Maybe my alternator?

[Britty05]

Ok my battery light is on in my '93 Z34. And the needle is in the middle. The other day it went down a little but i thought i would be able to still drive it. Then i went to my moms house and it barley started. but it ended up starting. so i went down to where i got my battery about a year and a half ago and they said that my battery was going bad and put a new one in for my. But as I left it still did the same thing! now its been a whole day with the new battery and most of the time the light is on and the needle is in the middle but when it feels like being nice the needle moves up and the light turns off but that doesnt even last 10 mins. when the light is on my windows roll up slower then usual and my blinker well.. it does the same.. my dad (whos doesnt work on cars) said it could be my alternator? does anyone know if that could be a possiblity? because we called my moms friend kinda far away and they said that it would cost 450 to fix the beast. well if ya can help me that would be great so i dont have to figure out how im gonna get this fix with such little money! thank you!!!

[paulson]

It probably is, that's what happened when the alternator went out on my lumina.

It's kind of hard to change out, but you can buy one from a salvage yard for $45 or $50... hell you can buy one off of ebay for $19.50 (that's what I did)

Replace it yourself, learn something about the car. Definitely shouldn't be $450 to replace an alternator.

Go to a salvage yard or buy one off ebay.

[tblake]

a lumina 3.1 alternator hard to replace? Yeah right. while your there, check the belt, and if it looks bad, replace it too. The alternator is held in by I believe 3 bolts, and once they are out and the belt is off aside from a couple wires, your home free. Good luck. Be carefull with the remanufactured alternators though, especially from autozone or other cheap places like that. I've always not minded spending a few extra dollars to get quality parts for my car.

[paulson]

tblake... if it's your first time changing out the alternator, IT IS HARD.

The front bolt isn't hard, but the one that has the long pin and goes between the 2 arms on the alternator... that is a royal PITA to put back in.

Also, the power steering lines are bolted into the alternator.

It's something you can figure out, but it takes a little bit of work.

Also, in Minnesota napa wanted $135 for a remanufactured alternator PLUS the old one... I'm sorry but that's obsurd.

A quality salvage yard will have ones for $50 or less and they're just fine. Hell I bought mine off of ebay and it works perfect... I only paid $37.

[tblake]

I know, I'm not doubting you at all. Ebay is a good place for great parts. I'll admit 135 is a little high where abouts did you check in MN, thats where I live. I'm just saying that if you have read through the forums, you have seen people buy remans from like autozone and they end up with nothing more than what they started with.... nothing. I myself dont like buying anything from autozone. they are good for accessories, but not parts. And your ebay purchase for 37.00. Thats great, not expensive at all, and if it ever goes out again, you know you got your moneys worth. And you know where to get another for the same price. Sorry if I sounded like a jerk.

[Britty05]

thank you guys for your help. i am a girl though and i dont know anything about cars at all.. I just know something is wrong with it and I kind of need a car to get to and from work. which isnt far. you guys live in MN? I do too I live out in Woodbury. and work out in maplewood. not to far.. but hey i still gotta get there some way or another. but hopefully this guy at my work will be willing to do it or i gotta find someone who knows how to work with cars to replace it! but thanks again for all your help

[paulson]

tblake, it's alright, I come off as harsh sometimes but I mean well lol

Britty, perhaps you can find a guy friend who will change out the alternator for a reasonable price. $450 is insane!

[Kupop]

I have to agree with tblake on the replacement of the alternator on a 3.1.

My alternator just went on my Lumina and I replaced it earlier today. I was browsing this forum last night and read a few posts with some people saying it was hard. Knowing it was on the top of the motor I could not understand how it would be hard.

If you want to see an alternator that is hard to replace, look at a second generation Toyota MR2. If you think the alt on a 3.1 Lumina is hard.... Wow, I don't know what to say.

To replace it, get an open 13mm wrench and put it on the tension arm of the belt. Lift up until it stops and remove the belt from one or two of the pulleys. Let the arm back down and then remove the belt (they are cheap, REPLACE IT).

Using a deep 13mm socket take the nut off near the valve cover and PCV. Now get a 10mm wrench and remove the little nut in the back that holds the P/S lines to the alt. Now remove the little bar that goes from this stud on the alt up near the VC (valve cover).

Now notice the larger red wire going to the alt with a black cap. Pull the cap up and off to expose the connector on the alt. Take a 13mm wrench and undo the nut and pull the wire off. Keep it away from any metal if you can. If you can, unplug the other two smaller wires going into the alt on the back. It might be easier to do it at the end. There is a small portion of the clip you need to lift up (away from the alt) and then push the clip off.

