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Alternator Replacement.... how to...

5K views 33 replies 14 participants last post by  Intrepidman21 
#1 ·
I've done numerous searches on the site but no where have I seen anyone do a how to for alternator replacement on a 2.7L engine. After my battery light kept coming on for the last time I decided to go ahead and take it to the dealership. $300 for the remanufactured alternator and I know they were going to charge me for the belt as well. The belt from autozone is around 25.00 and a remanufactured alternator is around 105.60... that’s what my receipt showed. Anyway I decided to do a how-to for alternator replacement.

The Haynes manual works well so I would advice you get one if you haven’t already. Disconnect the negative battery cable first… trust me. I put on the parking brake as well as put “stoppers” behind the rear wheels to make sure the car wouldn’t role. I supported only the front of the car on jackstands. Basically my car looked like this….


that’s from when I did the crankshaft replacement… except alternator is on the drivers side so I took the driver side wheel off instead of passenger like the pic shows… (thanks weaponX for that)

first thing to do is remove the splash guard.. Not really hard to do just remove four bolts holding the guard on.

There’s two on each side like these….

Once those are off you have to remove the two screws in front of the radiator for the cooling lines. They look like this…

it takes some effort to get them off due to no room whatsoever but I believe a 10mm gets them off. I had to pull down on the plastic to get my tool in there to remove it, but once its loose you can practically turn them both by hand…

It takes some pulling to get the splashguard off, but it’ll eventually slide out easy… (putting it back is a PITA) pay close attention as to how you remove the ends of the splash guard off… you’ll need to know for reinstallation.

The radiator and the dual cooling fans sit on this so once it comes off the book says support it on jackstands…. I say no. Since I didn’t have any extra jackstands I used a hydralic jack just like in the above picture. It came in handy due to the lack of room to loosen the pulley for the belt and even the bolts to get the alternator off. I ended up at times moving it down to access the pulley’s bolt as well as the top bolt that holds the alternator on.

I went ahead and removed the three bolts holding the alternator on FIRST, but I would recommend loosening the pulley first this way it makes removal a lot easier… I forgot to do that part.


(my old alternator and old belt)

Once the pulley is loose start removing the bolts holding the alternator on, (this is where the hydraulic jack came in handy due to me having to move the radiator up and down to get all the bolts off (it takes some time and cursing but take your time and you’ll get them off)

A Problem I came into was taking the alternator bolts off didn’t mean the alternator wanted to budge. I had to hit it numerous time (like tap on it with my fist) and wiggle it for it to come off…. Btw, be careful pulling it out because due to the lack of room to get it out of the car, I ended moving real slowly taking lines and pushing them back some to squeeze the alternator out, which I needed room through the wheel well (which is why the driver side wheel was removed!


(my old alternator out of the car)


The new remanufactured alternator….

Looks pretty!

Sliding the new alternator in the car the same way line up where it sits and put the LONGEST bolt (the one that connects the alternator at the very top in first. I didn’t do that and that last bolt wouldn’t go in so I had to redo it until I put that one in first. The other two will go in quite easy once that last bolt goes in. I went ahead and bought a new belt since my old one popped out at me when I got the alternator out….

It takes some effort to put the belt on but I found it best to make putting the last part of the belt on the pulley the best (though I think that’s what your suppose to do). I ended up pulling my muscle putting the belt on but it slide in and I tightened the bolt to the pulley and all was well. Do not tighten too tight! Once that’s done go ahead and reinstall the splashguard… (now to save you the trouble I ended up with by myself) have someone help you put the splashguard back on and bolt the four bolts back on because its too big and bulky for one person. I ended up supporting the splashguard with my back and bolted one side in and moved to the other side to do the same. Getting it to line up from then was easy then I went and reinstalled the cooling lines to the guard itself with the two 10mm lugs.

Reinstall the tire, drop the car down… reconnect the battery cable and before you start the car, I heard it was recommended to get it recharged (depending on how dead the battery is or how new it is too when the alternator decided to take a crap. When I started mine it hesitated some but eventually ran smooth and the battery light went out.

Spent a total of about $130.00 but the experience was priceless….

Btw, don’t say you can’t do it… I’m 23 years old and did it in 100 degree weather… talk about dedication! Lol hope this helps some who need to do replacement.. Any problems just PM me…
 
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#4 ·
yea on those engines its located at the top on the drivers side I believe, on the 2.7 its located on the drivers side at the very bottom... think thats hard.. try replacing one on a 97 Mystique or Contour... wouldn't even wanna touch it...
 
