Re-Routing Question
 

I am wondering if I can change the hoses for the engine coolant/ rad hose (yellow circle) and the other one circled in orange. My plan is to re-route these tubes so I have easier access to my alternator, and won't have to remove these when swapping the alt in and out. What type of hose would I need and where would I get one? I noticed some braided ones on eBay but don't think they would be good enough.

Can't you just get the alt from the bottom?

I don't think so, those two hoses are the only things in my way. Other than that, the alt is very easy to remove now that I have a serpentine belt tool.

what are you doing? swapping alternators out once every month? is it really worth it?

Pretty much, I got a high output alt installed and it wasn't working properly after a couple hours. Had to reinstall the stock one. I will be sending the HO alt to be repaired, then I have to install it again. And hopefully it will work, otherwise, the stock alt is going back in.

So yes, I will be swapping them quite frequently in the next couple months lol.

and then what. once the problem is fixed you wont need to worry ablout it. just leave them as they are and make the repairs. waht you want to do would be more of a "useless" mod.

It would also give me better access to the Alt (+) in case I have any issues or need to add more wire.

When I did my big 3, I just had a helper hold it away... sometimes that helper was rope.

hey nas, excuse my newbie question lol, but whats a "big 3" consist of? thats a bigger alternator and what else?

Don't worry, it's not a newbie question. It's actually pretty confusing.

The alternator isn't part of the big 3. It's a separate stand alone mod, and it's not really a bigger alternator. It's a higher output alternator. The stock one puts out 105 amps, but you can get one (or have one built) that puts out 150 or 200 amps. The physical size is the same.

The big 3 consists of 3 major wires in your car's electrical system. Those are:

• + Alt wire to battery
• - Battery wire to chassis
• - Engine wire to chassis.

Some choose to ground the block, others ground the alternator casing to the chassis. It really depends on you, and "chassis" is a fancy word for a grounding point in the engine bay. Most of the time it's the frame where the fenders mount, but on the inside of the engine bay. So long it's metal and it's not powered, it's a good ground.

I should also add some people do this as a "big 5". The other 2 are battery to fusebox and battery to engine ground. Most cars have 2 grounding cables on the battery, one that comes from the trans area, the other is a short one that's attached near the header panel, so most don't mess with the big ground and just ground to the header panel. When I did this mod to my Grand Am, I just added a ground to the header panel. I didn't mess with the stock ground to engine cable.