Where is my alternator located at
open your engine compartment hood and swing the support arm up and into the slot made for it in the hood. Standing on the passenger side, the alternator is toward the firewall, under the windshield wiper motor assembly and attached to the engine. It will be a lot more visible if you remove the foam rubber seal that runs along the top of the body that runs from right to left of the back underside of the engine compartment hood when it is closed. Just lift it off of the lip it is resting on. Then remove the plastic cover that also runs the complete back side to side length of the engine compartment. carefully pull the cover piece up out of each of the metallic spring clips that is holding it in place. With these two items removed and set aside, you will be able to see your alternator where I previously described it to be, when standing on the passenger side of the car, facing the engine compartment, you will be facing the front of your 3.4 L engine. You can follow the rubber drive belt all around it's travel in and around the various pulleys that drive the components that are attached to the front of your engine. The alternator is attached to the upper left hand side of the front of the engine. It won't have any hoses or tubing attached to it like the power steering pump or water pump does. It will have two wires connected to the back side of it. One large wire and one small wire that connect through a plug that clips into a receptacle built into the back side of the alternator. . Don't attempt to remove the wires until you disconnect the battery. the wire plug will have a locking pin slid through the clip on the plug. Use a pair of needle nose pliers to grip the thick side of the pin and pull it out. Now you can depress the lock clip on the plug and pull it out of the receptacle back side of the alternator. Next you will need to locate the belt idler arm. this is located closer to the front center of the engine. It is a spring loaded arm with a pulley on it that keeps a steady tension on the drive belt. On the arm of the idler arm, there is a square hole/slot/opening that measures 3/8" square. This opening is made for a 3/8" socket wrench to be inserted and move the idler arm pulley up or down to remove the tension on the drive belt so it can be removed or replaced. Remove the belt now. Now direct you attention back to the alternator. Use a #15mm socket wrench and short extension to remove the two bolts holding the alternator on to the engine One bolt is visible on the top left side of the alternator, (and there may be a third bolt but I can't remember for sure), and the second bolt is located at the bottom left side and back up under the alternator in a position that is not visible when the alternator is in place on the engine. use your fingers to feel the bolt head and then remove it. It is a long bolt and might have to come out with the alternator, meaning it is too long to be slid out of the alternator when it is in the position it normally is on the front of the engine. When you feel the bolt is free from the threads on the engine, lift it out still inside the slot it runs through on the alternator, along with the alternator at the same time. This makes it a bit difficult to re-install the new alternator, because you have to support the weight of the alternator as you probe around for the threaded hole that the bottom bolt screws into. Other than that re-install note....just reverse all of the removal instructions to put the new alternator back in. Torque the bolts on the alternator tight! and if you can access the torque specifications on line or in a Chilton's book that is made for use on a silhouette, venture or montana manufactured in 2000-2001-2002 with a 3.4 L v-6 engine,,... and have a torque wrench to torque it down with....do so...otherwise just tighten the bolts back to the same degree of effort/tug/pull that you had to exert when you removed them. And keep a mental image of how the drive belt goes back on the pulley system, or make a drawing of the belt route before removing...there is a diagram of the belt installation and route on the front of your engine compartment. Replace the drive belt if it's over 5 years old or if it has cracks or other defects that can be visually identified when you inspect it while it is off the engine.
