Car died. Was jump started and was diagnosed as a bad alternator. How easy is it to replace the alternator
The battery must be disconnected, the serpentine drive belt removed, the wiring disconnected from the alternator and finally the alternator unbolted from its mountings and removed.
This is not a DIY job if you do not know what you are doing and do not have the appropriate tools. Have it changed by a competent mechanic or auto electrical specialist.
SOURCE: 1997 Satrun SL 2 alternator failures
Miserable engineering.
My '95 SL2 purchased new, ate 6 (SIX) alternators, that fantastic "27 patents" automatic transmission, two sets of front disks and finally dropped a rod cap at 56,700 miles of very civilized driving.
I 'sold' it to my youngest son for $1 as a hobby when he got bored with his Jeeps or to donate it to a fund-raising bashing contest.
Now, the reason the alternators die -
They are buried in the engine compartment and get hardly any natural cooling there and, I don't know what kind of stupid engineers GM employs these days, but that alternator at 105 amps rating must deliver up to 1200 watts of 12 volt power an d it is too small to effectively dissipate the 1200 watts of sheer heat it produces while doing it.
If you have any appliance that absorbs 1200 watts (10 amps at 120 VAC), just check to see how much heat that is and even if spread over a larger area and bulk of the alternator, you think that would be a good environment for the semiconductors that are used to make the DC and regulate it.
It's a absolutely insane design and convinced me to never, EVER buy another anything from GM!
Sorry to vent but it still irks me after over 4 years of trouble-free Subaru ownership.
I wish you luck.
SOURCE: Car doesnt always start, does not turn over, does
the ignition maybe bad are the car is not all the way in park also check the battery to make sure it has a good charge and it does not have a bad cell in it and the terminals are clean.
SOURCE: i have a 94 saturn sl a month ago my car died in
Could be a bad battery and alternator, the alternator should still be covered. But the battery will need to be replaced, and make sure there are no short in the electrical system.
SOURCE: i have a 94 saturn sl a month ago my car died in
It is possible that you got a defective alternator, but it sounds like you have another problem. Of course, you should check that you have +12V on the field connection of the alternator as well as the battery terminal. I think a more likely explanation is that you have a broken connection or a blown fuse in the engine fuse block. If all of the electrical systems in your car are dead, that is a good sign that the connection between the battery and the fuse block is broken. If you have no power on the power (battery) terminal of the alternator and you have power in the fuse block, then check the fusible link (maxifuse).
Get back to me if you do not find the problem, and I will attempt to help you further.
SOURCE: The VUE wouldn't start so we got a jump. The
Most likely you have a voltage regulator on the alternator going bad. That is why one test was bad then one test was good. The voltage regulator is most likely integrated into the alternator. Replace the Alternator and that should resolve the problems.
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