Swanicyouth
New member
Thurs evening I was leaving work at 9pm. Started up my 01 Pathfinder - it didn't sound right. It had a high pitch whine from the engine compartment that went with the RPMs.
It suddenly started making this noise - so I was hoping a belt somehow got wet (rained earlier). Honestly, in the back of my head I thought -alternator whine - but decided to risk it and drove home.
First the charging light and transmission overheat light come on at the same time. Then the airbag and ABS light come on. It's now 9:30 - and I'm in the middle of the woods. My GF was away for a 3 day weekend.
So, I called a friend and said I think my Pathfinder is going to die, but I'm going to try and make it home. I hang up - he says let me know.
Then, every dash light lights up. CEL, 4WD, - everything. Headlights start to dim. I turn off headlights and keep driving. I can't see. Nobody around. So, nobody to kill but myself.
Eventually, engine starts missing. Then, at the absolute worse location - it dies. Barely a shoulder to the road here.
LUCKILY, I have good friends that are willing to drive out to pick me up. 20 mins my friend pulls his brand new 5 Series BMW onto the side of the road into a huge mud pit to pick me up. I feel pretty bad. I turn the mat upside down so I don't get all the mud from my feet on his new car mats in his new car. His wife also happens to be 9 mos pregnant at home.
My other car (BMW) is disabled (wheel getting refinished) - so it only has 3 wheels. No good. I realize I have no car and GF is away. Friend asks me if I ate all day (cause when your a retail pharmacist you may not eat for 12 hrs). I say no. Friend stops so I can pick up some food, because he knows there is never any food in my house.
Get home. Start calling places advertising them self as "24 hr towing". Nobody answers. Eventually, one dude answers. I describe to him where the car is. He tells me: "police prolly already towed it". I'm like - What? To where?
Call police. Mind you, without dropping an Apple maps pin - I would have no idea to describe where the car actually is. Thank God for Apple maps. Police tell me I need to get it towed ASAP and give me the number to police tow guy.
Call police tow guy. He says he needs the keys to tow it. I tell him I didn't think of that, and I now have no car to meet him there. He says call him tomorrow when I can get there.
Now I gotta get a car. Call Enterprise at 8am next morning. They will pick me up. Ask me if I have a credit card or debit card. I'm like "I don't use credit cards - I pay cash (debit) for everything". They're like - then we need a $350 deposit, 2 check stubs, and 2 utility bills to rent you a car. I'm like: What ????
LUCKILY, I have computer access to all these documents. Enterprise says guy will be at my house at 8:30. That gives me a half hour to print out the documents. Start pulling them up. Hit print. Nothing happens. Unplug printer. Turn it off and on. Nothing happens.
Rushing around like crazy trying to print because I know Enterprise guy will be here any second. Nothing is worse than staring at a printer waiting for something to happen - then nothing. I want to punch the printer in the face - but it has no face.
Eventually printer magically comes to life and papers start spitting out. So happy, I proceed to print out every bill I have and pay stubs back to the summer.
I walk into Enterprise with a huge stack of like 50 papers, my insurance info, registration, owners card, drivers license - even my passport. They passingly glance at like the top paper and hand me the keys to a Focus.
Drive to my broken vehicle to make sure it's still there - it is. Then I call towing guy from previous night. He says he will call me when he is near the car. Shortly, he calls me. I see his rig, my car - but no sign of a human being.... Where is this guy????
Start hearing lots of curse words being screamed. Look around - don't see anyone. Eventually I figure out they are coming from under my vehicle. Tow guy is under there having a problem hooking it up. I ask if I can help. He tells me he gets clots in his legs and can't move them. I help him hook up the car and get out from under it. I tell him clots in your legs can kill you. He doesn't seem to care.
Then I tell tow guy I want my vehicle towed to my home. He wants to tow it to a shop. We argue. I'm like - I used to be a mechanic - I will fix it. I'm guessing tow guy is getting kick back from some shop??? Finally I convince tow guy to tow it to my home.
Tow guy starts rolling my vehicle up on flat bed. I notice my tires are right about to crush a set of keys. I start waving for him to stop. He dropped his keys... Keys to the tow truck??? Dunno. I pick up the keys and hand it to him.
