How hard is it to install an alternator on a 2003 2.2L engine Chevy Cavalier? I remember changing the fan belt, battery, intake, spark plugs on my old 1998 cavalier, but how hard would it be to install an alternator on this 2003 cavalier. Like I said I'm a beginner pretty much but I have done stuff to my last car engine which is similiar. Is there a guide I can follow? If my battery keeps dying and I can barely start my car sometimes after like 4 tries of the key turn, that means I need a new alternator right. Because when I charge the battery from my moms car to mine it works for a little, but then it goes almost dead again. Which do I need a new battery or alternator. I think it's an alternator because this is what happened to my last car. I could always just get both.

are you installing this running off your transmission? if thats the case then i suppose it would a difficuly...

other wise check the maintenance section on the forum..

but ill answer your question this time.. but next time post in the right section MODS dont like this sort of thing..

any way.. if you can start your car and unplug your battery and the car says running then your batterys bad.. if you do the same thing and your car dies then your alternators bad..

but if your battery keeps going completley dead then its probabley smart to replace them both..

and when my alternator on my 03 its 3 13mm bolts (2 on top 1 on the bottom) 1 wiring clip and you have to undo the pully.. but you have to take the intake manifold off in order to get the alternator out and the new one in.. the intake manifold is i beleve 7 10mm? bolts and the c clip for the brake boost behind it.

now go get em tiger.

OhForKavy wrote:

J03Y wrote:poor people do that

I hate to break it to ya..but a lot of people on this site aren't in the wealthy bracket. If we were, we prolly wouldn't have j-bodies

Unplugging the battery is a bad idea, could fry the rectifier diodes and/or voltage regulator quickly and easily.




14.330 @ 96.37mph

I'll put this on this old thread for some later alternator sufferer might find it.
You don't have to pull the intake to change an 03. All you really have to do is remove the big black plastic air box. You may also have to pull the 3 bolts off the AC pump from below and shift it to the side a bit as I did to take the lower one off. The air box is held on by a single round stainless screw clamp just like a motorcycle. It's accessible only from the drivers side through a small access hole, phillips screwdriver. Then you can get enough space to pull the alternator. I pulled the top end of the radiator hose and hose from overflow tank and removed the single 13mm bolt that holds the top of the AC line (so it would shift back slightly) and it gave me just enough room to work.. Be careful of the radiator you don't mash it because it's right there waiting for a wrench to slip and if you get pissed off take a break. If you start yanking things with this one it could get very expensive quick and you do need good light to do this job.
FWIW this is the worst alternator I have pulled in the 40 years I have been driving older cars though to it's credit it lasted 195,000 miles. It only cost me $90 as I got it rebuilt by a local mom n pop shop which is always the best way to fix an alternator if you can wait a couple days.