#5 ·
Great write up bro. My lower radiator support has one bolt that is stripped and will not come off. This is why I can't replace it when it does go. Again, great write up. One more thing....isn't the thing you call a splash gard the lower radiator support?
 
#11 ·
04IntrepidSXT said:
98 Mystique here, not as hard as you describe the 2.7 to be
the 2.7L alternator is a pain yes but at least from under the hood I could see it. Under the hood of my buddies Mystique, lol I couldn't even find it. Come to find out its located on the passenger side at the bottom at the back of the engine.
 
#15 ·
I think a commendation is in order for Dru for documenting the alternator replacement. From what I've seen and heard it's not a 15 minute job on a 2.7L and it doesn't look like like a fun job anyway. All others that are saying other cars are more difficult are missing the point. This write up involves the LH cars we drive and not a Ford or Nissan or Yugo. Great work Dru, and thanks for sharing the details with us.
 
#17 ·
thanks a lot. I really could use this. I was gonna have a local shop do it and snap pics and post how ''they'' did it. now I can post how I did it. I have the haynes book and it still isn't as simple a you explained it. please post this in the how to's as well. one question tho. I need to get the big three done. did you happen to notice where the engine ground to chassis is and did you see any viable routes to run the alt pos to battery as I hear the factory wire is small and was routed through the smallest of twist and turns and 1/0 might not be able to trace the factory wire.

thanks great job man.
 
#19 ·
sowhatsowhat10 said:
thanks a lot. I really could use this. I was gonna have a local shop do it and snap pics and post how ''they'' did it. now I can post how I did it. I have the haynes book and it still isn't as simple a you explained it. please post this in the how to's as well. one question tho. I need to get the big three done. did you happen to notice where the engine ground to chassis is and did you see any viable routes to run the alt pos to battery as I hear the factory wire is small and was routed through the smallest of twist and turns and 1/0 might not be able to trace the factory wire.

thanks great job man.
lol I feel like an idiot... the big three? the alt. pos is small and routed real weird. I was able to track it though. The battery and alternator, believe it or not are literally on the same level, but on the opposide side of each other. The cooling fans, to me, would make me a little hesistant to wanna route any wiring from the alt. to battery.
 
#20 ·
Intrepidman21 said:
lol I feel like an idiot... the big three? the alt. pos is small and routed real weird. I was able to track it though. The battery and alternator, believe it or not are literally on the same level, but on the opposide side of each other. The cooling fans, to me, would make me a little hesistant to wanna route any wiring from the alt. to battery.
the big 3 upgrades the engine to chassis, alt pos+ to batt pos+, and neg- batt to chassis. scooter-man informed me on where i could route them. the purpose of the big 3 is reduce resistance in the stock wiring to help stop things like your car stereo from dimming your headlights, windows rolling up or down from dimming your headlights along with other things that stress the stock electrical wiring.
 
#22 ·
Dudley said:
good write up! Yeah put it in a How to. I may need it someday. Thanks!
I am. Appreciate it. I was mad that nobody posted a how-to on how to do this because the book makes it a heck of a lot harder than it actually is...

and to sowhat...

Keep in mind even with my alternator off I was still limited to the amount of room I needed to move around. To possibly run the wiring, I'd find someone with a lift to get in there and do all that... thats the easiest way I see.
 
#23 ·
Intrepidman21 said:
I am. Appreciate it. I was mad that nobody posted a how-to on how to do this because the book makes it a heck of a lot harder than it actually is...

and to sowhat...

Keep in mind even with my alternator off I was still limited to the amount of room I needed to move around. To possibly run the wiring, I'd find someone with a lift to get in there and do all that... thats the easiest way I see.
thanks and the haynes manuel makes everything seem harder. i still havent figured how to completely remove the door panel. lol *shhhh dont tell anyone* lol
 
#24 ·
well to remove the door panel you'll need a philips screwdriver for the screws at the boom of the door, torx screwdriver to take the speaker and other small spots off, then pull on the door panel and the panel will pop off. One its off just disconnect the harness on the door itself and take the door panel off....
 
#25 ·
Intrepidman21 said:
well to remove the door panel you'll need a philips screwdriver for the screws at the boom of the door, torx screwdriver to take the speaker and other small spots off, then pull on the door panel and the panel will pop off. One its off just disconnect the harness on the door itself and take the door panel off....
i got it off enough to operate behind it. the harness was hard to get off and there was a piece attached to the handle which the haynes book said it just snapped off but for the life of me i couldnt get it off. i will try it again someday. i was able to make the adjustments i needed with it partially removed.
 
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