Eventually we get the vehicle back to my house:
Even though neither one of my cars is drivable, it feels good they are both at home.
You can see by the tires the mud pit I was stuck in. Drove 1.5 hrs in rental to get my BMW wheel. Got it. Drive back. Hang wheel. Feel good I have a car to drive that is mine.
Start doing tests on Pathfinder to confirm my suspicions alternator is bad. Jumped it an ran it from the rental car with cables. I would never do this with my BMW - but a rental car, who cares? Half the warning lights on the dash stay lit. This makes me nervous. If it's running at 13V why would dash lights be lit???
Come up with a theory diodes went bad in alternator and AC current is making the warning light go whacky. Anyway, check all fuses, connections, and feed voltage at alternator.all good. It's not charging. I decree it needs an alternator. Gotta start here.
At this point another friend calls and ask what I'm doing for dinner. I'm like "I just want to get my car running". He is like " I'm making veal parmesan with crepes for desert". I'm like - " I don't care - just want to get my car fixed".
So, I decide it needs an alternator. Decide to replace the battery and belts at the same time. Why? Because I am rich and have money to throw around. No, actually, because I will pay money to avoid headaches.
Search online for alternator. NAPA's website sux. Can't tell your local store inventory. Call them. Dude says he will call me back at 2:30. Never calls - ever. What bad customer service. They will prolly sell the same alternator Advance Auto sells for $40 more.
Find the alternator at Advance Auto Parts - but closest store that has it is an hour away. Sketchy about buying an alternator from AA. But, it seems like it would be better than Pep Boys. Buy alternator, belts, and battery online. Save 20%. I love AA. This isn't the first time I have bought stuff online from them and they delivered.
Decide to rip out my old alternator and battery so I won't have to drive an hour back to drop off and get credit for the cores. I suddenly realize I am driving a 15 year old vehicle and the alternator is completely burried on the bottom of the engine.
Let me tell you, I have replaced probably hundreds of alternators - this is the worse one by far. Bolts stripped, aluminum bolts were oxidized into threads - nothing went right.... Like a million things had to be removed to get at the alternator wires.
I had to remove the fuse junction box, battery, battery tray, power steering pump, fan, fan shroud, coolant hoses, and a bunch of engine brackets to get the alternator out. All of the bolts came out like they wanted to snap.
Finally I got the alternator out. Took like 2.5 hrs - which is crazy:
Alternator bearing feels good and alternator doesn't smell burnt. This is not good - but supports my theory the rectifier bridge went bad. But, I was hoping for some sign the alternator as no good.
Throw the alternator and belts in some chemo bags (these are awesome - very thick and large plastic bags for chemotherapy + IV sets) and head an hour away to Advance Auto. They have my parts ready. Dude sees my cores in chemo bags and tells me to: "STOP!"
I'm like: "What???" Dude tells me he is some type of hazardous material guy for the county and he is nervous about chemo bags. I start laughing and tell him I am a pharmacist and they are band new bags - no chemotherapy was ever in these bags. I offer to put bags on my head to prove it. Somehow, I convince dude I'm legit and he accepts the cores.
Get home and it's dark. Now there is a puddle of power steering fluid and coolant is oozing across my parking lot into my neighbors space - even though I left a catch pan under there. I decide to start trying to hang the new alternator with a drop light. I don't feel like doing it.
Things go bad. It's impossible to get the short ground and alternator light wire mounted on the back of the new part. I try and shove my hands in all sorts of position to do it. My hands start bleeding all over. Finally, I realize the only way I am going to do this is to pull every bracket off that mounts to the block.
This is not good. Block is aluminum. Every bolt feels like it may snap.
My "veal parm" friend calls me up again. I have yet to eat anything that day - it's like 5:30pm. He invites me over for dinner and tells me I need to come. I give up. I am hungry. But, I'm too lazy to take a shower. He says he is making crepes for desert.... I am bleeding trying to fit an alternator in a 15 year old car - and I will soon be eating crepes? What??? What happened in Paris just happened. But had nothing to do with this. Yes, I'm eating crepes.
