My alternator went out saturday, so I bought another on Sunday and put it on without replacing the battery, and that one burned up. So I had another one ordered and I replaced the battery, and I got that one on it seemed to be working fine. I drove it to the parts store to let them check it out to make sure everything was working fine. The battery checked good, starter checked good, but the alternator said the diode had failed. So I was driving home and you could smell the alternator burning up inside the car then it started squilling real bad and the dang pulley fell off the alternator. Do I have something more serious wrong or did the battery kill the first 2 alternators and I just got a junk one on the last one?

SOURCE: 1992 Nissan Pathfinder charging problems

How long did the 2nd alt. last before it died? The voltage regulator is, I believe, attached to the alternator. Have u had the voltage regulator checked?

SOURCE: truck keeps dying. seems like alternator is going bad.

you could be looking in the wrong place. generally a weak charging system will cause the engine to just die, and if you jump it with a dead battery and bad alternator, it'll run until you take off the jumpers.

with the way the truck bucks as you describe, I'd look at the fuel pressure, fuel filter, plugs, wires, and all other related components. this sounds a lot like a fuel or ignition problem, and not a charging problem.

charge up the battery before you take it in to be tested, if the battery and alternator test good, clean and tighten the battery cables on the battery side and the starter and ground sides of the cables. if the truck keeps doing the same thing after the charging system checks out, try a tune up.

SOURCE: 1995 Nissan Maxima won't start, not battery.

You may have bad solenoid, starter/battery/solenoid connections, or gound.

Check voltage at starter solenoid when somebody turns key to start. That is where the starter switch, or relay, sends the voltage to pull in the solenoid coil through small wire. I think the solenoid is on the starter for this car, but it may be separate. Autozone has an excellent web site with car-specific repair guides and instructions. You should see 12V at solenoid every time the key is turned to start.

Check big power cable to starter that runs direct from the battery for tight connections. If you have a separate solenoid, then another big cable runs from it to starter. A loose or bad connection could be the culprit. Also check starter mount bolts. They need to be tight for a good solid electrical ground. You also need good ground from frame to engine. Its a long shot, but sometimes the ground straps come loose or burn. You can easily check this by measuring resistance between engine block and negative battery terminal. It should be zero or darn near zero (less than 1 ohm ?).

The solenoid is really a heavy duty swich to handle the high amp load to the starter. It works by a coil that pulls in the big switch. The coil operates from the starter switch and needs onlyt low current and small wire. If the coil wires burn up or there is a bad connection, it won't work. Hope this helps.

SOURCE: BATTERY OVERCHARGED AND ALTERNATOR IS FINE

If you have a fully charged battery when you installed then 14 volts is way to much charge for the battery which would mean that the alternator probably has a faulty regulator and the alternator needs to be changed otherwise you will continue to install new batteries. If the battery was in an uncharged state then it is possible for the alternator to charge at full capacity to charge up the battery.

SOURCE: Going through alternators

Hi there, I am a girl (i.e. not car savvy), but I have a 1998 Altima as well, and the first time (4 months ago) I noticed the brake and battery lights on simultaneously, I took it to a Nissan service shop. Everything seemed fine until about a month ago when the symptoms returned. I ignored the problem for 3 days and the car just stopped running, period. Took it back to the shop, figured out it was a fauly alternator, got it sorted, no problem. Today (1 month after replacement), I see the same bloody problem, and I'm taking it back to the shop in the morning. I am wondering... is it the alternator, or something connected to the alternator that is malfunctioning? The 2 alternators put in were "rebuilt" since they didn't have genuine Nissan alternators available. I really hope the dealers aren't taking me for a merry ride.