I found a Hitachi Alternator for the 1st Gen!

[Q451990]

So in another thread, we've been discussing that the Nissan branded alternator has been long discontinued. My plan had always been to purchase a Hitachi reman from Rock Auto, since they were the supplier of remanufactured alternators to Nissan. Unfortunately RA doesn't stock them anymore, and Hitachi's own web site shows them as discontinued. I stumbled across www.newparts.com that showed them available for $148.04 + a $45 core deposit. I figured I'd order it and get a cancellation notice the next day. Instead, I got a notice from UPS a couple of days later that said I had a package on the way directly from Hitachi in KY! So now I have a spare alternator, and the big question is if I want to install it and run it while I have warranty on it - or leave it on the shelf until I actually need it?

If you guys are planning on holding on to your Q for the long term, this might be worth jumping on while they have a couple on the shelf. Newparts Amazon site went from stating they had "Only 2 left in stock" to "Only 1 left in stock" after my order, but I have no idea how that relates to actual inventory. If you sign up for an account for their site before you order, it'll give you 1000 reward points, which was good for $10 off on my order.

As a side note www.newparts.com has horrible reviews, but in my case it seems everything has worked out pretty well so far. I'll let ya'll know how the core return process goes.

[No1Dad]

Thats exciting news. Do aftermarket alternators have a higher failure rate on these vehicles? I'm still running on the original for mine and was considering having a backup on the shelf ready to go. I would say aftermarket has been stepping their game up in recent years. Roughly 1 in 15 alternators or starters are DOA in my experience. Not the best odds but 7% isn't bad for "cheap" mass-reconditioned parts.

[Q451990]

The general consensus over the years was that a factory alternator was the most reliable replacement, and the job is difficult enough you don't want to do it twice. Since Hitachi made and reconditioned the factory part, it should be essentially the same. I don't know if we have enough info on any other aftermarket brands to say if there's one that's a good one. There aren't many Qs left at this point.

My one unwitting experience with an aftermarket alternator was really bad. I'll see if I can dig up the thread.

[No1Dad]

I probably should have checked the labor hours before opening my trap. 5 hours for severe service according to Chilton, that's a rough one. Why save $10 on a part when it'll cost you at least a days worth of work. Ouch.

[Q451990]

So back in 2011 my original alternator failed. I bought what I thought was a Hitachi from a NICO member in Atlanta who had since sold his Q. I really don't think he knew it was a knock off. Anyhow, it lasted 3 days. There was a wire that wasn't tucked in that got rubbed through between the rotor and stator. It's kind of hard to see in the picture, but I tried to point it out with an arrow.



I ended up fixing my original alternator with a diode assembly that I had on hand from my first Q. On that one I had replaced the diode pack, and then the stator failed about a year later, so I reclaimed my "nearly new" diode pack and put it in the box-o-parts before I sent the core back .

I have a new A/C evaporator on hand that I need to install to replace my leaking one. I had planned on pulling the compressor at the same time and changing it's oil. While the compressor is out, I could change the alternator fairly easily. This is turning in to a week long project.

[No1Dad]

Considering it was just one wire did you end up rebuilding it yourself? After an experience like that I'm not sure if I would have even bothered to keep what was left for parts.

[Q451990]

I put the China alternator with the bad wire back together and it's been sitting in a box. It'll go back to get my core charge back if all goes well. So at that point I'll have the new alternator I bought today, and original one from my Q that I repaired with new bearings and the nearly new diode pack back in 2012. I've put about 10,000 miles on it in the last 10ish years. I should probably go with "if it ain't broke..."

[VStar650CL]

If that's the right Hitachi p/n then there are 3 listings on eBay, one in the Hitachi box...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/164752219248

...and two more that look right but judge for yourself:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/264447777168
https://www.ebay.com/itm/363166316635

[Q451990]

I saw those too.

The first one concerned me because the center part is black instead of green, and I'm paranoid about getting another knockoff in a Hitachi box. After getting one directly from Hitschi with the number printed on the shell, I'm thinking it could be legit.

I think the third one you listed being sold by "parts container" is just newparts.com's eBay user name.

[VStar650CL]

The first one concerned me because the center part is black instead of green, and I'm paranoid about getting another knockoff in a Hitachi box. After getting one directly from Hitschi with the number printed on the shell, I'm thinking it could be legit.

One nice thing about eBay is that if you discover it's counterfeit within 30 days of delivery, they come down hard on that sort of crap. Put in for a return with "doesn't match description" for the reason and they approve it automatically, even if the item is nominally non-returnable. The vendor gets no say in the matter. I sell on eBay and I can tell you, bogus item descriptions are the one thing they take as seriously as a heart attack. Complain to customer service that it was counterfeit and not just mis-described, and I guarantee the vendor won't hear the end of it for months.

I think the third one you listed being sold by "parts container" is just newparts.com's eBay user name.

Entirely possible, lots of places do that.

[No1Dad]

I put the China alternator with the bad wire back together and it's been sitting in a box. It'll go back to get my core charge back if all goes well. So at that point I'll have the new alternator I bought today, and original one from my Q that I repaired with new bearings and the nearly new diode pack back in 2012. I've put about 10,000 miles on it in the last 10ish years. I should probably go with "if it ain't broke..."

Have you gotten it tested after reassembly?? If it worked fine until the defect finally took it down could it possibly be just a reconditioner's error? You've been on here for a while and if you don't know of a surefire way to distinguish between genuine alternators it may have just been a legitimate mistake on Hitachi's end. I'd be open to buy it if you got it tested.

[Q451990]

Have you gotten it tested after reassembly?? If it worked fine until the defect finally took it down could it possibly be just a reconditioner's error? You've been on here for a while and if you don't know of a surefire way to distinguish between genuine alternators it may have just been a legitimate mistake on Hitachi's end. I'd be open to buy it if you got it tested.

I never repaired the China alternator. In addition to the broken wire, one of the brushes broke when I took it apart. I think the other brush broke when I put it back together. I had some doubts about this alternator before I installed it, and sent pictures to Hitachi to see if they could confirm that it was genuine. At that point their best guess was that it was.

I showed your pictures to our QA manager and we both feel it is more than likely that alternator is a genuine remanufactured LR1110-701BR. A true tell tale sign would be a little silver unit label somewhere on the side of the alternator with our name on it. If you find it please take a picture and send it to us. The box is definitely Hitachi. Obviously we cannot say for sure with all the different after market companies out there building alternators.

After the failure I opened it up and sent them more pictures of the inside components. I specifically asked if their remanufactured alternators could come with parts marked Transpo-CN stamped on them, and they confirmed that this was absolutely not their alternator.

Thanks for the pictures they really helped. You are correct about root cause of alternator failure, is rotor. We went over the pictures of the box and alternator you sent perviously. If the box is truly the one the alternator came in, the alternator must of been tampered. A remanufactured Hitachi alternator that would come in that box would have all Hitachi components and a silver unit label on the side.

It'll make a great core to send back to get my core charge back, but I wouldn't consider trying to fix it and use it unless I really had no other options. Here are some more pictures of the interior.

[3Q Jay]

Thanks Heath! that is all very useful info, including the pictures of your counterfeit Hitachi unit. Another tell for me was the brown seal bearing on the rotor end. Not to say there aren't some alternator rated brown seal bearings, but the NSK "DDW" green seal bearings are SPECIFICALLY designed for high rpm/low friction electric motor operation.