2014 Nissan Pathfinder Alternator Replacement

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officerelmore
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2014 Nissan Pathfinder Alternator Replacement

Postby officerelmore » Thu Oct 15, 2015 6:18 am

My wife's alternator went out recently and I'm trying to replace it. The problem is I've never done it on a front wheel drive vehicle. I'm used to the alternator being right there at the front with easy access. This one is on the passenger side and I can't see a way to get to it. Any help would be appreciated.


Grumpah
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Postby Grumpah » Fri Nov 06, 2015 8:54 pm

My question is... why aren't you having that done under warranty?

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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Fri Nov 06, 2015 9:13 pm

Yes, it should be covered under the 3-yr/36000 mile warranty, unless you do a lot of driving! The job is probably going to be tough to do if you don't have a lift to work on.

dougdornbos
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Postby dougdornbos » Tue Apr 16, 2019 12:08 am

The alternator on my son & daughter-in-law's 2014 went out. I was stunned that the price quote from my regular mechanic was $850. His estimator book puts the time for this job at 5.5 hours. He works on almost any brand and even he was blown away. I went to the dealer for a second quote and they were at $950 for an aftermarket alternator or $975 with the original Nissan part. I decided to let my regular guy do the job based on how I was treated at the dealer plus the $100 savings. My regular mechanic buys most of his parts from Advance Auto Parts who offer a lifetime warranty on the alternator itself and a 2-year warranty on the labour. FYI.

Grumpah
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Postby Grumpah » Tue Apr 16, 2019 7:56 am

Good to know. Thanks for posting the info.

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underworld1001
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Postby underworld1001 » Wed Apr 17, 2019 8:07 am

dougdornbos wrote:The alternator on my son & daughter-in-law's 2014 went out. I was stunned that the price quote from my regular mechanic was $850. His estimator book puts the time for this job at 5.5 hours. He works on almost any brand and even he was blown away. I went to the dealer for a second quote and they were at $950 for an aftermarket alternator or $975 with the original Nissan part. I decided to let my regular guy do the job based on how I was treated at the dealer plus the $100 savings. My regular mechanic buys most of his parts from Advance Auto Parts who offer a lifetime warranty on the alternator itself and a 2-year warranty on the labour. FYI.
That's interesting. When I went to the dealer and asked about installing an aftermarket part on my vehicle they stated they can only install OEM Nissan parts as per Nissan's policy. Aftermarket wouldn't be accepted because they couldn't guarantee their quality and testing of the part. Not sure how true this is, but it is surprising. Glad you got it fixed at the independent shop + the savings.

dougdornbos
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Postby dougdornbos » Wed Apr 17, 2019 12:29 pm

The alternator in my son's 2014 was ruined because there was a broken plastic fitting apparently where the oil dipstick tube goes into the block which allowed oil to splatter out and covered the alternator and ultimately destroyed it. I did NOT see it so I am living off the mechanic's description to me. FYI

dougdornbos
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Postby dougdornbos » Fri Apr 26, 2019 7:21 am

dougdornbos wrote:The alternator in my son's 2014 was ruined because there was a broken plastic fitting apparently where the oil dipstick tube goes into the block which allowed oil to splatter out and covered the alternator and ultimately destroyed it. I did NOT see it so I am living off the mechanic's description to me. FYI
It was the plastic piece on the dipstick itself. If he would have replaced the dipstick, his alternator would likely still be fine. Apparently, under braking, the oil in the engine gets to a spot where it can be splattered out of the dipstick hole if the plastic stopper piece is missing at the top of the dipstick. A costly error.

Also noteworthy, my earlier comment about the warranty was innaccurate, the alternator my mechanic put in was sourced from O'Reilly Auto Parts and he was told that it had a lifetime parts and labour warranty.


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