[masraum]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

Longer story: Two years ago, 200 miles from home my alternator failed. Friday night on a long weekend (maybe Memorial Day).

I bought an alternator from O'Reilly and drove to Harbor Freight. I made a dozen trips into the store, buying the next tool I needed to get the alternator our. I spent a small fortune there.

With the power steering pump off, and the rad hose off, the alternator will ALMOST come out. It will not come out unless you pull the rad, or maybe just the fan shroud.

Anyway, O'Reilly's sold me the wrong alternator, so it was a moot point. I was able to use the VR from the new alternator, and got it installed on my old alternator. The new VR solved my over-voltage charging issue.

The VR swap can be done without pulling the entire alternator out. But it's still a terrible job...especially in a parking lot.

WOW, what a horrible story! I've replaced parts in parking lots and on the side of the road. It always sucks. But the alternator in that thing EXTRA sucks to replace, and getting the wrong one is just the cherry on top. I can't even imagine changing the VR while the alt is in the car. It sounds like a good candidate for a match and some insurance, LOL!