Re: Nissan Primera 1

[jim]

I seem to recall;; Whatcar said there was an issue in the electrical with
the original Primera (pre97) - alternator?
"Gog" <gog@no-nobody-could-ever-think-this-was-a-valid-address.com> wrote in
message news:s4mim0dc41iorhe7adtei6qq2l46g2vcoc@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 7 Oct 2004 18:17:11 +0100, "Doki" <doki@spamtroNspidar.com>
> wrote:
>
> >What breaks? What's expensive to fix if it does break? Thinking of a 2.0
> >Twink or 1.8.
> >
>
> The Mk.1 Primera (P10) didn't have a 1.8: there were 1.6, 2.0 or
> diesel only. However, the later 1.6s has over 100bhp and were equal
> or better than 1.8 of other marques.
>
> I had a 1.6 P10, it was fab, did 10,000 miles in it, and sold it for
> the same price I bought it for. Most things are more expensive than
> the Ford, Vauxhall part if they break, but things tend not to.
>
> I have a Toyota Avensis and a P11 Primera. The old P10 Primera was
> the better car of the three.

[red--NOSPAM--squirrel@ntl-INVALID-world.com]

jim wrote:
> I seem to recall;; Whatcar said there was an issue in the electrical with
> the original Primera (pre97) - alternator?
>
Can you or anyone else for that matter remember any more detail on this?

My sister-in-law has an 'N' plate 1.6 Primera. It's been a superbly
reliable car except that it 'blows' alternators every 29,000 miles. The
car's on the fourth now and it happens so regularly that you can almost
predict to the nearest 200 miles when it's going to need another one.

I've asked around the newsgroups, the motor trade and even contacted The
Telegraph's Honest John to see if he knew of a recurrent problem with
alternators on this model - he didn't and neither it seems does anyone else.

ISTM that the rear of the alternator is too close to the exhaust
manifold and even though there is a heat shield, I wonder if heat soak
from the exhaust causes the problem? Each alternator has failed in the
same way, i.e. the diode pack goes short circuit and drains about 3.5
amps from the battery. The last alternator to fail was a Bosch one, the
original and first replacements were Magneti Marelli so manufacturer
doesn't seem to make a difference. Any clues?

--
Ian Edwards

[AlexJ]

Sorry no help Jim but I can confirm that this seems to be an major issuelem and would much appreciate any advice on something to alleviate the problem. My 1995 primera 1.6 owned since 1997 and no probs until this alternator issue. Have had 4 new alternators since 2000 almost exactly on a yearly basis (only do about 12K per year) and with last one (replaced yesterday) had a half year problem when it seemed to have died but the garage took it out, put it back in, and it was fine (for the last 6 months) - they suggested it may have been a wiring issue for that one. Any ideas anyone ??