stakwutang

Has anyone changed an alternator on a 2001 Civic? Or know where I can find some info on how to do it properly. I took off the old one and am having problems putting on the new one so I'm thinking I might be doing it wrong. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Deviouz480EX

Yeah I changed mine a few months ago.. what kind of problems are you having? It was a lot easier putting it back on than taking it off in my opinion... it was easier to get things back where they belonged in reverse order for some reason

stakwutang

I'm actually having the reverse problem. I couldn't get the alternator back on. Now I do but the belt is giving me hell. My friend is telling me their is a tension pulley or something that loosens the belt so I can get it back on. So now if I put the belt on first then I can't get it mounted. If I put the bolts on fisrt then I can't get the belt on.

Titleist71

iTrader: (1)

my alternator sh the bed last year sometime when I had like 15,000 miles. Dealer fixed it right away. Didn't cost me a penny....warranties are so nice. It would have been about 400 dollars.

djmota

iTrader: (34)

see my post in your other thread.

stakwutang

The alternator wasn't under warranty anymore because I had a sound system hooked up and since it directly affects the alternator that voided the warranty. The dealership wanted $700 ($350 just for the alternator which was a rebuilt one) to replace the alternator and the battery. But that would have just gotten me the same 75 amp alternator that gave me problems. So I bought a 150 amp alternator that cost me $250 brand new. So hopefully this one is strong enough to power the sound system and not go bad after six months.

GreenNVicious

iTrader: (5)

How big of a system are you running? Damn, I never had problems with my system.

stakwutang

I was told that the problem with the alternator was caused because the capacitor I am using was too big for the system. I am using a full farad cap. Turns out that the cap put too much of a strain on the alternator and it slowly caused it to deteriorate. As far as how big of a system I have. I'm not to sure. kenwood Excelon doesn't like to say what their amps are pushing. Read my profile and you can see what I have in there.

nivenmk1

All a cap does is even out the power supplied to the amp. If anything, this would prolong the life of the charging system, not detoriate it faster. The cap is only gonna pull as much juice as is being taken out of it. Unless you're pushing enough wattage to seriously dim the headlights at idle, a 75 watt should work just fine.

As far as getting the new alt on there, I'm gonna agree with your bud that there should be a pulley somewhere, I've not been under the hood of my Vic yet. If not, you'll just have to use a prying tool and more-or-less stretch the belt over the alt pulley. I'd call your local dealer and have a nice, friendly, respectfull chat with a greasemonkey in the shop and he'll probably give you some insight.

Derek-CEO

iTrader: (27)

I upgraded mine to 150A and it was fairly easy. I have pics cause I was gonna do a DIY, but never did.
I could post the pics I guess, but I don't know if I can remember what was going on.

About that 1F cap and the alt., that is a crock. Although my crappy 1F cap killed my batt cause it never really powered down so it was always draininng it.

Derek-CEO

iTrader: (27)

here are the pics

http://www.7thgencivic.com/memberrid...com&password=0

stakwutang

Have you had any problems since puttting in the 150amp alternator? I had the system hooked up for about six months before these problems started with the 75amp alternator.

I finished putting everything back together on Friday and it all seemed to work perfectly. Saturday I took the car out to run a few errands and wash it. At one point the ****ing electricity shut off again. I diconnected the sound system without shutting off the car and everything came back on. For about 15 seconds. I drove straight home and the car ended up shutting down about a block and a half from home. I jumped it using the remtal I had and recharged the battery for a half hour. When I jumped the car I noticed the check engine symbol came on and never shut off. I took it in to the dealership today and when I first started the car both the check engine light and the battery light came on. They eventually shut off after about 5 minutes. Now I'm just waiting for the dealership to call me to tell me what's wrong.

Oh and it turns out that recall for the headlights does affect 2001 Civics. They are taking care of that today.

Derek-CEO

iTrader: (27)

sounds like a bad alternator to me. I have not had a problem.

darklegacy540

iTrader: (1)

Ahhh, I just changed mine last weekend. Not too bad of a job, probably took an hour taking it out and an half an hour putting the new one in. Not half as bad as I thought it was going to be.

CIVIKRACIN

hey derek where did u get ur alternator from and is it better have a bigger one instead of buying a battery cap or vice versa

CIVIKRACIN

i mean higher ampage alternator versus a battery cap with pricing set aside

dapakione

My lights are dimming a little bit, and i have a 1F capacitator in my closet from my old car, should i put it in, or does it do nothing, does it do alot, can some1 PM me about that, because the dimming lights really bug me at night, so should i put the cap in, or should i leave it, becuz my system is way to weak to bother getting a yellow top, so what should i do?

nittanylion504

Where can I get a higher amperage alternator?

civicdude04

iTrader: (4)

yea, who makes em? where? and how much?