You're my hero if you can figure this one out
 

Ok... Here's the story from the beginning.

Wife had the car going to work about 40mins away. At some point on the way home, the bolt that holds the alternator in place (tension wise) broke, and the belt came loose, and the alternator obviously stopped working. Replaced the bolt....

Now what was happening was that the car stopped getting anypower from the battery when it was turned off at all. Turn the key to the 'on' position without starting the car, nothing. Turn the car on, no electrical systems come on right away, give it a shot of gas, and they come on. The car had no problems starting at all. Also, wierd glitches while driving, such as the radio cutting out briefly, usually when when turning something on like a signal light or whatever. I know, you're all screaming alternator at this point, but at this point I hadn't yet identified all the symptoms.

I drove the car to pick her up from work that night. Got there (45mins away), parked, shut the car off. She came out, tried to turn the car on... dead. So at this point I started to clue in that the alternator was having issues... Got a jump start, started to drive home in what I think was the darkest/rainiest night of the year without headlights, or anything else that needed to be turned on. Car died like 10 mins from home. Got the battery out of the other car, put it in, got it the rest of the way home.

Next day, took the alternator off, got it tested, sure enough it was bad. Friend was selling a used alternator, got it tested, it was good, bought it. Replaced alternator. Good to go? Nope. Car doing the same things, no power unless it's turned on etc. Drove it that night until I noticed it starting to die, took it home.

Now, my guess would be grounds somewhere. But does anyone have any idea's on where exactly to start?

well, if the alternator broke off while driving, check the wires around it, maybe something got cut. that's the first thing i'd suggest.

Naw, nothing seemed to be disconnected or loose there. The alternator didn't come completly disconnected from the engine, just the bolt that holds it in place (as it is used as a tensioner), so it would just kinda swivel a bit.

Anyways, I pulled the alternator off and took it to get tested, sure enough, it tested bad.

A few more interesting things that I found today. I checked the ecu for codes, and it gave me a wierd response. Now remember, nothing on the dash is actually coming on, I assumed the ecu wasn't getting any power either and thus, there'd be no stored codes. But the light on the back of the ECU gave me this... 2 long, 3 short, 4 short, 5 short, 1 long, then repeated. Now as I understand it, long is the first digit and short is the second. From what I read that would mean 23, 4, 5, 10. But all NIssan codes are 2 digits? Confusing, I'm going to clear the codes and try a few more times see if I can get anything different.

Also, I took off the dash to check the wiring under there as well. And there's this box thing that looks aftermarket under there. It's kind of held in place with a plastic tie, connects to an aftermarket switch, that to my knowledge, did nothing that I could tell. I haven't got a chance to get all the dash off yet, but I'm going to and will try to take some pics of that box, and maybe someone can identify it.

Will keep you posted.

Hmm
 

The box underneath you found that has a switch could be a keyless entry unit, or alarm, that sort of thing. If you haven't used it before, I don't see it being a problem, but you never know. I would check all grounds and the wires from the alt to the battery. Also you said the belt came off, is it possible it hit/caught some wire somewhere else? Have you checked all your main fuses as well. Unlikely a problem there, but you never know.

get a new alternator and ur problem will be fixed

Well I think the problem is solved, or at least will be solved.

Firstly, I think both alternators were on the verge of dying before this ever happened. Which is why, when they were tested, that they failed.

But I had checked the fuses before, and they all seemed ok. This time I took the alternator fuse right out, and shook it, sure enough a little piece fell out inside. Unfortunatly when I checked this there were no stores still open that had any to replace it. So just stuck a wire inside to test it with the car on, sure enouch, systems came on without the car running, but with the car in the on position.

So I can't actually test out the alternators until monday now because we live in the stone ages up here and stores are required by law to close on sundays. So monday I'll get another fuse, and see what happens. My bet is that it solves the problem. I don't see how a blown fuse would burn out an alternator....

wow. never heard of this problem before. hope you get it fixed soon.

Yeah thats really odd, but with electrical you always gotta check them. You never know when a voltage spike might occur and knock em out. Fuel pumps that die can blow main battery fuses, because of such high resistances in the motor when they cease or get too warm. But I'm glad you somewhat figured it out. Definately an odd situation. TJ

where was the fuse at? Becasuse its the same deal for me, my clock always says 1:00 pm everytime i start the car.. and if i turn the key to the on position nothing happens also.. its so weird, is it a 90 240? someone else on this forums besides us had the problem also!

here tell me if this is bad, i assume it is but i was 100% proof that it is.. any maybe that will have been my problem also!

but it makes perfect sence, because the fuse being split in the middle, when you send a big enough voltage through it it will make the gap and once electricity is present, the current will continue to flow, but if its broken, when you turn it to its ACC position the current is not great enough to breach the gap..

heres my pics


Attachment 29711

sorry for the poor quality it was in 5x digital zoom to focus on that small object!

ok i relpaced the fuse and its golden now! just found that i have MORE problems with the car though :( appears my fule tank is leaking...

I HATE OHIO!