Jump to content

1995 Pathfinder Alternator Quit(?)


LukeB
 Share

Recommended Posts

So I was out last night playing in the mud, got stuck in a bit of water and was pulled out by my buddy. About that time my Brake warning light and my battery(alternator) light came on.

The brake warning light has me lost, no idea why that'd have anything to do with the Alternator.

 

The alternator used to make a bit of a whining under load... Think it just finally gave out after being submerged in water/mud?

It barely limped into the driveway at 2am, headlights turned off and all.

 

 

Is a new alternator likely the fix or has anyone else had similar experiences and found a different answer?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brake, battery, sometimes AT Temp lights come on when the alternator is dead. You can try to clean out your current one, but chances are, you just need a new battery.

 

I'm going to delete your other topic of the same name in a different section. There's no need for 2. :beer:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brake, battery, sometimes AT Temp lights come on when the alternator is dead. You can try to clean out your current one, but chances are, you just need a new battery.

 

I'm going to delete your other topic of the same name in a different section. There's no need for 2. :beer:

But if his is a 5 speed it wouldn't have the AT temp light right?

 

What I would do is boost it and see what voltage you're getting with a multimeter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry for the double post.

Yea, I'm going to pick up a new alternator here today. Hopefully they have one in stock. I just got done pulling mine out.

It is a 5 speed. Do you know why the brake light would come on with it the alternator failure?

 

I didn't test the charging voltage but I got home and the battery was sitting at 11.9v, it wasn't charging it enough for me to even drive with my headlights/dash lights on. It would start cutting out. All connections were solid and didn't look like any water got in the harness plug on it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just my opinion here;

My pathy has been thru like 5+ alternators in the past 20 years. All of them were heat failures or VR failures (power surge). I think an upgrade is a wise choice as 70A altys are always working near 90% around town and offroad. (worse, pre-90's had 60A) For reliability reasons I don't think any vehicle with, should have less than an 80 or 90amp alternator to reduce the workload % and increase the life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the brake light comes on as well with the battery light with alty failure... lacking juice just tends to kick on all working warning lights. So your brake light ain't a different problem if it came on at the same time. If it was on before hand then either you didnt have the handle all the way down or your low on fluid, which either a sign of needing pads now or a leak (line/flex hose/connection/caliper/wheel cyl on drum brakes). My money sais once your charging though the x-mas light dash goes back to normal. I would honestly look into the Maxima alty swap though since it's basicly a bolt on swap besides a pully swap (and some people need to make a spacer for the pully, but that generally seems to be the people with the older 60a systems-which I had)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What Years of Altima would I look for?

 

I pulled mine off, took it to the local Schucks because they have a load tester, just out of curiousity.

As I carried it in, a rock fell out... Tested fine, put it back on, jumped it and it's been fine ever since haha. 45 Minutes of work and all night worrying if it was a wiring problem from the water.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I swapped a 110 amp maxima alternator into my 90 Sentra, they also used a 125 amp version it will say on the tag, I think it would be the same one for the pathfinder, you have to change the pulley as Nunya has said, not sure if the plug is a direct fit on the PF harness, on my Sentra I had to change the plug but even if you have to it's only 3 wires and real easy to figure out which wire goes where by looking at the FSM's for both vehicles.

 

Here is some info for you:

 

stock 95 pathfinder alternator:

 

AMP 70; PULLEY V1; MFR HI; VOLT 12; ROT CW; PLUG 300; CLK 4:00; REG I/R

what this means: 70 amp, pulley v belt 1 groove, manufacturer Hitachi, 12 volt, rotation clockwise, plug style 300, clock position 4:00 refers to the location of the plug in connector when viewing the alternator from the rear with the mounting tab pointing straight up, internal regulator

 

95 thru 99 Maxima 110 amp & 98 & 99 Infiniti I30

 

AMP 110; PULLEY S6; MFR HI; VOLT 12; ROT CW; PLUG 306; CLK 1:30; REG I/R

what this means: 110 amp, 6 groove pulley, manufacturer Hitachi, 12 volt, rotation clockwise, plug style 306, clock position 1:30 refers to the location of the plug in connector when viewing the alternator from the rear with the mounting tab pointing straight up, regulator = internal

 

95 thru 97 Maxima 125 amp & 96 & 97 Infiniti I30

 

AMP 125; PULLEY S6; MFR HI; VOLT 12; ROT CW; PLUG 305; CLK 1:30; REG I/R

 

93 thru 98 Quest/Mercury Villager 110 amp:

 

AMP 110; PULLEY S5; MFR MI; VOLT 12; ROT CW; PLUG 300; CLK 5:00; REG I/R

 

95 thru 97 Altima is 80 amp

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some more info for you, this is when I was comparing the maxima alternators to my stock Sentra one, the pathfinder and the sentra alternators are close enough in specs for this to still apply, this is comparing output at different RPM's, had to upload this as a picture so the info stayed in the correct places:

 

 

2d2c6jq.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 years later...

Hi, sorry for the major thread resurrections.

 

I am planning to replace my 60amp factory alternator with the 125Amp Maxima.  Do I need to rewire any of the vehicles electrical?  Should I have concern for fire hazards or burning out electric/electromechanical components that weren't designed for the increased amperage?  

 

Thanks

 

--- 9heart

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes that would be better.  I ordered an alt from a 92 Quest.  The pick-a-part sent me one from a 96 maxima.     ..thinking I'll try to make it fit rather than pay shipping back.  There is a writeup here: 

 

http://nissannut.com/projects/alt_upgrade/

 

But yea, im still wondering about the 125 amps.  Do I need to rewire any of the vehicles electrical?  Should I have concern for fire hazards or burning out electric/electromechanical components that weren't designed for the increased amperage?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I did my Quest/Villager alternator swap many years ago, I found the plug fit fine and the stock wiring works unless you put a heavy load(like jump starting a F350 with the power stroke) on the electrical system. Then the charge cable gets a bit hot. Upgrading a it a couple sizes solved that issue. 

The rest of the electrical system is fine because the various components use only what they need and the regulator in the alternator only puts out what is needed up to the maximum output. Most of the time, it will be less than 40 amps in a near stock truck. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^^Like he said, the alt's amp rating is the maximum load that it can keep up with, not what it puts out all the time. It only puts out enough power to maintain its target battery voltage. The more you load the battery, the harder the alternator charges to keep up. The better the alternator, the more load it can keep up with. The only difference your electrical system (with the exception of the charge wire!) will see from a better alternator is that the battery voltage will be more stable under load.

I was surprised by how thin the stock charge wire is. After looking at the wiring diagram, I would cut the stock charge wire where it splices into the sense wire for the alt (they share a fuse link) and run a thicker charge wire from the alt to the positive terminal, with a maxi fuse or breaker at the battery end in case the alt or the charge wire shorts out. You can find charts online for selecting a wire gauge based on max amps and wire length. There's no penalty to going thicker than you need, except that thicker wire is of course more expensive.

I'll probably upgrade mine when it goes out, but looking at Aaron's high score, that might be a while!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/19/2021 at 9:51 AM, Slartibartfast said:

I'll probably upgrade mine when it goes out, but looking at Aaron's high score, that might be a while!


I should have upgraded mine while I was at it. I got an aftermarket one through the dealer, and I think it's not putting out as much as it should. 

I'm also wanting to have the original rebuilt, but I'm not finding any company that does that. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It was cheaper to just by a new maxima alternator 90A. Bolts right up after you swap out the pulley. I had to file down the OE pulley for clearance (YMMV). Easy 20A upgrade. I still need to upgrade the wiring as it's not cutting it for the occasional winching. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...