How do you replace the alternator on a 1998 Cadillac DeVille?

Answer 1

NOTE TO ALL THOSE WITH DEVILLE'S about 96 to 99. There are hundreds of complaints of these alternators failing prematurely and the ridiculous prices charged for a replacement. The cause of failure is because these accessory loaded cars work these high amp alternators hard and as a consequence they run hot, this however does not kill them, what does is that this heat is combined with that of the exhaust manifold and on a hot summer day you can fry eggs on your alternator. Yes you read it right, GM moron engineers put this high amp alternator tight against the manifold - no heat shields -nothing. As you sit at a light on a hot summer day with a lot of accessories going your alternator is just about glowing red under the hood. If your alternator is noisy or you have a strange whine from your northstar you can't identify, very hard to pinpoint, trust me its the bearing in the alternator. You do not need to pay the crooks $1,000.00 cdn for a new alternator, check your local yellow pages for a starter/alternator rebuilder and have them press new bearings into it for about $50.00 cdn. (Note that as the alternator is right at the front of the car in the slipstream as you are moving it is not as likely to fail as often as it will for those who spend considerable time in the city or idling) Now for the bad news, getting it out is a pain the first time, but as a Deville owner you will get to be an old hand at it and soon become an expert. The trick is that it will not come up through the top, it must be dropped out the bottom. First disconnect battery, remove the snap down plastic trim across the top of the rad, undo bolts and lift the fan assembly out, remove serpentine belt from the alt pulley, undo wires from alt. Next (not all years of Deville) look underneath the car directly under the alternator and you will find a small access plate, remove this and drop the alternator out. Like any thing else it looks formidable to tackle because your unsure, but it is actually quite painless, albiet a pain in the butt. An approach to solve this GM idiocy is to maybe get more expensive bearings from a bearing shop.