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1999 nissan altima. Battery and brake light came , had it tested at o'riley alternator tested bad voltage regulator. Replaced with rebuilt alternator. Cranked car, lights are off everything is good till I crank car again, lights are back on. Went back to o'Riley and rebuilt alternator tested bad 12.4 volt output. They gave me another alternator but my question is did I just get a bad alternator or is there something frying them? Does anybody have any ideas of what I could check?

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    It could of been a bad replacement part, did you reconnect the ground wire to the alternator casing when you reinstalled the part?
    – Ben
    Jun 16, 2016 at 22:25
  • I did replace the ground wire.
    – Tony
    Jun 16, 2016 at 22:45

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There'd be no way to tell for sure if something was frying them, but would suggest to you this would be highly unlikely. It is completely within reason for the rebuilt alternator to have gone bad ... that's why they have a warranty. Yes, it's a PITB to take on and off, but at least it didn't cost you anymore than an extra trip to the store.

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    I would ask them to test the 2nd rebuilt unit before you left the store. Years ago it wasn't unheard of for a whole run to fail early. Rebuilders typically did them in batches. So if they got a bad box of bearings or regulators, etc, Every unit of that type was suspect.
    – mikes
    Jun 16, 2016 at 22:30
  • @mikes - I always have them do this with either rebuilt or new ones. Doesn't save you every time, but does some of the time. Jun 16, 2016 at 22:42
  • Thanks. I did get another and had them test it. Tested good just hoping to prevent frying new one if there is something I could check first.
    – Tony
    Jun 16, 2016 at 22:47
  • It's not too bad to install on this car, better than 93 S10
    – Tony
    Jun 16, 2016 at 22:49
  • I went through (I think) four O'Reilly alternators before I found one that worked on my Nissan - only on the last did I think of getting them to test it first. (I still use O'Reilly. I'll never have another Nissan! :) )
    – PeteCon
    Jun 17, 2016 at 1:13

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