Pfish1986

I had this issue and thought it was my alternator as well. It ended up being a cable that was loose which could save someone a few thousand dollars. Make sure to place a meter on your cables to make sure your alternator really isn’t charging. An easy way to tell is to disco the battery while running and see if it shuts off. In the meantime check this terminal out and make sure all connections are tight! Keep it simple and you might end up saving some money.

Cable on the left side was loose. I ended up taking out the entire mechanism and bolting the wires together. Issue resolved!

bjmusico

Replaced my alternator a while back, but just now posting the trick I used to fit the alternator in/out through passenger side wheel well (without loosening bumper, etc.). I haven't seen it mentioned before, but possible someone else has found the same solution.

On my 2004 S, the alternator was just slightly too large to get past the frame (by a few mm). My solution was to remove the rear plastic cover on the old and new alternators, to remove/install. Then, replace the plastic cover once past the "tight spot" before installing. As I recall, only a few screws hold the plastic cover on, so easy to take off and re-attach. Just be careful not to contact/damage any of the wiring, windings, etc., that are exposed when the plastic cover is off. This trick reduced the alternator assembly size enough for me to easily get it in and out through the wheel well.