I got the three bolts out (13mm in the back, and the two 15mm in the front) and got it loose from the mounting points. It's completely free, and I am able to wiggle it around some, but there is just way too much stuff in the way to even get close to removing it or even rotate it (I still can't get my eyes on the excitor wire). I can't move it forward towards the fan, can't move it down, up, etc.

Do I have to remove the alternator bracket as well? How do you even do this? Maybe I am blind but I don't see where the bolts are

 

Yeah, this one was a major pain in my tail. The issue was two fold. One, the power steering lines were in the way and two, the the plastic backing on the alternator, part of it, was in the way. I decided the spigot like looking part of the plastic backing was no longer necessary and used a small saw to cut it off while in the car. This allowed me to turn the alternator and with a good deal of prying and shoving, mostly against the power steering lines, i was able to get it out of the bracket. Then you slide it towards, well, the fender area on the drivers side, turn it a bit here and there and it comes out easily. I also cut the spigot/air outlet/whatever it is off the new alternator, flush with the rest of the plastic housing. Went back in very easily.

As for the exciter wire, I undid that from underneath the car, blindly, reaching a tiny flathead screwdriver up behind the alternator and placing the tip under the clip and prying downward a bit which undid the clip allowing the plug to be pushed up and off the alternator. again, I could not see ANY of this, only going by feel. Find the plug with your hand, find the part that you would normally pry back a bit to remove the plug and you shouldn't have any problem. Careful with the wire. Go easy on it. Mine was fine and undamaged before and after.

 

I take the alternator out in 5 minutes.

It should be able to go forward and touch the fan...then you drop it down in front of the sway bar. You better unplug that excitor wire or you're gonna break it...pain in the friggin *** to repair if breaks up high in the harness. Alot of people can reach down from the top and unplug it.

.

 

I have to replace my alt over the weekend, so I'll let you know if it's that simple. My alternator crapped out today and the battery didn't have enough go-juice to make it home.

 

After I get the 3 bolts out, I smack it with the palm of my hand and break it free of the mounting bracket. Then I slowly tumble it to unplug the excitor wire. Then I move it forward to the fans and over the top of the sway bar....then I just tumble it till I find the sweat spot and it drops right out. Goes back in just as easy.

Maybe some cars are a little tighter than others...they are American made...

.

 

How do you tumble it out? Like Elthesh mentioned, the damn power steering lines are in the way, as well as the bracket. No matter which way you turn it, some part of the alternator hits something. I fiddled around with it for a half hour, trying to turn it every which way, and never came close to getting it out, or even rotating it to the point where I can see/unplug the excitor wire.

 

Reports vary, some people say its easy, some not so easy. Seems yours and mine are in the "no way to get it out without being creative" column. Turning it one way, the plastic shroud smacks into the bracket, the other, the alternator bolt holes. Can't angle it out because of this either.

Also, I removed 2 of the bolts, left the bottom one in and turned it a bit to get a bettle angle on the exciter plug.

If you use a hacksaw blade, you can cut that plastic spigot/air inlet/outlet/whatever it is on the shroud. You SHOULD, like me, have a lot more ability to turn it and move it out without anything blocking the way, but you will likely have to do like I did and pry and force it some. There was no method, after an hour of playing, to get it out without shoving it against the power steering lines fairly hard to push em back some while prying it out.

By the way, I also happened to have a mini prybar. Like a 4-5 inch flat prybar, probably used for removing nails. I used that as the prying tool to get it out after I cut the shroud. Every single thing was in the way, PS lines, shroud, bolt holes, bracket, sway bar, etc. But once you DO remove it from the bracket, i.e., pull it out completely and forward, slide it towards the driver fender side and there was a relatively large opening to get it out with a bit of turning.

Also, do not, I repeat, NOT buy any rebuilt garbage. Get a NEW alternator. I picked up a shiny new Remy. This is in a spot where you do NOT want to go down there again in 3-6 months. Check the pulley before you leave. The first one had a bent pulley like it was dropped in shipping.

Another thing... Clean that area off down there, real good. It's likely to be covered in crap from the PS pump. Wipe down the hoses, lines, PS pump, etc. Then weekly, wipe up any of the likely new PS fluid that may be expelled out of the PS cap. Mine is very miniscule, but I keep it clean so it doesn't build up and drop down to the alternator and ruin it. My old original alt was one FILTHY mess. Horrible.

OH! Another thing I forgot... There is a flexible shield down there near to the alt. I removed the clips holding it in and pulled it out to get a lot more room to work. Take a photo of it before you do, it was a bit of a pain figuring out how it bent and twisted to get back in its proper shape and mounting spots.

 

Maybe the Camaros are different than the Firebirds...I don't know. But my car is seriously easy. It basically just falls out once I put it against the fan and tumble it around for a few seconds.

.

 

Elthesh, the problems you described are EXACTLY what I am experiencing. What the hell is that black plastic thing on the shroud? I definitely noticed it, because it's clearly a factor in my removal issues.

Thanks for the info, that will help me out a ton.

 

Who knows lol. Like you said, some cars are just different from others apparently

 

To the best of my guessing, it has something to do with pulling in or pushing out air. I assume in, to cool off the alt. Why the entire shroud is on in the first place, probably to keep the alt cleaner and crap from getting into the holes in the back. I've seen many after market alts without this cover, although they were higher output, or larger, or whatever. I decided that since the cover itself wasn't an issue, just the little inlet/outlet sticking off the side, I'd leave the main shroud and cut off the extension.

