HAHA I been waiting for this... ALTERNATOR

[EviLette]

It finally kicked the bucket on me... but my car is possessed anyways.

 

(Currently having the car towed to my mechanic's so that I can use his tools to fix it)

 

My electrical stuff has been funny for a couple weeks... blinkers not working randomly, headlights dimming out and the such... anyways, I parked my car in the garage (like an asshole, pulled in instead of backing in like I always do) and ended up running back out to my car later that evening to get something I left in it... my interior lights were on, but very dim (orange) and the light switch was not on... Tried to start the car, it didn't do anything. I shut it up for the night and went back into the house, and the next morning before work I decided to mess with it a little bit.... I figured it would be wise to at least try to start the car before pushing it out of the garage to jump it... had to come out of there anyways to get towed... sat down in the car and hit the key, and the bitch started right up. At that point, I started thinking "what the hell is going on..." but my check gauges light was on. My volt meter was running at around 8 which is normal if my battery was dead... it will go up the rest of the way once it finishes getting charged... BUT... i pulled the car out of the garage and around to the side of the house to leave it running for an hour or so before I went to work, where i could hear that it was still running and all of that...

 

I got out and ran in to grab my cellphone... went back outside, and it was idling rather strangely, almost like it was missing. The volt meter was at like 5 at this point, and then when it dropped down to 4 the car started idling right again... down at 2 it was missing, and i watched it drop to 0, then about two seconds later the car died. I left it parked and took another vehicle to work. When I went home that night, I hit the key and it turned over twice but didn't start. (After two turns, it will usually catch and fire without the third crank...) I let it sit for a while longer and went out again, it turned over twice again... didn't start, and now it just clicks.

 

I'm pretty sure its my alternator... all the symptoms point to it being so, at least... I looked for a write-up on the R&R but didn't see anything, but my mechanic isn't gonna make me walk home... so if I get into a bind he can help me. But, I'm off to get that done... I'll time myself just for shit's and giggles.

 

HAHA just wanted to bitch.

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

YOu don't need a writeup.. it's a very easy job. Just take the serpentine belt off, unbolt it, disconnect wires. It's easy on the 3.1

[GutlessSupreme]

Just take off the whole bracket, then there's no awkward reaching for that bottom bolt. A few (2 or 3) 15 mm bolts and/or studs for the bracket (i'd had both), 1 10 mm bolt for the black brace that goes down to the rear head, and then I can't remember what the power stud is. 8 or 10.

[19Cutlass94]

The stud for the power wire is a 10mm. Very easy job to do. You only need a couple hand tools, thats about it. Unless you wanna do it like two minutes faster, use air tools.