Been waiting a long time.
 
#23 ·
jaak said:
It's well past due for them to tell their dealerships how to do business. The better ones sell more product and create very happy customers.

I keep waiting for the popping sounds as they remove their heads... Been waiting a long time.
Bad or spotty customer service can be the death knell for a company. I hope that's not going to be the case for Nissan. Maybe they're starting to get a clue...the following story was in the Business section of my paper this morning...although the comments from the "Nissan Communications Director" don't warm my heart.

Jeff
--------------------
Nissan targets plant problems

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

JACKSON, Miss.

Nissan Motor Company has sent almost 200 engineers from its Tokyo headquarters to solve problems consumers are reporting with vehicles made at its plants in Canton and in Smyrna, Tenn., after a consumer report noted complaints.

Nissan communications director Fred Standish said Tuesday that engineers also would visit Nissan supplier plants, a Nissan engineering firm in Michigan and Nissan's San Diego design center.

The engineers were dispatched after consumer complaints about Nissan were published in the April 2004 J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study.

The study, conducted annually, questioned 51,000 consumers who bought or leased 2004-model trucks and cars. The survey is designed to spot complaints that occur in at least one out of every 100 vehicles.

Consumer gripes about Canton-made vehicles included wind noise, vibrating brake pedals and paint blemishes.

The Canton plant opened in May 2003. It produces the new Altima, the Quest minivan, the Armada sport utility vehicle and the Titan truck for Nissan and the QX56 SUV for Infiniti. The Tennessee plant produces the Altima.

Nissan ranked in 21st place on last year's J.D. Power survey. It plunged to 32nd place this year.

Standish said the problems would not mean managerial reshuffling or workforce changes at one of the Nissan plants. "We're fully satisfied with the quality of our workforce in Mississippi. People picture planeloads of engineers descending like a SWAT team on the plants," he said.

Standish described the engineers' visits as normal fine-tuning for the Canton plant, which is barely a year old. The plant has the capacity to manufacture 400,000 vehicles annually.

He said that Nissan sent mechanical, structural, electrical, chemical and materials engineers to improve product assembly and quality. "But we've sent them periodically to our Tennessee plant over the past 20 years," Standish said.
 
#24 ·
Just over 20K miles. Charge light and Brake light are on. Engine responding intermittently to the throttle. We're going in for a new alternator tomorrow. Wish me luck. Piece of crap! Seems to be a common thing with "us" Murano owners. It is too bad Nissan didn't have a recall so people wouldn't end up stranded. I was stuck in an intersection with mine... Argh! Squeaksa nd rattles, no problem. Stranded in a busy intersection, big problem!
 
#26 ·
Okay, a new battery and Alternator later and only $58 cost to me. I am on the road again. Hopefully the new one is better than the failed one. I don't want to have to buy another at 40K miles...

I think I am going to join AAA too. Got to find a way to supplement the poor coverage by Nissan...
 
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