I used a hacksaw blade, but not with a hacksaw. I had a small... tool that came with the hacksaw that allowed me to stick the blade in, tighen it down and it was more like a one handed saw. You can prolly find a better saw at home depot. Make sure the blade is longish though so you can get it up in there to cut to plastic off.

and again... remember, this is not going to make it an easy out. It only makes it so you now have room and the ability to pry it out once you twist it enough. You may get lucky and be a bit better off than me, but I'd say at its absolute best, I had maybe a penny or quarters thickness that still bumped against the bracket. But being the plastic end, I just pryed and twisted and got it past the "catch" and then it came completely out of the bracket.

You may think you're gonna break those power steering lines, but you won't. You won't be flexing them more than a couple quarters thickness, but it needs to be done cause those lousy things are completely blocking, and the major blockage, down there. The PS lines make a complete L around the alternator. On the opposite side of the L is the bracket. So if the PS lines were not there, the alt would likely just drop straight down out of the bracket once removed.

 

To show people what the issue is... This is a photo I found and edited a tiny bit. The 2 red lines are the power steering lines. They essentially cage the alternator in. Removing the bolts, the alt has nowhere to go. It can't drop down more than an inch or two if I remember correctly. So since it can't drop down, you can't get the alternator bolt holes and plastic shroud moved far enough away from the bracket to clear it. You also can't move it to the right because of... you guessed it, the power steering lines. The only alternative is to either remove the PS lines or shove the alternator fairly hard against the PS lines to force them to move a half inch or whatever, twist the alt, pry on it and only then does it come out kicking and screaming. Once out of that trap, it's little problem finding a spot to drop it down past the sway bar.

The OP's 98 Camaro is likely the same exact setup as my 99 Z28, minus his manual tranny and my automatic. Heck, car's even the same color, lol.

 

It's been mentioned, but I'd like to stress it... Unplug the excitor wire before removing the alternator!

You might finally get it in place, get a good yank, and it will be out when you didn't expect it. Then you'll look for the wire, and you might be disappointed to see it was torn out. There's very little slack to that wire from the factory.

 

hell take the whole bracket off.....i drop the sway bar to get it out too.......some dont.....but i do

 

Well I got it done yesterday, but man, what a huge PITA. I was able to get the alternator out without cutting up the plastic part, you just really have to pry the thing out and force the PS lines out of the way as much as possible, like Elthesh mentioned. I appreciate all the advice!

One problem I ran into was removing the nut that holds the power wire. When I wrenched it off, the whole damn thread was spinning, and there wasn't enough room to get another wrench on it to hold it in place because the plastic backing was in the way. So, I took a hammer to the plastic part. Problem solved haha.

Putting the new alternator in wasn't too bad, except one of the sleeves in the mounting holes on the bracket was preventing the alternator from going into place, and I couldn't really fit a hammer in there to tap it back out of the way. I had to improvise by sticking a bolt through a socket and through the hole, and turning it to force the sleeve back out. Speaking of improvising, you should see the extended ratchet I had to rig up to get that 13mm bolt out of the back of the alternator.

I managed to get it replaced without breaking the excitor wire or anything else, so it was a great success! But MAN, I hope I never have to do that again.

 

A tip on the exciter wire...
After wrestling with this the hard way once, and damaging the wire; I found that you can remove the connector for the exciter wire from the top of the engine.

Get a wire coat hanger, straighten it; you will need about 18 inches to do this.
Bend a short (1/8" to 1/4") hook at one end of the hanger.
You can then lower the hook behind the power steering resrvoir to reach the connector.
Position the hook under the retainer clip for the connector, then pull and wiggle, to lift the connector out of the alternator.

If you have never pulled the alternator before to see where the connector actually is, it may be dificult to visualise this. However after breaking the wire once; diconnecting this thin wire is my first step in removing the alternator (that is after disconnecting the negative battery cable).

 

I'm not sure why so many people have a hard time with the exciter wire, other than just forgetting it's there and ripping it out. I did it from underneath the car. So, for future reference, this is exactly how I did it.

Grab a mini flathead screwdriver or the like.
Get under the car
Reach up, feel the plug, get the layout of it. You won't be able to see it though.
Place the flathead under the plug clip.
Since you are under the car reaching up behind the alternator to the plug, pull down on the screwdriver a little bit which in turn pulls the clip out beyond the catch.
Then grab the plug and wiggle it up and out.

The reason you need a screwdriver or other tool is because the clip you would normally pry/pull out with your finger is flush or worse with the alternator housing/casing/plastic/whatever so you can't get at it with your finger.

Really though, on my 99 Z28, the absolute worst part of the ordeal is the horrendous placement of the power steering lines. If those were elsewhere, there would be zero issue getting it in and out.

 

^^^ Well said, I agree 100%

 

the 1st time the bitch is always tight......after that.......

 

It must be easier on a WS6. With the power steering cooler, those lines are up higher, slightly flexible, and mostly out of the way. I used a piece of thick wire to snag the wire harness connector and yank it off from above, and then the three bracket mounting bolts were next. The two front ones (15mm) were really easy, but the 13mm rear bolt took some time. I used a 1/4" ratchet and could only turn it a couple of clicks at a time from underneath the car, but it eventually came out. The charging system wire easily unbolts from behind/underneath - with the alternator loosened from the mount and the bracket bolts removed, just pull the alternator forward a bit, giving easy access to the back of the alternator. I had plenty of slack to move the alternator forward 3-4" with no danger of breaking the wire. Then I moved the rubber boot aside and the charging wire nut (13mm) easily removes, no problem. It took a few seconds of twisting the freed alternator around to figure out the best way to squeeze it between the cooling fans and the sway bar. The whole job, including a trip to NAPA for a new alternator took about an hour total.