Drive the rental to my friend's half a million dollar home. I have grease all over me and reek of Brake Kleen, antifreeze, and power steering fluid. Luckily, again, I have good friends... They fed me the best veal parm I ever had and listen to me talk about what a nightmare this alternator is.
That friend drove me to rental car place so I could place car and keys in their drop box and leave the car there. The BMW now had its 4th wheel - so he drove me home. He keeps asking me what I'm going to do if the alternator doesn't fix it. I tell him: "I checked it out, I was a good tech, I KNOW it needs an alternator". He tells me -" you never know". I have been friends with this dude for 30 years - so he knows my spiel.
****As an aside, when me and this friend where about 17 he had a Volvo that died. I said it needed an alternator. He spend $200 on an alternator (a lot in 1990) and the system still didn't charge. So, he was a little pissed. I said the new alternator was bad. He said I was prolly wrong.... Finally, I made a good alternator out of the old one and the new one and fixed it..... So, he will always bust my balls about anything to do with an alternator - even though I fixed his car eventually ******
Anyway, I get home. Go to sleep dreaming of veal. Get up the next day and start again. Power steering pump bracket is stripped out. No matter what - bolts will not engage into threads. File the pump down so it fits in brackets better. Tighten it down... Last turn... Bolt spins.
Oh no. I'm thinking Heli Coil. But, I notice this part of the bracket doesn't go directly into the block. I have an idea. Go to local hardware store to buy nuts and bolts - because when you really need nuts and bolts Lowes and Home Depot never have the right stuff.
Finally, I get a long bolt and a nut that will work. Get everything back together. It fights me the whole way. Nissans where never meant to survive this long in the NE.
Start it up. Look at dash. No lights. Everything is fixed. Add coolant and PS fluid. Test drive car. It seems to drive better than ever. No problems. When a busted car comes to life it's amazing. Text friends frantically like I have some amazing power because I brought this car back to life.
Supposed to meet my mom for lunch. I meet her, order some Greek food, and tell her the whole story. She asks me why is putting in an alternator so hard? I tell her next time, I'll call her to do it and she can tell me...
Moral of this story - it's good to have great friends.
It suddenly started making this noise - so I was hoping a belt somehow got wet (rained earlier). Honestly, in the back of my head I thought -alternator whine - but decided to risk it and drove home.
First the charging light and transmission overheat light come on at the same time. Then the airbag and ABS light come on. It's now 9:30 - and I'm in the middle of the woods. My GF was away for a 3 day weekend.
So, I called a friend and said I think my Pathfinder is going to die, but I'm going to try and make it home. I hang up - he says let me know.
Then, every dash light lights up. CEL, 4WD, - everything. Headlights start to dim. I turn off headlights and keep driving. I can't see. Nobody around. So, nobody to kill but myself.
Eventually, engine starts missing. Then, at the absolute worse location - it dies. Barely a shoulder to the road here.
LUCKILY, I have good friends that are willing to drive out to pick me up. 20 mins my friend pulls his brand new 5 Series BMW onto the side of the road into a huge mud pit to pick me up. I feel pretty bad. I turn the mat upside down so I don't get all the mud from my feet on his new car mats in his new car. His wife also happens to be 9 mos pregnant at home.
My other car (BMW) is disabled (wheel getting refinished) - so it only has 3 wheels. No good. I realize I have no car and GF is away. Friend asks me if I ate all day (cause when your a retail pharmacist you may not eat for 12 hrs). I say no. Friend stops so I can pick up some food, because he knows there is never any food in my house.
Get home. Start calling places advertising them self as "24 hr towing". Nobody answers. Eventually, one dude answers. I describe to him where the car is. He tells me: "police prolly already towed it". I'm like - What? To where?
Call police. Mind you, without dropping an Apple maps pin - I would have no idea to describe where the car actually is. Thank God for Apple maps. Police tell me I need to get it towed ASAP and give me the number to police tow guy.
Call police tow guy. He says he needs the keys to tow it. I tell him I didn't think of that, and I now have no car to meet him there. He says call him tomorrow when I can get there.
