Ever tried to change the alternator on a '2000 3.8 T&C van? IT?S NOT FUN!
1st, you gotta take out the entire windshield wiper assembly. This gives you space to remove the TOO many bolts holding the alternator in place. You?ll find the TOP plate (the one with the top alternator bolt) held in by 3 bolts when 2 would do. Then the manual says to remove the lower plate. That one is held in by 3 bolts you can see and one only reachable from under the car. One each place would have been sufficient but frankly, both could have been made reachable from the top.In fact, I learned it was not necessary to remove that plate at ALL, since I got the alternator out without removing it. It was hard but I did it.
But the REAL problem was installing the new serpentine belt. IT WAS JUST TOO SHORT! I measured and it was the same length as the old one but it just didn?t work. I finally had to go buy a new belt that was about
2? longer. It worked just fine. Maybe the new alternator had a larger pulley. Dunno.So I actually spent the better part of a whole day R&R-ing that thing. I NEVER wanna do THAT again!
John
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