Now take the 13mm socket and put it on the bolt in the bottom of the alt. I was able to break this loose and then reach around with my hand and hold the nut on the back and remove the bolt. If you can't hold the nut tight enough you will need to put a 15mm wrench on it and remove the bolt. Becareful not to drop the nut. It is a tight area. I don't see why this nut was not part of the bracket, but hey, we're talking about an American car here (Sorry, I'm an import fan).

After that large bolt is out, use the 13mm socket again on the smaller bolt up top. That nut on the back is welded on so you don't need to put anything on that.

After that, sneak it out of the opening. My replacement alt did not have the stud on the back so I had to switch that also. 13mm wrench will do the trick. Some blue loc-tite wouldn't hurt to prevent the stud from coming loose.

Hope that helps. It really is a simple job. Putting it back in is the reverse. It is best to put the alt in and insert the large bolt. Then align it so the smaller bolt up top can be started and then the little bar in the back. After it is all temporary held in place, begin tightening stuff. If you battery is low on volts (below 12v) I would recommend charging the battery before starting the car. Alternators are not meant to charge a drained battery.

If you'd want to drive to PA, Britty05, with a new alt and belt I'd do it for free. If not you can at least print the above out and nearly anyone should be able to do it for you.

BTW, I paid $100 for my replacement alt. It didn't even take me an hour to remove the alt, go to the store for a new one, and reinstall it with a new belt.

-Kevin

[paulson]

Well the reason I say it's hard is because if you've never changed one on a lumina, you don't know what needs to come off.

It would be easy if it was just the 2 bolts on the bottom, but then they throw in the bolt in the back that's got the power steering lines attached to it as well as that stupid bar that connects to the top of the engine.

Of course the only other alternator I've replaced was on a 96 blazer and I must say that was easier than anything else I have tried.

I'm new to all this stuff so when I started the damn lumina up and it worked I was proud.

[cadgear]

Heheh. The 3.4 DOHC would probably be close to $400 to replace. Ever had the mispleasure of working on one?

Z34s had the 3.4, if I recall, and those ARE freakin' hard to work on. If you have the 3.4 and are NOT comfortable with anything under the hood, then by all means take it to a friend or mechanic. The 3.1 is simplistic compared to the 3.4, and the 3.8 is the middle of the two.

[Manny_boy]

The 3.1 alternator is a cakewalk - just tilt your engine forward like you were changing spark plugs and you have plenty of room - Cadgear is correct - Britty05 has the 3.4 - that alternator is on the bottom of the engine, because on top there is no room with the dual overhead cam.

That alternator comes out only one of three ways: 1-lower the rear of the subframe; 2-remove the passenger side tie rod from the steering knuckle; or 3-(my favorite ) remove the passenger side axle - without one of those ways there is no clearance to get the alternator from under the car.

[paulson]

Originally Posted by Manny_boy

The 3.1 alternator is a cakewalk - just tilt your engine forward like you were changing spark plugs and you have plenty of room - Cadgear is correct - Britty05 has the 3.4 - that alternator is on the bottom of the engine, because on top there is no room with the dual overhead cam.

That alternator comes out only one of three ways: 1-lower the rear of the subframe; 2-remove the passenger side tie rod from the steering knuckle; or 3-(my favorite ) remove the passenger side axle - without one of those ways there is no clearance to get the alternator from under the car.

How do you tilt the engine forward? What's the secret behind it?

[Jonn]

Take the positive battery cable off of the battery, before you do anything else!

[Manny_boy]

Originally Posted by paulson

How do you tilt the engine forward? What's the secret behind it?

to tilt the 3.1 you have to remove the airbox, and your two front engine mounts. Put the car in neutral, and find a suitable point for tilting the engine forward. If you have a racheting come-along strap, you can just put the bolts from the engine mount back into the brackets that they came out of and connect the come-along to those. Or, you can put a tire iron through the engine hoist point. without the strap you will need something to hold the engine forward, I always use the left dogbone (near the airbox) the underside of the dogbone has a loop - pull the engine forward enough so that the bracket that holds the engine side of the dogbone is lined up with the loop, and put the mounting bolt through the bracket and the loop together (the one that you took out of the dogbone originally).

If you try this alone, it will be a tug of war, but you won't have to visit the gym for a few days.


For those of you with a 3.4 engine, please don't try this. The 3.4 was not blessed with the ability to tilt. If your 3.4 moves forward when you remove the dogbone (we ony have one) it means your lower engine mounts are shot and need replacement.

[Britty05]

yes i finally got the beast fixed and a guy from my work took off the axel on passenger side.. now if i didnt have the 3.4 it would have probably a lot easier.. but nope i have the pretty Z34 and its under the engine.. pretty damn stupid but hey i got it fixed and it runs now!! so thanks to all of you that gave me so much info about my blue beast!