alternator

[shyekiera]

Can anyone describe to me where the alternator is located and how to take one out to replace it?

[jeffcoslacker]

Assuming you have a 6 cylinder engine, it's the top- and rear-most belt driven accessory.

More info (year, engine) would be nice.

My initial reaction is to tell you if you can't identify it, you might not wanna fool with it, but I'd be glad to help if you are determined to do so...

[shyekiera]

not sure about the engine, but can check. 1998 is the year sedan 4 door

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by shyekiera

not sure about the engine, but can check. 1998 is the year sedan 4 door

IF you don't know what an alternator looks like I don't think you should do this....

what you must do before you do anything is to remove battery and fully charge battery...

then with a repair manual for your vehicle attempt to remove and install the alternator by following the instructions ...you may have problems because you may not understand the terminology but here at these forums many will help you understand these things...

[jeffcoslacker]

You'll need a way of supplying some power to the ECM while the battery is disconnected too, or you'll blow the idle memory and the car will act goofy after you're done.

I use a battery charger hooked to the cables but you have to be careful...any time you mess around with a newer car's electrics is a good opportunity to wipe out the electrical system...then you're really screwed...

Just getting to the battery cables on a Lumina is a pain....

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by jeffcoslacker

You'll need a way of supplying some power to the ECM while the battery is disconnected too, or you'll blow the idle memory and the car will act goofy after you're done.

I use a battery charger hooked to the cables but you have to be careful...any time you mess around with a newer car's electrics is a good opportunity to wipe out the electrical system...then you're really screwed...

Just getting to the battery cables on a Lumina is a pain....

the power must be removed when replacing the alternator...if you short out the battery power a surge could wipe out the vehicle electronics...

relearning is not a major problem...electronic system controls are ..


remove the ground to the battery first then positive...

[jeffcoslacker]

Originally Posted by j cAT

the power must be removed when replacing the alternator...if you short out the battery power a surge could wipe out the vehicle electronics...

relearning is not a major problem...electronic system controls are ..


remove the ground to the battery first then positive...

I've seen people use a 9v battery to keep the ECM alive while removing the risk of a zorch...

I should clsrify, I use a .5 amp charger that is a maintainer charger for motorcycle and other small batteries. It has polarity and overload shutoff, and doesn't push enough power to really hurt anything if there was a whoops...and shuts down instantly.