Changing the 3.4 DOHC alt. yourself could save you up to 300-500 dollars in labor. The problem with our alts, the location is not the best place. Many mechanics actually charge you more than they should because of this. It goes back to the "black sheep" of GM V-6's. The process is a pain, but can be accomplished.
First thing you need to do is get a new alt. I went w/ a lifetime warranty alt from NAPA myself, but any will work.
1. Remove the battery (so you have to remove all stuff in the way
of doing this)
2. Put the battery on a charger (this is a good idea)
3. Remove the coolant recovery tank
4. Remove the drive belt (a 15mm open-end works great for this)
5. If you follow the power steering lines down, you will notice a clip
holding them in place, remove this clip (13mm socket and driver will
fit)
6. Now remove the main bolt the clip was on (this is the first of the
alternator bolts to get removed), and is easily done from the top on the
car.
**This is where its up to you, the alt will not come directly out without something being removed. You have 2 choices here. 1st you can remove the tranny mount, and the axle assembly which requires lots of work. I would estimate about another 1-2 hrs worth. Or you can remove the tie-rod. That takes about 5 mins to accomplish. But you will need an alignment after you install the new alt. It's your choice. Dropping the engine does not have to be done. If you remove the axle, I would suggest doing that before you start unmounting the alternator.
13. Undo the 18mm tie-rod bolt on the bottom of the lower control arm
(has a cotter pin as well)
14. Take a ball joint puller (is basically a fork type of device) and
hammer the tie-rod out. To do this, place the fork between the lower
control arm and the tie-rod, then hammer the fork in until the tie-rod
pops out. This does take some hammering
15. Once it is removed, put the key in the ignition and turn the
steering wheel to the right. This pulls the tie-rod end inside the
engine, giving you enough room to pull the alternator out of the engine
bay.
Once it is removed, the install is basically the same as the removal process. To install the tie-rod, turn the steering back to normal, put the tie-rod into the lower control arm, it will go down just enough to put the bolt back on, then tighten w/ an impact and install the cotter pin. Your alignment will be off, so you must take it to get aligned. I chose this process because of the time and headache saved from removing the axle assembly. If you do not wish to do this, you can, as I mentioned above, remove the axle. It's your choice.
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