Where is the Alternator?

Part of the Video Series How to Change an Alternator

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Need to fix your alternator? Learn how to find the alternator in your car engine with expert tips in this free auto repair video clip.

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Posted by ezbraids on Sunday, 15 April, 2007 at 9:36 PM

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Thank you for this very helpful, time and money saving information

Video Transcript

Where is the Alternator?
Hi! My name is Nate McCullough on behalf of expertvillage.com. In this clip we are going to talk about the proper way to locate your vehicle's alternator. What you want to find first and foremost is the vehicle's pulley configuration chart. You can see there are a series of stickers on the front of the radiator cap here. One of them is going to have the locations for all of the accessories driven by your serpentine belt; the alternator being one of them. Once you locate this sticker, you are going to see that its labeled for the specific engines and you will see a bunch of circles with a belt looped around them. All of these circles indicate pulleys and the belt is going to drive those pulleys. If you take a look here on the top center, you can see one of the circles is labeled LT. For a Ford that is going to stand for an alternator. It varies per manufacturer; some label it GEN for Generator, some use the whole word alternator or generator but that is going to be indicative of where the alternator is located. As you can see it is in the top center of the picture which is going to be the top center of the engine. If you take a look down here, you can see the vehicle's alternator located right here on the top center underneath this radiator hose and some of the air intake components. That is how you find your alternator. Some vehicles depending upon how the engine is built and designed, the alternator will be located in various different locations but it is always going to be on the front of the engine driven by the serpentine belt.

About the Expert

Expert: Nathan McCullough graduated from Nashville Auto-Diesel College with a Grade Point Average of 3.5 and received their craftsmanship award and honor seal. Read More