For our excellent, classic 2005 Murano SE (presently 185,000 miles), we took the opportunity, whilst replacing the radiator and having the additional working space, to also replace the thermostat & hoses as well as the alternator and serpentine belt (and refinish the belt tensioner mechanism)
On removing the original alternator we noticed that the 2-wire alternator plug had melted into the female receptacle. We ordered an AC Delco Gold alternator (ACDelco 334-2041A Professional Alternator, Remanufactured), serp belt (ACDelco 6K418 Professional V-Ribbed Serpentine Belt) and we found the 2-wire alternator $6.00 pigtail (ACDelco PT2288 Professional Alternator Pigtail).
All parts installed without difficulty, just go slowly and allow lots of time for this. We carefully connected the new pigtail plug wires in the same position as the original burnt plug had been connected to the wiring harness' yellow/black and brown wires.
All seemed fine, however on beginning our testing process with our multimeter, we quickly realized that we had a parasitic drain on the battery of 0.5 volt (1/2 volt) per 24 hours (car parked, not run); after 2 or 3 days the battery was "dead" and could not start the car. We rechecked our connections and eliminated all other parasitic sources by removing fuses (per the many Youtube procedural videos on this); finally we unplugged the new 2-wire pigtail plug from the new alternator and saw the drop reduced to between 0.02 and 0.04 volts drop per 24 hours (i.e. normal drop).
We assumed that the alternator diodes were bad, however on removing the "B" cable from the alternator, we tested the alternator post-to-case both directions and found that in one direction our diode setting on the multimeter read 507 (within the 500 to 800 normal range) and in the other direction the meter read nil (zero) which means the diodes were fine.
We then tested the current on the yellow/black and the brown harness wires. With ignition key ON, both wires read approx. 12 volts on our multimeter; however with ignition OFF, only one wire had power. We the assumed that either the two pins in the female receptacle of the new alternator had been swapped at the reman factory or we had made a mistake in connecting the new pigtail wires to the wiring harness' yellow/black and brown wires. So, our next move was to simply remove, swap position and reinstall the metal connectors within the new plastic plug. After several days of testing battery levels, this appears to have solved our parasitic drain problem (we'll continue to test the battery daily until we're certain).
Thankfully, we have another great car; we could take our Murano out of service for the 2-3 weeks that this learning experience required. Helping our son learn that "we can do things" has been great!
We are optimistic that our Murano will make it at least to 300,000 miles.
Hope this helps you-all. And, many thanks to each of the kind folks who take the time to relate their experiences on Youtube and this Murano forum!!
Notes:
Most tech references indicate that the 2005 Murano has a 3-wire pigtail alternator plug; whereas our 2005 SE is definitely the 2-wire version.
There were a few times that we nearly engaged professional mechanics to solve this problem for us; however we're really happy that we kept researching and learning..."never give up!"
Next project: post-winter removal of rust from subframe members with rotary tools, naval jelly and rust reformer. Then repaint frame members.
On removing the original alternator we noticed that the 2-wire alternator plug had melted into the female receptacle. We ordered an AC Delco Gold alternator (ACDelco 334-2041A Professional Alternator, Remanufactured), serp belt (ACDelco 6K418 Professional V-Ribbed Serpentine Belt) and we found the 2-wire alternator $6.00 pigtail (ACDelco PT2288 Professional Alternator Pigtail).
All parts installed without difficulty, just go slowly and allow lots of time for this. We carefully connected the new pigtail plug wires in the same position as the original burnt plug had been connected to the wiring harness' yellow/black and brown wires.
All seemed fine, however on beginning our testing process with our multimeter, we quickly realized that we had a parasitic drain on the battery of 0.5 volt (1/2 volt) per 24 hours (car parked, not run); after 2 or 3 days the battery was "dead" and could not start the car. We rechecked our connections and eliminated all other parasitic sources by removing fuses (per the many Youtube procedural videos on this); finally we unplugged the new 2-wire pigtail plug from the new alternator and saw the drop reduced to between 0.02 and 0.04 volts drop per 24 hours (i.e. normal drop).
We assumed that the alternator diodes were bad, however on removing the "B" cable from the alternator, we tested the alternator post-to-case both directions and found that in one direction our diode setting on the multimeter read 507 (within the 500 to 800 normal range) and in the other direction the meter read nil (zero) which means the diodes were fine.
We then tested the current on the yellow/black and the brown harness wires. With ignition key ON, both wires read approx. 12 volts on our multimeter; however with ignition OFF, only one wire had power. We the assumed that either the two pins in the female receptacle of the new alternator had been swapped at the reman factory or we had made a mistake in connecting the new pigtail wires to the wiring harness' yellow/black and brown wires. So, our next move was to simply remove, swap position and reinstall the metal connectors within the new plastic plug. After several days of testing battery levels, this appears to have solved our parasitic drain problem (we'll continue to test the battery daily until we're certain).
Thankfully, we have another great car; we could take our Murano out of service for the 2-3 weeks that this learning experience required. Helping our son learn that "we can do things" has been great!
We are optimistic that our Murano will make it at least to 300,000 miles.
Hope this helps you-all. And, many thanks to each of the kind folks who take the time to relate their experiences on Youtube and this Murano forum!!
Notes:
Most tech references indicate that the 2005 Murano has a 3-wire pigtail alternator plug; whereas our 2005 SE is definitely the 2-wire version.
There were a few times that we nearly engaged professional mechanics to solve this problem for us; however we're really happy that we kept researching and learning..."never give up!"
Next project: post-winter removal of rust from subframe members with rotary tools, naval jelly and rust reformer. Then repaint frame members.
