Mechanic Monday: 1999-2006 Chevrolet Alternator Replacement DIY
You don’t need a world of experience or any special tools to replace the alternator in your Chevrolet.
The alternator is a major electrical component of your vehicle, so if the charging system in your Chevrolet truck of full-size SUV fails, the vehicle will become non-functional. The simple solution is to have the truck towed to a shop, but that can be costly. Fortunately, as the video above from the Anthony Gray YouTube channel shows, this is a repair that almost anyone can make. It takes very simple tools, no real mechanical experience and every aspect of the project is just a matter of nuts and bolts.
Tools Needed
The video begins by listing the simple tools needed to replace the alternator in your 1999 through 2006 Chevrolet Silverado, Tahoe or Suburban. It should be noted that the basics of this DIY can apply to many different vehicles, so if you have a modern Chevrolet truck from outside of these years, this how-to will provide direction on how to do the project. At the same time, trucks from different model years may have different-sized bolts and small changes like that.
In any case, to remove the alternator in your Chevrolet truck or large SUV, you need just seven items:
-pry bar
-flathead screw driver
-15-millimeter socket
-ratchet that accepts the 15-millimeter socket
-15-milimeter wrench
-10-millimeter wrench
-8-millimeter wrench
Step One: Accessing the Alternator
Before removing the alternator in your Chevrolet truck or SUV, you will want to remove the air intake system. Video host Anthony Gray walks us through this step and every step, with cool cutaways showing close-up shots of things like the bolts and brackets that you will have to remove. For example, we cannot see the bolt and harness plug on the back of the alternator from the side view during the explanation, but the video gives us still shots of each with a little musical interlude.
After the air intake assembly is out of the way, you will want to remove the negative battery cable, as you always want to do when working with any aspect of your vehicle’s electrical system.
Step Two: Removing the Alternator
Now that you have a clear look at the alternator in your Chevrolet Silverado and the electrical system has been disconnected, you want to remove the alternator. On the back, there is a harness clip that you will remove along with a rubber cap which covers a 10-millimeter nut. Remove the rubber cap, loosen that nut, remove the wire held in place by that nut in unclip the harness and the alternator is no longer connected to your vehicle’s electrical system.
Next, you want to put your 15-millimeter wrench on the belt tensioner and pull up, taking tension off of the serpentine belt and allowing you to pull the belt off of the alternator pulley.
Finally, by removing the two 15-millimeter bolts in the front of the alternator bracket, the unit is ready to remove. By placing the pry bar between your Chevrolet’s alternator and the bracket, it will ease up out of the spot.
Step Three: The Install
Installing the new alternator in your Chevrolet Silverado, Tahoe or Suburban is just as simple as it was to remove, but there is one key aspect of the process that can make the install a bit easier. There are metal tabs in the alternator bracket that tighten down with the bolts, but they do not loosen when you remove the bolts. To make for better clearance, you can tap those tabs back out towards the radiator just a little, giving a bit more space to install the new unit.
To install the new alternator, you tap out those tabs, sit the alternator in the bracket, place the two 15-millimeter bolts that enter from the front, re-apply the serpentine belt, plug in the harness in the back of the alternator and tighten down the wire with the 15-millimeter nut.
At that point, your truck should have full charge, once you hook up the battery, of course.
The project is finished by re-installing the air intake assembly and at that point, you are done replacing the alternator in your 1999-2006 Chevrolet Silverado, Tahoe or Suburban.
Key Points
It should be noted that Gray purchased the replacement alternator for his Chevrolet Silverado from a pick-n-pull, which is a fancy term for a junkyard. Since he went that route, it only cost him $16.99 for the “new” unit, but this can be a risky move. While the item was likely bench-tested at the junkyard, this unit is less likely to last than one from a parts store. Then again, considering how little time it takes to replace, maybe paying $17 for a replacement is a good gamble.
Also, as we mentioned above, this how-to video applies directly to the 1999 through 2006 Chevrolet Suburban, but the process is nearly identical for the GMC Sierra from the same years, as well as the Chevrolet Tahoe, Suburban and GMC Yukon.
