The alternator on my 2007 Pacifica decided to die suddenly yesterday. At least it gave warning, battery light illuminated about 5 miles from home, so I drove back home and when I opened the hood that sucker was smoking hot and made a sort of squeeling noise. Must be the bearings went belly up...
Went to a pull-a-part today and I assumed any alternator from that body style '04-08 would work, but that appears not to be the case. The ones from '04-06 (3.5L engine) had an alternator clutch pulley and an extra mounting hole and slightly different 2-pin electrical connector, but otherwise appeared identical. The ones on the '07-08 4.0L have a standard pulley. The 3.5L/4.0L are basically the same engine, so I doubt there's any reason other than cost cutting why Chrysler reverted back to a regular pulley for the '07 model year.
There's tons of resources online that tout the benefits of alternator clutch pulleys-- smoother pulley drive, longer component life, reduced engine NVH. I got to wondering if I would see any tangible benefit to swapping mine to a clutched pulley. The pulleys are identical in size, rib count and offset, but I didn't spend enough time there (it started pouring rain) to see if they mount/fasten to the alternator the same way. I picked up an '07 alternator and installed it, but I might investigate the pulley swap further if there might be some benefit to this. I can't imagine there would be any negative effects. Curious what you guys think.
Went to a pull-a-part today and I assumed any alternator from that body style '04-08 would work, but that appears not to be the case. The ones from '04-06 (3.5L engine) had an alternator clutch pulley and an extra mounting hole and slightly different 2-pin electrical connector, but otherwise appeared identical. The ones on the '07-08 4.0L have a standard pulley. The 3.5L/4.0L are basically the same engine, so I doubt there's any reason other than cost cutting why Chrysler reverted back to a regular pulley for the '07 model year.
There's tons of resources online that tout the benefits of alternator clutch pulleys-- smoother pulley drive, longer component life, reduced engine NVH. I got to wondering if I would see any tangible benefit to swapping mine to a clutched pulley. The pulleys are identical in size, rib count and offset, but I didn't spend enough time there (it started pouring rain) to see if they mount/fasten to the alternator the same way. I picked up an '07 alternator and installed it, but I might investigate the pulley swap further if there might be some benefit to this. I can't imagine there would be any negative effects. Curious what you guys think.
