Alternator Instructions (Removal and Installation)

**808chevyz28** · 06-30-2012, 11:00 PM

Had to replace the alternator on my 99 Z28, and thanks to this write up, it was a lot easier than I expected! biggest pita was making sure I didin't break the clip with the wire.

**Camaro47** · 06-11-2014, 08:55 PM

I am 47 and finally bought a frivolous car! It's an '01 Camaro Convertible with the 6 speed manual and for the two days it ran it was wonderful. You should have seen the smile on my wife's face when she drove it! Better than.....s.........anything.

The alternator had been replaced 2 weeks before we bought it so I thought 'that's one thing less to fail' on a high mileage vehicle. But it was a reman...so wrong. After removal, it was confirmed as a bad reman., but the process of removal brought out my chagrin at the GM engineers that put this thing together. The bolt on the backside of the alternator sent me to two hardware stores to find a compact ratchet that could actually turn in the micro-scule space the GM guys left behind this alt.. After finally getting that last bad-boy loose, I wrenched and wriggled to get the alternator out and did not even notice the nano-scule wire/connector on the blind backside of the assembly. Needless to say, I broke the wire.

The kicker is that the guy at O'Reilly in Apple Valley, MN was quick to ridicule my error, and slow to honor my request to go ahead and test the alternator anyway (just in case the damage was done on removal, not prior). When he did, it proved his tester was broken (by his admission) at which point he referred me to the O'Reilly in a neighboring suburb. Upon testing there, it was proven that the reman. alternator was in fact defective.

Back to that nano-wire....so, I'm an electrical engineer with spare sparky parts lying around the house, so it didn't send me to the stealer to buy a new harness at blackmail prices. I was able to solder a new wire into the harness connector (though it was a 'female dog' to get the pin out of the housing), and splice a little extra wire onto the one feeding to the alternator. All that for spare wire, solder, and $3 of splice connectors from the O'Reilly in Rosemount MN (where they never flinched at my request to actually test my alternator, which only produced 11.7 volts under load).

Bottom line lesson for me:

1. Remove the bolt on back first (easier to loosen with no torque load)
2. Remove the nano-wire on the back second, rather than have to improvise a repair or pay stealer prices for a new assembly.

**pajeff02** · 06-12-2014, 02:18 AM

Welcome to the site, Doug!

Our cars are not exactly "user friendly" when it comes to wrenching on them -- certain things like the alternator, number 8 spark plug, fuel pump and a few other items are a bit tricky to get to when it comes time for replacement. There are some maintenance items on our cars as well that you should consider: http://www.ls1.com/forums/f6/general...1/#post2564198

***SMWS6TA*** · 06-13-2014, 07:40 AM

Hey Doug, if you haven't figure it out yet here's a help thread.

http://www.ls1.com/forums/f6/fix-if-...re-plu-133361/

More tech threads...

http://www.ls1.com/forums/f6/technic...tickies-79083/

**Tataocb** · 05-25-2016, 05:08 AM

Nice write up. It helped me while trying to connect the Racetronix wire harness to the alternator. I thought I could just remove the 13mm nut that holds the wire going to the battery, but the stud rotates as I turn the nut. So I might have to end up removing the alternator to hold the stud in place while I remove the nut. I also removed the rubbery watershield to be able to get to the nut.