Has anyone ever replaced an Alternator on a Northstar Eldorado or comparable vehicle? Mine is just about to go. I bought one off ebay for $35. The dealer wants $540 to replace the alternator which is why I am concerned. For that kind of money it must be a real bear to replace. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Why don't you post this in the electrical or Eldorado forums instead of the engine/transmission forum? Another person's alternator question was just moved yesterday.

My bad, sorry about that. I will move it to another area.

on my 94 sts, I pulled the passenger side tire and splash shields, then I pulled the passenger side fan assembly, and under the car on the frame under the compressor is a plate held on by 4 10mm bolts remove this plate. You will see the opening has a distinct shape and when you drop the alternator you need to turn it around till it lines up with the shape of the opening and drop it out the bottom.

They say you can also get it out throught the passenger side wheel opening,

to recap, disconnect the neg battery
Pull passengerside tire and splash shields
remove frame cover plate
remove passenger side fan
remove serpintine belt
remove front alternator bolt, I did this thru wheel opening.
remove/loosen back bolt, one of your back bolts will not come all the way out as it backs out aginst the exhaust manifold.
remove wiring from alternator
drop out bottom.

Thats what I did for mine, like I said it was a 94 STS

Thanks JJBuckley. I am not too familiar with working on engines, but my bro.-in-law is a mechanic. He said he would help. Sounds pretty complicated, but I am going to give it a shot to save $500. I'll let you know how it goes.

After you have done it once it will not be that bad of a job. Things are always 10 times as hard the first time....LOL

Work thru the right front wheel well with the tire and splash shields off to help with access. The time it takes to remove the wheel will easily pay for itself.

Just remember to disconnect the negative battery cable before you start anything....

Has anyone ever replaced an Alternator on a Northstar Eldorado or comparable vehicle? Mine is just about to go. I bought one off ebay for $35. The dealer wants $540 to replace the alternator which is why I am concerned. For that kind of money it must be a real bear to replace. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

How did u know your alternator is "almost" done for?

I don't know. I took it to the dealer a couple weeks ago because it was making a horrible squeel. the dealer said it was the alternator and the pressure pulley. I replaced the pulley and it was still loud. 10 days later the motor siezed and I towed it back to the dealer. They replaced a blown a/c compressor, replaced a leaking radiator, and fixed an electrical problem with the cooling fans. Now the car is quiet as a whisper and no mention of a bad alternator. I think the dealer was wrong the first time through.

Well, I have a 97 seville and had my go at changing the alternator. I started getting a traction control/abs error and shortly thereafter, I noticed that my battery voltage was steadily dropping. It got me home and the next day, Kragan ran there little free test and said that the battery has a low charge (not surprising) and that the alternator did not seem to be charging at the proper voltage. So, I decided to replace the alternator. Using Alldata's descriptions, I got to the point of "rotate and remove alternator." Ya, right. OK, here's the trick that they don't tell you. Remove the two bolts that hold the left side radiator fan (there's two fans) and lift the thing up just enough to get it out of the way. At that point, the alterator came out pretty easy. No radiator removal necessary. Well, I took the old alternator back to Kragan. Works perfectly on their bench tester. Crap. So I return with the battery. Also no problems. Crap. So now what. Well, I replace battery and alternator. Put everything back except the coverings and plates and such, start it up. Seems OK but I'm skeptical. So I put the rest of the junk back on. Then my passkeyII stops working. Then I get a "theft system problem, car may not restart". Guess what. It did not restart. When I try to start it. I get the same message and all of the gear indicator lights flash. I know that the car is laughing at me. My current theory is that there is a short in the ABS/Traction control harness (there is a recall on the 97's) and that's causing me havoc. But the old "clean the battery terminal" suggestion that I read above will be done tomorrow and I'll try it again...

Sigh...
(

Eldoluvr,

Take your car to a parts store and get them to do a free test on your alternator. This could shed a little light. It is possible that the dealer misdiagnosed your problem the first time. That squeel was your a/c compressor starting to seize.

If you do have to change out the alternator, it isn't a hard job to do at all. On a 94 Eldo, it is possible to change out it out without removing the wheel and splash shields. You do need to remove that small plate with the 4 bolts and move the passenger side fan out of the way.

Does anyone know the amp output rating on a 98 Deville?

Does anyone know the amp output rating on a 98 Deville?
140 amps

Get a Delco, a year from now it will still work ;) the $150 AutoZone/pepboys/etc do not play well with these caddys

It turns out that the problem was a corroded battery cable. The corrosion was on the hidden side of the cable so I didn't see it. First check the battery. Then check the cable. Then check the alternator...Then check the cable again.

Selinz...I've got a '97 SLS with the same symptoms...ABS and Traction control lights came on only while I was driving last night (they're off this morning) and I've got 11.5V at the battery. Prolly gonna try to clean the terminals tonight and see what happens. Hopefully that's all there is to fixing the problem since replacing the alternator looks like a REAL pain. I took the battery to Pep Boys and it passed the test so that doesn't appear to be the problem even though the "BAD BATTERY" message came on once. I'll try to post a follow up to this problem when I get it resolved.

Cleaning the battery cables did not solve my problem. I went and got a new battery and its not charging either so the next thing is to replace the alternator. I wish I was lucky enough to be able to fix the thing by just cleaning the connections...

One thing you guys need to know when changing alternators, If you leave the same battery in the car, that battery will need a full charge from a charger BEFORE you start it up!!! If you happen to start a car with a brand new alternator and a very low battery, the alternator's internal voltage regulator will detect the low battery and instruct the alternator to put out HIGH AMPS..

High enough it could cause the brand new alternator to SPIKE and short right there and then!! ...

Don't take chances!!! Check and if neeeded, fully charge your battery before cranking up the car after the installation of a new alternator!!!