92 lumina runs bad after changing alternator

[simplsimon]

Hello,
I'm glad I found this place, I've gotten lots of info from this site.
Hers my problem. I have a 92 Lumina euro sport with 207,000 miles and I would like to see how many miles I can go with it
The alternator went bad on me so I put on a new alternator.
After changing the alternator it would run bad. Idle would flux up and down it would die coming to a stop. It doesn’t die anymore but its still runs real bad and has a gas smell to it. My dad (the original owner) said when he replaced the battery he had the same problem and had to have the ECM recalibrated. Does that sound about right for that year euro sport? It does run but runs like crap. Anyone had any trouble like this after replacing an alternator or battery? If so how do I go about recalibrating it?
Thanks

[jeffcoslacker]

Originally Posted by simplsimon

Hello,
I'm glad I found this place, I've gotten lots of info from this site.
Hers my problem. I have a 92 Lumina euro sport with 207,000 miles and I would like to see how many miles I can go with it
The alternator went bad on me so I put on a new alternator.
After changing the alternator it would run bad. Idle would flux up and down it would die coming to a stop. It doesn’t die anymore but its still runs real bad and has a gas smell to it. My dad (the original owner) said when he replaced the battery he had the same problem and had to have the ECM recalibrated. Does that sound about right for that year euro sport? It does run but runs like crap. Anyone had any trouble like this after replacing an alternator or battery? If so how do I go about recalibrating it?
Thanks

There are a couple of different ways to do it, but my favorite was to just set the e-brake, block the wheels, and let it sit and idle IN GEAR until the fans come on, then drive it above 40 mph for some distance. This will usually do the idle relearn, and it will be fine. You can also just drive it out of it, it ill come around and start acting right, eventually. If you have a fuse specific to the ECM, remove it for about 30 mins and then replace, see if that gets it.