2G Missing alternator negitive bolt

[tjbiker031]

So i was doing my regular maintenance, and i noticed that the negative strap was not attached to my alternator. I looked around the ground and couldnt find the bolt/stud. My car has been running rough the last few days, could this be why? Does anybody know the size of the stud off the top of their head so i can buy a new one from Lowes.

 

[hurricanecris24]

I'm missing that bolt too. Any one that knows what size bolt it is let us know

 

[knochgoon24]

I'm thinking that it's a M8x1.25 bolt. I'm not 100% sure. It could possibly be M6x1.0.

I think I have my old alternator out in my car. I'll check later.

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Just checked.

M6x1.0x10mm if you want to just use a bolt in it's place. Up to 15mm long should work.

You'll want it longer if you want it to be a stud.

 

[tjbiker031]

thanks!

 

[hurricanecris24]

How is your car running?

 

[tjbiker031]

Good now. Actually the correct size bolt (for at least my alternator) is a M5-.80x12. I had to take the alternator out and walk into Lowes with it to find the correct size bolt and got a few weird looks.

 

[hurricanecris24]

Like what was it doing? My car feels like it has no power when I turn my lights on or my heater. My lights get dim when I use power

 

[tjbiker031]

yeah that's what my car was doing only because the negative cable was loose or missing at the time. Check your connections and i would test the alternator at autozone or where ever you prefer

 

[hurricanecris24]

ok and I'm gonna go get that bolt and see if it fixes my problem

 

[PieEyedPiper]

Wait, is this the bolt that anchors the unit to the block, the pivot point when adjusting the belt?

 

[knochgoon24]

Wait, is this the bolt that anchors the unit to the block, the pivot point when adjusting the belt?

No. This is the bolt on the back of the alternator for hooking a ground strap to.

I'm sorry I gave you guys the wrong size. I just threaded a nut over the positive post and assumed they'd used that size on the ground too.

M5x.8 - That's not too common of a size on these cars.

 

[turbosax2]

As far as I know, there is no ground strap on the alternator from the factory. The stud I think you guys are talking about is for a bracket on the chassis wiring harness to bolt to so the wires stay in place. Or maybe I'm completely missing what you're talking about.

 

[tjbiker031]

It was for the negative/ground on the back of the alternator (not the regulator harness or the positive battery cable). Usually it has a post-type connection like the positive, but this rebuilt unit had just a M5-.80 bolt in its place.

 

[knochgoon24]

Yeah. I was just talking about where that support strap attached. I put my own ground wire there in hopes of getting just a little more juice out of the stock alternator before I swapped.

 

[jjrock5]

I guess I'm hardheaded but Im still not visually seeing (my car's not in front of me) what negative strap you guys are talking about. Anybody have pics?

 

[jjrock5]

Did somebody remove the guy's post before mine? I just refreshed and it's gone. Now I see he has a separate thread asking his particular question.

 

[nsrmotorsports]

Hmmm.....I might just have to check this out, i do have some issue with grounding in the charging system and this may or may not be the solution. Nice Thread

 

[knochgoon24]

There isn't a ground strap there from the factory. It's a stud that helped support the wiring harness on the back of the alternator so it doesn't get too close to the exhaust and melt. I made a ground strap out of some spare 4ga wire I had laying around and used it to help ground the alternator to the block. It already grounds itself to the block through where it bolts to pivot, but I wasn't 100% sure how great that ground was really working.