Now I gotta get a car. Call Enterprise at 8am next morning. They will pick me up. Ask me if I have a credit card or debit card. I'm like "I don't use credit cards - I pay cash (debit) for everything". They're like - then we need a $350 deposit, 2 check stubs, and 2 utility bills to rent you a car. I'm like: What ????
LUCKILY, I have computer access to all these documents. Enterprise says guy will be at my house at 8:30. That gives me a half hour to print out the documents. Start pulling them up. Hit print. Nothing happens. Unplug printer. Turn it off and on. Nothing happens.
Rushing around like crazy trying to print because I know Enterprise guy will be here any second. Nothing is worse than staring at a printer waiting for something to happen - then nothing. I want to punch the printer in the face - but it has no face.
Eventually printer magically comes to life and papers start spitting out. So happy, I proceed to print out every bill I have and pay stubs back to the summer.
I walk into Enterprise with a huge stack of like 50 papers, my insurance info, registration, owners card, drivers license - even my passport. They passingly glance at like the top paper and hand me the keys to a Focus.
Drive to my broken vehicle to make sure it's still there - it is. Then I call towing guy from previous night. He says he will call me when he is near the car. Shortly, he calls me. I see his rig, my car - but no sign of a human being.... Where is this guy????
Start hearing lots of curse words being screamed. Look around - don't see anyone. Eventually I figure out they are coming from under my vehicle. Tow guy is under there having a problem hooking it up. I ask if I can help. He tells me he gets clots in his legs and can't move them. I help him hook up the car and get out from under it. I tell him clots in your legs can kill you. He doesn't seem to care.
Then I tell tow guy I want my vehicle towed to my home. He wants to tow it to a shop. We argue. I'm like - I used to be a mechanic - I will fix it. I'm guessing tow guy is getting kick back from some shop??? Finally I convince tow guy to tow it to my home.
Tow guy starts rolling my vehicle up on flat bed. I notice my tires are right about to crush a set of keys. I start waving for him to stop. He dropped his keys... Keys to the tow truck??? Dunno. I pick up the keys and hand it to him.
Eventually we get the vehicle back to my house:
Even though neither one of my cars is drivable, it feels good they are both at home.
You can see by the tires the mud pit I was stuck in. Drove 1.5 hrs in rental to get my BMW wheel. Got it. Drive back. Hang wheel. Feel good I have a car to drive that is mine.
Start doing tests on Pathfinder to confirm my suspicions alternator is bad. Jumped it an ran it from the rental car with cables. I would never do this with my BMW - but a rental car, who cares? Half the warning lights on the dash stay lit. This makes me nervous. If it's running at 13V why would dash lights be lit???
Come up with a theory diodes went bad in alternator and AC current is making the warning light go whacky. Anyway, check all fuses, connections, and feed voltage at alternator.all good. It's not charging. I decree it needs an alternator. Gotta start here.
At this point another friend calls and ask what I'm doing for dinner. I'm like "I just want to get my car running". He is like " I'm making veal parmesan with crepes for desert". I'm like - " I don't care - just want to get my car fixed".
So, I decide it needs an alternator. Decide to replace the battery and belts at the same time. Why? Because I am rich and have money to throw around. No, actually, because I will pay money to avoid headaches.
Search online for alternator. NAPA's website sux. Can't tell your local store inventory. Call them. Dude says he will call me back at 2:30. Never calls - ever. What bad customer service. They will prolly sell the same alternator Advance Auto sells for $40 more.
Find the alternator at Advance Auto Parts - but closest store that has it is an hour away. Sketchy about buying an alternator from AA. But, it seems like it would be better than Pep Boys. Buy alternator, belts, and battery online. Save 20%. I love AA. This isn't the first time I have bought stuff online from them and they delivered.
Decide to rip out my old alternator and battery so I won't have to drive an hour back to drop off and get credit for the cores. I suddenly realize I am driving a 15 year old vehicle and the alternator is completely burried on the bottom of the engine.
Let me tell you, I have replaced probably hundreds of alternators - this is the worse one by far. Bolts stripped, aluminum bolts were oxidized into threads - nothing went right.... Like a million things had to be removed to get at the alternator wires.
