alternator removal and installation

[comets]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGCFBKXOqVw

As described in the video, is he correct?

I am skeptical about the serpentine belt... any other special reminders?

[evolutionmovement]

What about the belt? He doesn't really talk much about the overengineered tensioner. You loosen the pivot bolt, then loosen the lock nut on the tensioner and turn the bolt so that the alternator drops, allowing the belt to be removed. It's very straightforward when you look at it.

[comets]

Can you explain to me which bolts are which?

1. Which one is the pivot bolt? Is the the lower right small pulley one? If so, how much do I loosen it? Or is it the 'really long' bolt on the left front of the alternator?
2. Which one is the tensioner? Which one is the lock nut?

Thanks!

[evolutionmovement]

The pivot bolt is the horizontal one facing front to rear. The alternator has a bracket which pivots on it. The left front vertical bolt is the tensioner. The alternator has a bracket or something that rides up and down on the bolt to adjust the tension. The bolt can't be turned unless the nuts that hold it in place are loosened. Loosen them, loosen the pivot bolt, turn the tensioner bolt so that the alternator travels down. It's been years, so I may have the specific of the tensioner off a little, but that's the gist of it and won't be far off if it is. You wil hurt nothing playing around with it to figure out how it works.

[comets]

Will try that, thanks!

I was tempted to remove a few pulleys to ease the tension of the belt.

[comets]

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.p ... 51901.html

Found another guide.

[evolutionmovement]

You don't have to remove any pulleys.

[comets]

Nice, simply 3 bolts and everything is running.

Idle is a LOT smoother, and start up and shutting engine is MUCH MUCH smoother. Thanks guys.

$145 + trading in the old on (CDN) - not bad I guess!

I didn't know if I need to fully charge up the battery first? I just jumped with the cables and ran the car for 5 mins and idled for a bit before leaving the car again.

[evolutionmovement]

It might restart depending on how dead the battery was. If the battery was completely shot, that might not have been enough to recharge it to the level needed to start it, but the good thing is that these aren't old Chrysler big blocks. Also, if the battery was completely dead for longer than 24 hrs., you'll very likely need a new one.

[free5ty1e]

<thread revival for a stupid reason>

Um... so, I've done this (EDIT: "this" = "alternator belt replacement") before on my '94 with no issues, but never on my '92 autotragic. As I attempted this I noticed that I couldn't seem to get the alternator to move enough to loosen the belt enough to even attempt to remove it. It's still on there tight -- and I've got the tensioner bolt now sticking up a good 1/4" above the power steering bracket, with the alternator unable to move down any further. WTF? This is supposed to be easy

It's not cooperating. Anyone experienced this issue before, any tips? I wonder if perhaps the alternator / power steering belt that's on here is undersized, or if there is something wrong with my tensioner / alternator mounting? I've gotten both alternator bolts loose and gotten it to move down quite a bit, but just not enough to get the belt off....


</thread revival for a stupid reason>

[kimokalihi]

First off did you loosen the alternator mounting bolt? Its not going to want to budge easily without loosening the mounting/pivot bolt. If you have then just give the alternator or the head of the adjustment bolt a good whack or two and it'll drop.

[free5ty1e]

Yep alternator swings freely right now up and down just not down far enough. Guess I should go ahead with my plan to use the "persuader" (rubber mallet) to "help" it down, since that's now two votes (counting my own) for force.

[free5ty1e]

....before I do, though, question:

Should the alternator be able to take advantage of the entire range of motion offered by the tensioner bolt assembly? I mean, I shouldn't run out of adjustment with the alternator before I run out of bolt, right? Because right now I have the bolt sticking up a good 1/4" above the bracket it is supposed to be flush against when under tension. I seem to recall that this bolt should stay against the bracket as it is loosened as the alternator should move with it along the entire travel. Correct?

(before I go bashin' where I'm out of adjustment and just need to cut the belt off and get a correct size)

[kimokalihi]

You should be able to look closely to see if the alternator is making contact with the bracket or engine anywhere to tell you if its as far as it was designed to go.

Are you saying you're using a belt smaller than stock?

[free5ty1e]

Im saying im not sure, I wasnt the last to change the belt...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[kimokalihi]

Gotcha. Maybe time to replace it?

[Legacy777]

The alternator can sometimes get stuck and the adjustment bolt will lift off of the stop. The brackets on the alternator that hold it to the engine can get pinched, so yeah, you just may need to use a little force.

[James614]

If you're using some like a rubber mallet, or even a hammer on a wooden block, you can beat on it pretty good and not worry about harming anything. There's nothing under there to break if you push it into the bottom of its travel.

[Legacy777]

I have broken one of the fins for on the case that allow for cooling. It wasn't a big deal, but watch where you hit the case.

[free5ty1e]

Thanks for the tips guys, I'll be going back out to the garage today to try this again. Put it off for a bit with working overtime and such. Got a new belt to compare the old one too, once its off. Will post results here for completeness.

[free5ty1e]

OK so... still an issue. Can't seem to get it quite loose enough. And I see where movement is being stopped; it appears to be some sort of 180 degree turn hose that is directly in the alternator's travel path:


Here is how loose I am able to get it, and at this point it looks as though it is about pressing into the above hardened hose:


I feel like I will be puncturing this hose if I put force into it now. Anyone know what this hose is, and is it stock or did someone pull a bad repair job at one point on this car and that's not how it's supposed to be...? I'm so lost.

If I could just get one part of the belt over the lip of the alternator, I could possibly rotate it off... but it just ain't enough.


Any ideas?

[free5ty1e]

Got it off!!!! Got the alt to swing down another half inch or so by PULLING IT FORWARDS as well. That was the trick.

This may be a trick of the eye, but the old belt seems smaller than the new belt I just bought.

The old belt's # is 5PK877 R34-8.
The new belt's # is 5PK0875 345K5

Anyone recognize which is correct? Any idea?

Gonna try getting the A/C belt on now, so I can finally test and see what shape my A/C is in. Then, probably A/C troubleshooting time and I will probably need to convert this thing to R134a so I can service it...

[Legacy777]

What brand belt are those numbers from?