This is bringing back some PTSD for me. I owned one of those turds and the alternator died a day before Easter. I replaced it myself and had to go through the bottom exactly how you described, so I was only out the $220 for the alternator. Took me six hours since there were no service manuals because Chrysler wouldn't license Haynes or Chiltons to make one for that line at the time.
To compound it all, the alternator itself was fine. What failed was the damn clutch. Who the hell puts a clutch on an alternator?!
He's going to do his himself as well. He's a mechanic at the shop I work at but he's down to only one car for him and his wife/kid so he thought he would ask the dodge dealer how much just to see if if would be worth it. They quoted $500 for the alternator and $600 for labor. He bought an alternator for $230 from the local parts store and now needs to decide when to bring it in for the day of four letter words.
