Electrical issue

[AG-M35]

2006 2WD base - 121K miles - good maintenance / recent valve covers and top hose replacements, belts, etc

Just last night as we were proceeding back home / No indication of any issues, all lights on, no out of ordinary dash lights... / going down a slightly steep grade, as the car approached the up side, I went to add a little gas and it acted as if the engine and trans were disconnected. No response to pedal. Moving the gearshift to neutral and applying gas pedal now revs engine, Back into gear and no response. I had enough speed up to crest the small hill and coasted into a parking lot where all the dash lights started to blink. Shut it off and could not crank engine after that.
So the battery is dead, but it's only 4-5 years old and the car isn't used that much. I suspect the alternator has died also, as a couple weeks ago, I got a whiff of something electrical when starting the car, but it passed very quickly. Diminished after that episode and during subsequent car uses there was a just a hint of that odor, and I thought it was just a remnant of the original event.

My thoughts went to the recent valve cover repair episode where a lot of wiring was touched and thought maybe a place in the harness wasn't refastened enough and got close to something hot. Now, I'm thinking the recent odor was the alternator dying.

What are the chances of not finding an alternator to replace this? A search last night indicated the alternator may be specific to the VIN number and a general search at InfinitiPartsDeals shows nothing is available.

Advice anyone / TIA

[VStar650CL]

There's a supersession on that, the reman part number is 2310M-EG010RW. It shows as available. The original p/n 23100-EG010 gets a lot of hits on eBay and Amazon. Those alternators also fit a lot of G's and a few M45's in addition to the M35.

[AG-M35]

Thank you for that data. A little while ago, we returned with the car. Early this AM, went up and first checked the Battery voltage, which read at 12.69 volts. Recall this died right after pulling into a parking slot in a strip mall, with dash lights blinking and would not answer to the start button after that. The car wasn't started this AM however, I went right in and pulled the 2 year battery which was 5 years old at this point.
Replaced it with a Costco Interstate 3 year battery and car started right up with NO dash lights immediately, but then the BAT light came on as I was pulling out of the lot. All other functions were as normal as could be expected. Once I pulled into traffic and started to speed up, the BAT light went out and never came back on for the 10 minute ride home and through two more traffic lights.
Once in the garage, an older code reader was attached and could find NO codes. Presumably any codes would have been erased when the old battery was pulled, but nothing was generated on the trip home. I have the car in the garage with the charger on to top it off and will check the charging voltage with a VOM once it's ready. Is there a scan tool that analyzes the charging circuit? Again, thanks for the alternator info

[VStar650CL]

That sounds like maybe a connection issue and not a bad alternator. However, alternators whose regulators are going south frequently die intermittently. Because the power disappears gradually as the battery drops off, there are often no codes.

[AG-M35]

Different story today.... Opened things up to check wiring integrity and a general inspection, all seems ok. Started the engine and it would NOT charge at all.

So going online, the alternator you quoted was available at a couple places for a decent price and while looking around saw this bit about the rear housing (cover, rectifier)
Isn't this included with the alternator?

[VStar650CL]

The rectifier and regulator are both inside the alternator (and for the most part, have been since the 1970's). I'm not sure what "bit" you're talking about, but the design of some alternator rear housings make them vulnerable to oil intrusion which can screw up the insulation on the windings. There's no alternative to having some ventilation when the silicon parts are internal, but some designs are way better than others at keeping crud off the components.

[AG-M35]

Again, thanks. On this site
https://www.infinitiwholesaledirect.com ... alternator
The rear housing alone, cost is more than the alternator ...

[VStar650CL]

Piece parts are almost always more expensive than whole assemblies. Case in point, R51 Pathfinder Steering Angle Sensor. Buy the SAS by itself, $340 list. Buy an entire combo switch and spiral cable including an SAS, $290 list. At one time the SAS's alone were actually listing for over $600. Screwy but true.


Anyway, the way those diagrams work, everything within the (1) box is part of a complete alternator assembly. You get all of it when you buy that part number.