Well, a few of you may have seen a post of mine in another thread talking about the high-pitch singing and the whining that is present in my 2000 Town & Country Limited 3.8L which corresponds to engine speed. Yesterday, I almost couldn't the van started out of the blue. It took a solid 4-5 seconds of slow molassass like cranking to get the engine going. I drove it straight to this Checker Auto place that does free charging system diagnostics, which is when I found out that my battery was so dead I shouldn't have been able to get a peep out of it. This confirmed my suspicion about the alternator. Previously I thought it could be the water pump, but now that I was told that a problem was detected and that there is an "Excess Ripple" error, I think its time for a new alternator. Now many of you may laugh, but I have never replaced an alternator before, and I have never had to remove/install the belts in any of my Town & Countrys before. I'm going to post the instructions I found for removing and replacing the alternator for the 3.3L/3.8L V6 DCX '96-'00 minivan engines. If someone could read them over and tell me if they are in fact the most appropriate instructions it would be greatly appreciated. Tips, tricks, suggestions would be helpful too.
REMOVAL
INSTALLATION
Haynes Repair Manual: Dodge Caravan, Plymouth Voyager & Chrysler Town & Country 1996 thru 1999 Mini-vans
So, what is going to be my biggest challenge?:ask_wsign Is getting the drivebelt on and off going to make me wish I were never born? Because if so, then I might have to take it somewhere, which I would really rather not do. I'm trusting that even though the manual doesn't technically include the 2000 model year, the steps are still exactly the same.
REMOVAL
- Disconnect the cable from the negative terminal of the battery.
- Remove the windshield wiper housing.
- Remove the bolt holding the top of the alternator mount bracket to the engine air intake plenum.
- Remove the bolts holding the outside of the alternator mount bracket to the alternator mount plate.
- Remove the bolt holding the top of the alternator to the mount bracket.
- Remove the alternator mount bracket from the vehicle.
- Rotate the alternator toward the rear of the vehicle.
- Disconnect the push-in field wire connector from the back of the alternator.
- Remove the nut holding the B+ wire terminal to the alternator.
- Remove the wire/terminal from the alternator.
- Remove the bolt hoding the bottom of the alternator to the lower pivot bracket.
- Remove the alternator.
INSTALLATION
- Installation is the reverse of removal.
- After the alternator is installed, adjust the drivebelt tension.
- Check the charging voltage to verify proper operation of the alternator.
Haynes Repair Manual: Dodge Caravan, Plymouth Voyager & Chrysler Town & Country 1996 thru 1999 Mini-vans
So, what is going to be my biggest challenge?:ask_wsign Is getting the drivebelt on and off going to make me wish I were never born? Because if so, then I might have to take it somewhere, which I would really rather not do. I'm trusting that even though the manual doesn't technically include the 2000 model year, the steps are still exactly the same.