hey whats going on..so my car wont start and the battery light is on so i charged battery up and ran for a bit and died so im guessing its the alternator that needs to be replaced am i right?? and how much does just the alternator run me and anyone have any good places i can look? also is there a how to on how to change the alternator? thanks a lot for any help.

 

if you ever make it out to Jamaica, i can show you 2 shops that do the rebuilding for the retailers. last i checked it was 80 for the 110amp alt and $125 for the 150 amp alt. give or take $5. they are close to the LIRR station if driving is a p roblem.

to change, adjust teh tensioner on the side of the motor, then 2 bolts on the alt.

 

I just changed mine last week. You need to drop the ac compressor and remove the fans in the front. Remove the tensioner and the belt. Took me about 3 hrs in the garage and it was my first time replacing one. I got the lifetime alt for $180 just in case.
If you can use a voltmeter, you should have 14.5 volts with the car running across the battery.

 

you dont need to remove the compressor or the fans. the alt comes out all by itself. and 14.4V is at high RPM's.

 

I got mine through my mechanic for $190. He also replaced my serpentine belt, and it took him 2 hours.

 

I was able to get it out without removing the compressor and fans. Took me about an hour and a half to do my first time. I'd help you out if I wasn't stuck in FL. If you have some mechanical ability it shouldn't be a problem for you to do the job yourself.

 

I could hardly get the alt out after loosing the 4 ac compressor bolts and dropping that down. Sure wish I knew how everyone gets the alt out with dropping the alt. Hell, there isn't any room in there. I guess another pair of hands would make it easier.

 

I had a hard time replacing mine. The front bolt is easy and the brackets are kind of self explanatory. The back bolt on the other half is TRICKY... I had to go behind the tailpipe and reach my hand in there to find the bolt, I had a short extension and about a 5 inch one. It took me about 3 hours to replace it. Helps if you put the car on jackstands. I thought about taking the a/c compressor lose but thought better of it.

 

whats the difference between the 80 and 110 amps? does it matter which i get?

 

The one I got from autozone was 125 amps. I'm not sure if there are any places that sell aftermarket alternators for our cars that aren't 125 amps unless it's custom but I could be wrong. I called autozone, advance auto, and pep boys to get pricing and they all said they were 125 amps.

 

if youre lucky, there was a recall on alternators on 98's, so unless you already changed it from the recall, u could be lucky and get a free new oem one from the dealer if u can get ure car there.

 

whats the difference between amps..like the 125 amps and the stock one?

 

there is no difference between the 2 amp ratings. it may be 110 and 125 or 110 and 150, i cant remember. they just made a higher output one for cars with a heavier load. if you have amps etc it may help, but if not you would be just fine. no offense but Autozone folks dont know jack about cars. may as well go to pepboys. if i walk into a place that has thousands of alternators laying around (fixed and about to be fixed) and they can tell me what car mine came out of just by looking at the alternator i tend to trust their knowledge more. there are 2 diff kinds of starters for our cars, just as there are 2 diff kinds of alts. both stock. unfortunately, no one makes aftermarket alts for high amp requirements for our cars because the casing is already filled to capacity (spent months looking).

just checked online and it is 110 and 125.
http://replacement.car-stuff.com/par...howdc=true#top

 

BS!
I just ordered a 200amp alternator yesterday. Ive been having idle issues lately it appears that I have too many accessories drawing more amps then my OEM alt can put out.
I ordered my High output alt from here...
http://www.mean-green.com/ (they were the cheapest.)

Another good source, but $$$$
http://www.highoutputalternator.com/
Both Co.s informed me that the unit is the same size, and bolts up in the factory mounts with no issues.
Deezo recommends this Co.
Can-Am Motors
13102 N Florida Ave
Tampa, FL 33612-3474
(813) 935-4199

Speak with Art



From what I have read, OEM alternators for 95-99 are the following, Fed-spec cars use the 110 amp part, CA-spec uses the 100 amp part.
If your going to invest in a alternator, go OEM if you dont need a High output alternator. The autozone remanufactured units are crap!

 

i have been to both of those site and many others and you can get a 200 amp alt. that wasnt enough for my particular application. as far as the idle problem is concerned, you are wrong. high output alts have a lower output at idle. in order to increase the output the alt is opened up and more coils are added. this increases the amount of electromagnetic induction. problem is, it also makes the spinning component heavier which causes it to spin slower.

and there is a stock 125 amp alt that is made for i30's (and i think some max's) that have heated mirrors, seats, sunroof and bose. and not that i would buy the ones from autozone, but why are they crap?

 

i just replaced my battery and it was good. the old battery wasnt charging at all. it might charge a slight bit, but it wouldnt keep the charge.

i have to test the alternator tho, cause that could be at fault - only time will tell unless i take the multimeter to it.

 

The HO alternator puts out 165amps at idle and goes up to 200amp under loads. The spinning is taken care by running a smaller pulley on the HO alternators. Hopw big of an alternator did you need? Mean Green and the other sites can custom build alternators that have higher amp ratings, bad thing is they will most likely be a larger unit which would effect the mounting.
The 125 amp OEM unit is for the 2000max and up, from what i have been told and it will mount in the 95-99's.
The remanufactured alts and starters dont tend to have the lifespan of the brand new OEM units. That is why they have the lifetime warranty. I bought an Autozone starter and have had to replace it every year, free of charge yes, but not worth the headache and unreliablity.Same thing with an alternator, after it died a year later and left me stranded I went back to OEM.

 

5th gen atly's are 125amp and will bolt right up.

 

Welcome to being kicked off of the org...

You are the weakest link....goodbye!

 

I wish I had this thread to refer to before I bought an Autozone alt. I would have just bought a 5 gen oem alternator. Oh well, live and learn!! At least one day I'll have a spare