1997-1999 Cadillac Deville Alternator Replacement Guide | 7th Gen 4.6L Northstar

Quick little video, replacing my alternator on my 4.6L Northstar (1997 Cadillac Deville). Would’ve done a better job filming but as you can see it’s night time and I was just trying to get the job done.

Tools you may need: 8mm socket or wrench for removing battery terminal bolts, 10mm? For battery hold down if you have one, the access panel at the lower radiator passenger side, 10mm nut on alternator and the cooling fan bolts. 15mm? I believe, for the bolts holding the alternator in. Ratchet with a flex head, extension, ratcheting wrench, and long reach wrench very useful. 1/2” breaker bar, ratchet or in my case the easiest way to remove the serpentine belt is using the removal tool you find anywhere, with a 3/8” to 1/2” adapter. A pic or flat blade screw driver for removing the alternator connector.

Safely jack up and support your vehicle or in my case I used a ramp on the passenger side. #1- disconnect your battery!!! Remove your serpentine belt entirely, or just off the alternator pulley. Remove the plastic trim above the radiator if equipped, Remove the 2 10mm bolts from the passenger side cooling fan, slide it up carefully while flexing your upper radiator hose making sure not to put too much pressure on the radiator. Remove the access panel below 4x 10mm bolts. Remove the 10mm nut and the positive wire from the back of the alternator(make sure your battery is disconnected entirely or you might cause a power short to ground*sparks*), there’s 6 total 15mm bolts/nuts holding the alternator to the two brackets/engine, the bracket with four bolts nearest the exhaust manifold doesn’t need to be removed, only the two bolts at the backside of the alternator + the upper and lower bolts of the alternator(check your new alternator for reference of where these bolts are if it’s not obvious). REMOVING ALTERNATOR FROM ENGINE BAY; you’ll notice the alternator looks “square” it can be a tight squeeze to remove the alternator (unless before starting this job, you rock the car until the engine shifts closest to the firewall and have a helper hit the parking brake so you will have more space between the engine and radiator.) once all bolts are removed, carefully shift the alternator toward the driver side as far as you can go, rotate it so the pulley is facing upward, or downward, and rotate it again so that the flange of the alternator can pass between the bracket and the radiator(it might be easy for you, my engine mounts might be more worn out and making the spacing tighter)