I just replaced the alternator on my daughters Caliber (70k miles) these things are wicked expensive! 337.00$ new from Chrysler. I bought a reman on line for half that. Aparently these alternators have a clutch in them like an AC compressor thst cycles to improve fuel mileage. The company that i bought the reman from told me this little nugget of information.. When the clutch goes out, it sounds like the engine is about to scatter internals all over the ground, sure makes a racket!
Any way, it is a pain in the rear to change, remove the passengers wheel, remove the AC compressor and supporting bracket and let the compressor hang from the lines, remove idler pully that covers the bottom alternator bolt, this will give you enough room to snake the alternator out.
Jack the car up as high as possible and place securly on jack stands and do all the work from underneath.

Good luck, it is a pain in the butt!

 

I think the alt. on my 07 Grand Caravan may have a clutch. It has an odd looking pulley. Not sure how it is supposed to work. The alt. needs to stay spinning to charge. I'll have to look into it some more. Never noticed the one on our Caliber. I'll look next time I'm under the hood.

 

This is the pulley that you are all talking about.

www.decouplerpulley.com.


Note: You should always make double sure that you have the correct type of clutch type pulley when you change your alternator. All Calibers have the Litens OAD style pulley and it CAN be replaced seperatly from the alternator for a fraction of the cost of a new alternator. Go to the website and do some reading and watch the videos on youtube.

Hope this helps.


Javert