It uses a tensioner correct? Only just recently found out that they seem to use tensioners...my engine didn't have one on it so I assumed it didn't use one, esp since it was an otherwise complete engine, wiring harness, torque converter and all. And probably a dumb question and one I'm assuming the answer to is no, but is it possible to run the serp setup without a tensioner? Already ordered a belt before I realized that the thing was supposed to have a tensioner(I'm assuming it is) Thinking I probably can't without a way to adjust it, but maybe I can work the alternator into its old bracket to give it some adjustability, or use the old PS pump+bracket or both...also still can't really find info on running a 4 wire alt on a 2 wire harness..

 

Yes, the serpentine system uses a tensioner, and you can often find them very cheap on eBay. I also have one I'm willing to sell, that is pretty new. All you really have to do with the alternator is find a way to get the nut off of the front and swap pullies.

I'll see what I can dig up with the alternator wiring if you don't want to swap over the drive-end parts of the alternator.

 

I have to use the newer alternator, the old one will not sit in that bracket, as the new alternator is smaller, plus I think its also a little lighter, are you sure the tensioner you have will fit the 3.4 accessory bracket?? If it will, pm me a price please.

 

Crap. Forgot you had the old SI alternator for a moment. GM downsized it to make the CS130. And I just compared the 2 tensioners side by side and they are almost identical but the mounting ears are ever so slightly off, so that wouldn't work either. Good news is that if you can find a Caprice/Roadmaster/Caddy Fleetwood/Impala with the TBI 5.7 in it, the tensioner interchanges.

I haven't started on the wiring situation yet, I'm having difficulties of my own...

:edit: Looked up the wiring really quick, and you connect the RED in the old terminal A to the S terminal and the BROWN wire in old terminal B to the F terminal. You may need to jump the BROWN wire to the L terminal as well. Basically just color matching.

 

Yeah I hear you, I REALLY need a car right now, so I'm trying to put this baby on the road, and I am being held up by the stupidest of things atm...windshield company took my old windshield(I guess they can't leave it, something to do with some people might drive the car with a busted *** windshield which isn't legal) and told me I have to have these two small *** holes in my firewall patched before the new one goes on or that section of my firewall will rust out, and I can't run the engine for any length of time to see how its running and test drive it(just down the alley and back, maybe around the block at most) because I need a damn PS pulley, special order belt, and a tensioner....meanwhile my poor car is sitting outside with not but a tarp where the windshield should be
Btw, wth is an idler pulley and please tell me the 3.4 isn't supposed to have one...

 

Yeah, I'm here with almost a third of the car in bare metal with no paint now (rest of the plain black went on the underside of the deck lid) with the winter coming, and still no pass side quarter panel (old one has been excised) because I have no way of getting to the j/y to cut it out of the donor. We're stuck with 1 car between 3 of us, and it's probably going to take a few hours at the j/y to get crap out of the way so I can cut up the donor.

All because the PO decided to half-a$$ a quarter panel repair

 

Let me guess, the damage was on the bottom right behind the wheel? My pass side has a chunk missing there, 2nd worst spot of rust on the car. Underneath driver seat is worst, speaking of which do these cars have floor pans in the conventional sense of the word? or will a welder have to weld in new sheet metal to fix that or what? It's high priority on my list.

 

Btw not sure if you saw it since I edited it in, but does the 3.4 have an idler pulley? I'm thinking no, but then i don't actually know wth an idler pulley is, my best guess is that its just a pulley for a tensioner?
Edit: Nm, found out that that is the case.

 

Don't rightly know. Looks like the genius for some reason cut out the third of the quarter behind the wheel and patched a replacement part in completely half-baked, overlapping the panels, cruddily welding the patch in all the way around with an arc welder or something, and then plopped about 1/8 to 5/8" of Bondo over the whole panel (inside and out, especially in the spare tire compartment floor) to cover up the mess. I always wondered why the pass side marker wasn't recessed like the other side. It looked okay, other than the huge crack running right along the body line that let water and salt in to create a rust hole about 4 inches around. I pulled on the crack in May and got a huge chunk of Bondo off as a reward. I only got to drive the car ONCE this year with the tops out.

But, we need to

:edit: Yes, the tensioner pulley is the idler pulley. Not sure if there is an A/C delete idler on those cars that didn't have A/C or not, if they even came that way.

 

Not rly, my thread isn't it? :P Plus I pretty much have the info I need now..cept the alternator wiring, still gotta work that out, what I would like to do is just cut the connector off the 3.4 harness and splice it into the 2.8 harness, but to do so I need to know what each wire does, or at least where its supposed to go.

 

Already told you... Match the wire colors. If there is a tan/white wire, you MAY not need it. If you do, just splice it into the plain brown one.

 

Oh, I must have overlooked that, not sure if they are even color coded though, for example my starter engage wire is supposed to be purple, it is not...Btw, along the lines of me putting this thing on the road, other than a test drive is there anyway to test the brakes really, or like how do I know if I need new rotors or calipers, and the car has been sitting for like...a decade for whatever thats worth.

 

For the alternator, on your old system, there is a red wire coming off of the big fat wire coming from either the battery or the junction block if the system hasn't been molested, and that went into the A terminal. The brown wire was in the B terminal. Now, the red wire goes into the S terminal, the brown one in the F terminal, and the tan/white one, if necessary, goes into the L terminal. The P terminal is not used.

As for the brakes, you'll want new pads and rotors. Otherwise, the pads will be attempting to cut the rotors the way shops do, and you'll end up with pitting in some areas that catches the friction material of the pads and makes the brakes grabby. Besides, would you really trust brake parts that have been sitting for THAT long? Also check the hoses and lines, and change the fluid. It's supposed to be changed every 3 years...

 

Oh, forgot to mention that my mom's car had sat for around a year a while back due to a bad rod bearing and when it was fixed, the rear wheels occasionally didn't want to turn because one of the brake shoe linings had fallen off of the backing and jammed in the other. Didn't find that out until I rebuilt the brakes back in '08 and the lining fell out when I pulled the drum off.