A couple months ago, I was driving my GTA, when the SIR light came on. The car felt like it was running out of gas, and eventually died.

Sadly, I had to leave for Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota the next day.

Well, I'm back, and I'm trying to figure out how to fix my problem. I know it's electrical. The two obvious things that come to mind are alternator and battery. I tried recharging the battery under the hood off my honda, and it had enough juice to start my GTA once. Then I bought a brand new battery, and it got me about 2/3 of the way home from where my GTA was being stored. Then my little bro came to the rescue. We had to stop and slightly recharge the battery 2 more times before getting her all the way home.

Is it safe to assume that my alternator is shot, and that it isn't doing its job recharging the battery? Or could this be something else?

I'm going to crawl her over to my local mech tomorrow, but I'd like to know what's up before I have him touch it.

Thanks!
Bill

 

most auto parts stores will check your alt for u for free id do that first if its good have them check your batt. if both r okay i would start looking at the wiring and terminals.

 

I'd say it was the alternator or the cables between the battery/alternator. You should have a battery guage in the dash. Unless it's a digital dash, then I dunno how yours looks. If you have one though,, normal reading should be between 12 and 14. You should really only see it anywhere near 12 if you've got a LOT of stuff running. Anything above 14 or below 12 is generally bad. Yours sounds like it'll read well below 12. A test at your local auto parts store will tell for sure, but I'd say your alternator is shot. To test, try this. Jump the car and then disconnect the battery. The car can run without the battery, but not the alternator. If the car dies, your alternator is kaput.

 

Thanks for the input guys, I'll definately have it checked out tomorrow.

Assuming the alternator is dead on my car, what is the best replacement for my 1991 GTA (5.7)? I don't want something that robs too many horses from my bird, but I dont want something that is going to give lousy output either.

My car is pretty much stock now, but I am looking at beefing up the horsepower and improving the handling. Will this make a difference in my selection of an alternator?

The only potential non-performace accessory I can see adding in the future that would draw a significant amount of amps would be a couple of subs. I dont think I need a beefed up alternator for that, do I?

Thanks again!
Bill

 

Nah, unless you're running a race car or a really serious radio/sound system your stock alternator is fine. As for replacements... Since it's pretty much a 5 minute job, just take whatever alternator they have on hand. If they have a few types in stock, grab the most expensive one, well, unless it's really expensive. The higher the price, generally, the higher quality of either the parts that went into it and/or the labor used to assemble it. But it is a 5 minute job, so it's no biggie. Remove a few bolts and a plug and wires, replace and zoom off. Check your belt while you're at it. Make sure the grooved side isn't riddled with cracks, if so, replace it.

Also, one word of advice, avoid any of those performance pulleys. "They'll give you hp!" bah, they're garbage and won't give you jack and will most likely kill your alternator for one. I went through 3 alternators before I figured out why they were dying some years back, lol

 

whoa, my mech said it was a 1 and a half hour job. I saw a guy do it on a 1960 something dodge dart (which is totally different) but it was a ROYAL PITA

I was also hoping for a specific brand/model. I was thinking of mail ordering instead of getting the crappy pep boys special. I refuse to buy anything from that place.

Thanks again guys,

Bill

 

lmao, 1 and a half hours to change an alternator? Good ***, is he letting Stevie Wonder do the mechanic work? This is the procedure...

Disconnect battery.

Get either a 1/2 inch breaker bar or 1/2 inch sized ratchet, insert in tensioner, pull back, remove belt from alternator. Unplug plug from alternator, use a small size socket and ratchet on another bolt on the back of it to remove some wires, finally undo 3-4 bolts from the front/rear of the alternator. I think there's 2 or 3 in the front and one holding a bracket on the back. Remove alternator, install new one. I don't know the exact sizes without going outside and checking with my own socket set and I'm unsure if it's 3 or 4 bolts total holding the alternator down, but that's the procedure. It doesn't get any simpler than that. 1.5 hours, sheesh, no wonder people don't like mechanics. Maybe 1 hour of that is coffee break and existential mediatation time?

As for brand that I dunno. The only thing I can suggest is AC Delco for the brand. I have no clue on the quality of the other names. I'd assume most are pretty much rebuilds assembled in taiwan, mexico or some other place. I got mine from Advance Auto and installed it in their lot even. I think I spent more time looking at and cleaning a few things I normally couldn't easily reach than I did on the install.

 

I just went out to look at mine, 2 torx bolts on the front and 2 standard bolts on the back. The 2 torx are different sizes too I believe. The only name I saw on my was Palladium, dunno who or what that is though.

 

Thanks Elthesh. If this really is as easy as you make it seem, I just might try it myself.

I just called the dealership up to see if they had a replacement alternator. (Since they're the only ppl I can think of who would definately carry AC Delco.) Apparently there are 2 different amperage alternators. Supposing my car came with the lower amperage alternator, could I just swap in the higher amp alternator?

-Bill

 

Actually you can find re-manufactured ACDelco alternators at Advance and several other auto parts stores. They are usually a little higher than other alternators but still cheaper than the dealership. Yes you can swap in the higher amperage alternator if it isn't extremely higher than the original one. If it is extremely higher then you might want to upgrade your wiring for it.

 

A quick question:

If i do this swap, I dont need to play with the alternator to get the right tension on the pulley or something else thats a PITA, do I?

 

It has a serpentine belt with a automatic belt tensioner. you won't need to adjust anything unless you go with a smaller or larger size pulley. Some places will even change the old pulley over to the new alternator if you ask them.

 

I don't even think you'll need to worry about the pulley. I've yet to buy an alternator that didn't have a pulley installed already. and as Trickster said, it's just drop in. No adjustments at all. Drop it in, bolt it down and go.