Car died one afternoon. No clues before hand just died. Parts store guy said battery was no good. Bought new battery. Died next day on the way to school. Another parts guys said alternator over charging. Got it home and put my voltage meter on it. Without engine running registered 11.6. Started engine volt meter registered 11.3. Alternator not charging at all. So I replaced the alternator myself. Started engine voltage meter registered 11.5. Still not charging. What's going on? Could it be the voltage regulator? If so where is it?

Also, had a friend tell me that it could be a fuse. I opened the fuse box under the hood and noticed the "blue" fuse marked 100 was blown. So I tried to remove it. The fuse disintegrated in my hand trying to get it out. Cannot get it out at all except in pieces. I have virtually destroyed this fuse and it's still not out how do I get this 100 amp blue fuse out of the box?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

the blue 100 amp fuse is bolted in. Each side of the fuse legs have bolts through them, you need to take the plastic cover off, or bend it out of the way to get to them.

Thanks
Any idea where the voltage regulator is? And how I can see if its working?

Replace the fuse first then test again.

Voltage regulator is within alternator

That's what I was afraid of. What are the chances of this being a bad alternator?
The alternator is really hard to get too!

Replace the fusible link first....

Another dumb question........would Auto Zone or Advance Auto have a fuse like this?

Either look on their website or call them

Go to a junk yard. Nearly all the same vintage infiniti's and nissan's have this 100amp fuse.

Either way, it's a cheap part!

Got another fuse. Cranked car to check alternator with amp meter. Still not charging amp meter reading with car running 11.3 before car was started reading was 12.4. Also, fried the new 100 amp fuse, got to get another. What's going on? Please help!

You have a short somewhere, hate to tell you, remove alternator, look for bare wire where insulation is missing...have alternator bench-tested.

the fusible link sits between the battery and the alternator, check for a loss of insulation between battery and alternator...or alternator is grounded internally = malfunction. Bench test and replace, it's not uncommon that rebuilt alternators are not properly tested.

Are you running a Nissan new or rebuilt alternator? Aftermarket ones are known to cause all sorts of issues. In my years of moderating this forum, I know of only one J owner who has successfully run a non OEM alternator.

Aftermarket alternators are fine. If you dont have actual experience using a product, dont comment about them. Ive been using a re-manufactured alternator from autozone for 3 years. The only reason it was replaced was previous owner using power steering fluid which leaked from the reservoir into the alternator.

Funny you should say that. I have replaced the power steering pump 2 times in 2 years and I need to replace it again. But that's another issue.

Check the installation carefully, you may have switched around the large ground and power wires

driverdriver wrote:Are you running a Nissan new or rebuilt alternator? Aftermarket ones are known to cause all sorts of issues. In my years of moderating this forum, I know of only one J owner who has successfully run a non OEM alternator.

I have a high output 180 amp sitting on the shelf, waiting my summer stereo install

Hopefully, Lets make that 2 J owners

J30tChumpCar, the best I can decipher is the main lug protruding out of the alternator is where the main wire goes. Is this not correct? There is also a smaller black wire I can't figure out where it goes. If I remember correctly it was attached to a bracket that I had to take off to get the old alternator out. Now II can't figure out how to put the bracket back on so I don't know where the black wire goes now.
This has to be a ground wire but I will have to lengthen it to be able to get to a bolt on the body.

The black wire gets grounded to the chassis

There should be a "B" stamped onto the alternator, where the Battery connection goes (B/R colored wire)...the black wire should attach to the alternator where an "E" meaning Earth or ground should be stamped onto the alternator, this black wire gets grounded to the chassis of the car.

driverdriver wrote:Are you running a Nissan new or rebuilt alternator? Aftermarket ones are known to cause all sorts of issues. In my years of moderating this forum, I know of only one J owner who has successfully run a non OEM alternator.

The Auto Zone alternator I had in my 95 J lasted 4+ years 0ver 40,000 miles when it went Autozones life time warranty gave me a new one with no charge.

I ended up having to take the "new" alternator back off and go have it tested since I could find no other fault with the car. So through the process of elimination I had the alternator tested and it is faulty! Auto Zone replaced with no questions asked. I replaced (which is way harder than this process needs to be you have to be a contortionist to work on front wheel drive vehicles). Alternator is now working and all seems to be well. Car has 234000 miles and the power steering leaks like sieve. I have replaced the PS pump 2 times in 2 years and it's making that noise again. This car eats PS pumps for breakfast!
Thanks for all the help!

The J30 is a rear wheel drive vehicle!
Anytime you buy a remanufactured alternator or starter you need to have it bench tested before leaving the store!

Dondi12 wrote:I have replaced the PS pump 2 times in 2 years and it's making that noise again. This car eats PS pumps for breakfast!

What fluid are you using?

@Dondi12, there’s a lot wrong with your car but whenever the car dies like this it’s mostly not the battery’s fault. It is always advisable to check if there is any shorting of some kind, if the alternator is working correctly, if there are any wiring disconnections. Replacing parts without a diagnosis seldom works, because unless the root of the problem is rectified, it can hit you again. Anyways, good to know that it works again now. Hopefully this alternator can handle the charging.

fourdrinie wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 26, 2013 8:21 am

Replace the fusible link first....

Any ideas on how to upgrade the fusible link? I have a 1985 Nissan 720 and my fusible link clip (the copper clip that connects to the battery post) is broken. I cannot find this part anywhere! There's got to be an easy workaround for this simple part...

mac, I just posted a decent ,kind of long - winded post 5 minutes ago you should easily reference
" Battery fusible link" by ejski . Good luck G 3/27/2018