Breakdown Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 I just pulled the alternator out of my 94 Cutlass Supreme Convertible today, failed rectifier inside. Got a rebuilt one for $100 with a 1 yr warranty from a local alternator shop. As long as you have the factory cooling duct in place, I'd say its about as good as it's going to get. It's tough enough to get the alternator in there let alone a shield to go around it. Nature of the beast. Did you go to Highland?? If not, where?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOT2B GM Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 Depending on the year of car...91-93 (mine's a 91) there will be a insulated rubber cooling duct that is plumbed around to the backside of the alternator feeding cool air to the rectifier, that is fed from a flo thru blower motor up in front of the passenger side shock tower. This design was discontinued with the 94? model year for the above mentioned plastic duct. Replacement of the alternator on this engine is NOT one of the more pleasant jobs to do. I as well had to recently replace the alternator. The alternator cooling fan is a 91 ONLY thing. 92-97 LQ1's had the cooling duct jiggity76 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOT2B GM Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 Did you go to Highland?? If not, where?? Victoria Starter and Alternator on Victoria St. N. http://www.yelp.ca/biz/victoria-starter-and-alternator-kitchener Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BandMominMO Posted January 20 Report Share Posted January 20 On 6/9/2005 at 3:46 PM, Rabbi said: dude, that writeup is AWSOME whats so freaking hard about that omg, I read it was an absolute nightmare. I think my starter was a harder,or atleast seems like it would of been. Anyway im going to give this a try tommarow night i think. Thanks for the very nice tut! On 6/9/2005 at 3:41 PM, slick said: http://www.w-body.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=30225 Anybody know where I can access this information about the quick 45 minute alternator swap?? The page “cannot be found.” There’s just never enough time in the day as it is, so if we can save the hubbs 3+ hours of labor, that’d totally be the cat’s pajamas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schurkey Posted January 21 Report Share Posted January 21 I can't help. The only time I changed an alternator on one of my Lumina Euro 3.4s, I did it from the top--with the cam carrier and cylinder head removed. Very easy with that out of the way. Not gonna happen in 45 minutes, though. I also took the opportunity to install a block heater, and perform a "valve job" since I had the head off due to a blown head gasket. BandMominMO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White93z34 Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 Despite being there for that way back in the day.... I'd have to really dig around for the post and it would probably be of little utility by now. If I remember right, support the car, disconnect the tie rod end from the knuckle. remove all the plastic shrouding in the wheel well remove the 2 subframe bolts from the right side of the subframe and lower it down enough to access the mounting bolts for the alternator and associated wiring and then weasel it out the wheel well Thats how I used to do them, usually took round abouts of an hour. If its your first time its gonna suck they get easier after that. This is a vast over simplification, I'm sure. Its been years since I had to do one, and like Schurkey last time I did one the engine was on a stand so it was super easy. rich_e777, BandMominMO, 94 olds vert and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94 olds vert Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 This is why I joined this forum nearly 15 years ago now. The 45 minutes is a lie (at least for my dumbass back then), but this did help a lot. The pictures are long gone. White93z34 and BandMominMO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White93z34 Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 As I recall when Chris and I did that his car was no stranger to being taken apart and may or may not have had all the hardware the factory installed to hold the alternator in, as well as both of us having had done that job a number of times previously. However it was in the parking lot of his apartment complex with nothing but hand tools so there's that. 94 olds vert and BandMominMO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94 olds vert Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 (edited) 10 minutes ago, White93z34 said: As I recall when Chris and I did that his car was no stranger to being taken apart and may or may not have had all the hardware the factory installed to hold the alternator in, as well as both of us having had done that job a number of times previously. However it was in the parking lot of his apartment complex with nothing but hand tools so there's that. I can recall doing that in my old garage shortly after I purchased the car. I didn't even have a license yet. Me and my dad were reading the forum post. We were thinking that is a lot of work for an alternator and cursing you guys for saying it was 45 minutes lol. I think I even had to borrow some tools from my grandfather at the time. He came over with his 98 z71, with jack stands and a few other things. Good times back then. I owned that car for over 10 years, and only had to do the alternator one time. This forum taught me a lot, along with my dad and grandfather. I did my first brake job when I was around 10 years old with my grandfather on a Corvair. Edited January 23 by 94 olds vert i've been drinking BandMominMO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jiggity76 Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 (edited) Just did this pretty recently. Yeah, first time I did it, took me about 6 hrs. Once I figured out how to do it and such, I'm now in the 45 min to an hour club. Edited January 23 by jiggity76 BandMominMO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BandMominMO Posted February 3 Report Share Posted February 3 Thanks guys! The passenger wheel is off and there’s lots of things under the car in that area, so things are underway. I’m not sure how much time has been invested thus far, but it’s been in its current “dismantling” state for about 5 days now. I’m guessing he was at a point that he had to get up and just walk away before he threw something in a fit of rage. I know for sure he spends about 45 minutes a day (give it take) cursing about it. 94 olds vert and jiggity76 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcac Posted February 7 Report Share Posted February 7 (edited) @BandMominMO. I had saved slick94prix's 45 minute alternator swap instructions back in 2005. See the PDF below. It has the photos that @94 olds vert noted are missing. There is another write-up of how to change the 3.4 DOHC alternator floating around the web from the mid 2000's. I had made a copy of that back then and it is linked below, too. NOTE: I searched and that second write up is still on the web. Surprising, but nice to know the info is still accessible, since the 3.4 DOHC was last produced in 1997. Slick94prix's 45 minute 3.4 DOHC alternator repair- Write Up Another web page capture of 3.4 DOHC alternator replacement instructions W-Body Admins - if posting this content is against forum policy, just remove the offending material or the entire post - thanks. 34 dohc 45 minute alternator..pdf Edited February 8 by kcac clarity Schurkey and pwmin 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecalais79 Posted February 11 Report Share Posted February 11 One last refuge is to find a Chevrolet dealer with some (old) experienced mechanics that have worked on the Luminas with the LQ1's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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