Accessing your Alternator

• Disconnect the negative and then the positive battery terminals. Next, raise the right front wheel using your spare tire jack. You most likely have a splash shield held by bolts and a push in clip or two located behind the wheel. Remove the wheel if necessary. Remove the bolts and push clips, remove the splash shield and set all parts carefully to the side.
  
  

Removing your Alternator

• The alternator will now be visible. Locate a bolt at the bottom of the alternator, facing the tire (or where the tire used to be.) Remove the nut on the end of the bolt.
  On top of the alternator are two pivot bolts. Loosen but do not remove these. Locate the adjuster for the alternator belt, it is a bolt located where the bottom of the belt wraps around. Loosen the tension of the belt, then remove the belt.
  Now disconnect all electrical connections to the alternator. These are the wires coming in from other parts of the engine. Now locate all mounting bolts that connect the alternator to your engine. These vary from car to car, but in general there will be several heavy duty bolts that clearly serve to secure the alternator. At this point, you should be able to remove the alternator. You may have to do a bit of pushing and pulling in order to get it loose.
  
  

Know your Limits

• If you are brand new to car maintenance, consider getting a friend or neighbor to assist you. Though the removal of an alternator is not particularly dangerous, it is one of those projects that can end up with you extremely frustrated with a partially disassembled car. Find your owners manual before you start.