2005 manual the battery light came on tonight, 189k miles good upkeep so I guess I am looking at a new alternator. Battery should be good it got me 40 minutes to home with every thing off. So anything special about the alternator change out, do I need to put it on the rack?

Dan

 

No, can be done from the top after removing the radiator fan.
Disconnect neg battery cable, remove fan, remove serp belt, remove the 2 alternator bolts, flip it around to get to the electrical connectors then fish it out.

 

189k on the clock and you certainly got your $'s worth out of that OEM alternator. Over the years I've owned so many cars and I've pretty much learned that if you make it to 150K miles on the original alternator pull it and replace it right there and then as all of the original OEM's that were in the car's I've owned have failed in the 150K to 180K mile range and when they go they don't always die a slow death with a few warning signs... Sometimes they just drop dead and ya can drive as far as the juice in your battery can carry ya.