I had to remove the fuse junction box, battery, battery tray, power steering pump, fan, fan shroud, coolant hoses, and a bunch of engine brackets to get the alternator out. All of the bolts came out like they wanted to snap.
Finally I got the alternator out. Took like 2.5 hrs - which is crazy:
Alternator bearing feels good and alternator doesn't smell burnt. This is not good - but supports my theory the rectifier bridge went bad. But, I was hoping for some sign the alternator as no good.
Throw the alternator and belts in some chemo bags (these are awesome - very thick and large plastic bags for chemotherapy + IV sets) and head an hour away to Advance Auto. They have my parts ready. Dude sees my cores in chemo bags and tells me to: "STOP!"
I'm like: "What???" Dude tells me he is some type of hazardous material guy for the county and he is nervous about chemo bags. I start laughing and tell him I am a pharmacist and they are band new bags - no chemotherapy was ever in these bags. I offer to put bags on my head to prove it. Somehow, I convince dude I'm legit and he accepts the cores.
Get home and it's dark. Now there is a puddle of power steering fluid and coolant is oozing across my parking lot into my neighbors space - even though I left a catch pan under there. I decide to start trying to hang the new alternator with a drop light. I don't feel like doing it.
Things go bad. It's impossible to get the short ground and alternator light wire mounted on the back of the new part. I try and shove my hands in all sorts of position to do it. My hands start bleeding all over. Finally, I realize the only way I am going to do this is to pull every bracket off that mounts to the block.
This is not good. Block is aluminum. Every bolt feels like it may snap.
My "veal parm" friend calls me up again. I have yet to eat anything that day - it's like 5:30pm. He invites me over for dinner and tells me I need to come. I give up. I am hungry. But, I'm too lazy to take a shower. He says he is making crepes for desert.... I am bleeding trying to fit an alternator in a 15 year old car - and I will soon be eating crepes? What??? What happened in Paris just happened. But had nothing to do with this. Yes, I'm eating crepes.
Drive the rental to my friend's half a million dollar home. I have grease all over me and reek of Brake Kleen, antifreeze, and power steering fluid. Luckily, again, I have good friends... They fed me the best veal parm I ever had and listen to me talk about what a nightmare this alternator is.
That friend drove me to rental car place so I could place car and keys in their drop box and leave the car there. The BMW now had its 4th wheel - so he drove me home. He keeps asking me what I'm going to do if the alternator doesn't fix it. I tell him: "I checked it out, I was a good tech, I KNOW it needs an alternator". He tells me -" you never know". I have been friends with this dude for 30 years - so he knows my spiel.
****As an aside, when me and this friend where about 17 he had a Volvo that died. I said it needed an alternator. He spend $200 on an alternator (a lot in 1990) and the system still didn't charge. So, he was a little pissed. I said the new alternator was bad. He said I was prolly wrong.... Finally, I made a good alternator out of the old one and the new one and fixed it..... So, he will always bust my balls about anything to do with an alternator - even though I fixed his car eventually ******
Anyway, I get home. Go to sleep dreaming of veal. Get up the next day and start again. Power steering pump bracket is stripped out. No matter what - bolts will not engage into threads. File the pump down so it fits in brackets better. Tighten it down... Last turn... Bolt spins.
Oh no. I'm thinking Heli Coil. But, I notice this part of the bracket doesn't go directly into the block. I have an idea. Go to local hardware store to buy nuts and bolts - because when you really need nuts and bolts Lowes and Home Depot never have the right stuff.
Finally, I get a long bolt and a nut that will work. Get everything back together. It fights me the whole way. Nissans where never meant to survive this long in the NE.
Start it up. Look at dash. No lights. Everything is fixed. Add coolant and PS fluid. Test drive car. It seems to drive better than ever. No problems. When a busted car comes to life it's amazing. Text friends frantically like I have some amazing power because I brought this car back to life.
Supposed to meet my mom for lunch. I meet her, order some Greek food, and tell her the whole story. She asks me why is putting in an alternator so hard? I tell her next time, I'll call her to do it and she can tell me...
Moral of this story - it's good to have great friends.
