sam o nela

Alternator Removal Replacement DIY

This DIY will walk you through the process of the removal of the alternator.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=aIY26Hye4kM

Materials needed:

~ Ratchet
~ Breaker Bar
~ 10mm, 12mm, 14mm sockets
~ Rubber mallet
~ Di-electric grease

1. First and foremost DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE BATTERY CABLE FROM THE BATTERY. Never service any electrical component with the battery connected.

2. Remove this plastic belt cover by removing the three 10mm nuts holding it in place.




3. Remove the harness plug and the power wire from the alternator.




4. Loosen up the power steering pump by breaking loose its 14mm bolt and 12mm adjustment bolt. This will allow it to move out of your way.




5. Remove this engine hoist bracket to allow for greater accessibility.




6. The alternator is held in at these two points. A 14mm bolt and a 12mm nut. Break these two loose. They may be on pretty tight so use the breaker bar instead of the ratchet. Also, the 12mm nut is located behind the belts and near the motor mount, so it is a bit awkward to get at. Just BE SURE to keep the socket flush and try not to strip the nut!!




7. Now that these two points are loose, you can give the alternator enough slack to slip off the belt.





8. Now with the belt off, go ahead and remove the 14mm bolt, 12mm nut (be VERY careful not to drop it!) and pivot the alternator to the very top of its travel path. Now you may remove the adjuster bolt from behind.




9. Now with all of the hardware removed, pivot the alternator up and down until it releases from its mount.




10. Before installation, be sure to apply some di-electric grease to these terminals to prevent corrosion in the future.




11. Place the new alternator into the mount (where it pivots). Some cars will by lucky and it will just glide right in. However, if it gives you any trouble, gently tap it with the rubber mallet to get it to go into its mount. Repeat this process until you can easily insert and thread the 14mm bolt.



12. Now the installation is simply the reverse of the removal.

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eekazum

dude nice!!! you actually beat me to an alternator diy but yers is much cleaner and in depth than mine. btw who's car is that? i thought you had a 2.5...

kitchwatembo

psh, where was this the first few times i did this?

i took mine out 3-4 times and put new ones in so ive got it down by now

but this would have saved me so much time

great tip on the engine hoist, and great writeup

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My 87 Legend L 2.5 V6
-Prelude wheel- -EL reverse gauges- -reinforced hood struts- -halogen headlights- -Cold Cathode trunk lights- Dual HU- -Infiniti components up front- -Pyramid component rear- -12" Pioneer in bandpass box- -Acura caliper grille emblem-

sam o nela

Thanks lol...

The video was on my 2.5...realized I forgot to take pictures, so I did the writeup pics on my parts car...the only difference I saw between the two was that on the engine hoist bracket the mounting points are different between the two cars...other than that its pretty much the same...

Lol my battery light came on TWO DAYS before the Socal meet!!! hahaha...I took Friday morning off to fix it.

__________________


<Monocolor Paint Scheme> <JDM Clear Corners> <Cleared out Rear Turn Signals>
<Acura Caliper Grill Emblem> <Independent Yellow Fog Mod> <15% Tint>
<Iggee Seat Covers> <EL Reverse Glow Gauges> <Dimmer Mod>
<Ford Taurus Cupholder Mod> <CC Tunk Light Mod> <Fut Short Throw Shifter>
<Custom CAI> <AEM Bypass Valve> <OBX Headers>
<Magnaflow High Flow Cat> <Dynomax Super Turbo Muffler>
<Drilled/Slotted Rotors> <Painted Calipers> <Axxis Metal Master Pads>

bandoni™

this looks way easier to do then my cb7. i had to change the alt out on it last week, stone bitch to get it put back together with a new belt on it. oh well hopefully it will be awhile before i have to do that again. great write up gabe!! oh I also broke open the little packet of die electric grease all over my kitchen floor, it's like an ice rink in there now i moped the floor and everything lol.

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sig by doubleglow the sigwhisperer
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austinpowers

Nice video and writeup

I like the editing, one thing i remember when changing mine was that i don't remember having to bang the alternator back in, depends on how tight it is i guess..

blatham20

Awesome DIY best Ive seen yet keep up the good work

sam o nela

Thanks guys...regarding banging the alt...

Yeah on my 2.5 its always been like that...in fact you can see on the video just how much force it took to get the alternator in there!!

I was surprised how easily it went in on the 2.7 parts car....thus I threw in the sentence on the writeup about "some people getting lucky..."

__________________


<Monocolor Paint Scheme> <JDM Clear Corners> <Cleared out Rear Turn Signals>
<Acura Caliper Grill Emblem> <Independent Yellow Fog Mod> <15% Tint>
<Iggee Seat Covers> <EL Reverse Glow Gauges> <Dimmer Mod>
<Ford Taurus Cupholder Mod> <CC Tunk Light Mod> <Fut Short Throw Shifter>
<Custom CAI> <AEM Bypass Valve> <OBX Headers>
<Magnaflow High Flow Cat> <Dynomax Super Turbo Muffler>
<Drilled/Slotted Rotors> <Painted Calipers> <Axxis Metal Master Pads>

pnoye2

Keep up the good work Gabe

__________________
293K+ miles; original power/drive trains

TO90LEGEND

Well mine started to go again, I could do this blindfolded now. It was from my parts car, bat light started to occasionally flicker at low revs and high load. After I'm guessing a year and a half this time. Put my brand new re-manned Auto zone one I have been hanging on while my parts car one was in. Lets see how this one goes... I'm going to take apart my parts one and try to replace the brushes, I don't think it's a diode problem this time (most of mine failed that way), its just getting weak.

I just wanted to add a simple suggestion to your DIY because I don't like using any kind of hammer especially on any electric part rubber or not. I ran into the fit problem on the old parts car one and the one i put in today where the front screw holds the unit in place. I simply took a file and filed a small amount of the high spot on the circular area where the screw goes through on the alternator. The unit drops right in then with no problems - no effort.

What is the deal with these alternators? I think that is number 5 for me. Pretty well averaging one per year. The only good part is it's in a really easy to get to spot. My friend had an Elantra, same deal with that car. It eats alternators.

sam o nela

I cant really say the same...

When I first replaced the alternator in like 2004(?), it was the original one...I replaced it with a used OEM one off Ebay...that one lasted till this last Thursday (about 3 years).

I still had the FIRST one (the original) in a box in my garage...I threw in some new brushes, got it tested, it passed....threw it into my car...she runs great....we'll see how long it lasts, but this alternator is now well over 20 years old!

Thats some damned good engineering if you ask me!

__________________


<Monocolor Paint Scheme> <JDM Clear Corners> <Cleared out Rear Turn Signals>
<Acura Caliper Grill Emblem> <Independent Yellow Fog Mod> <15% Tint>
<Iggee Seat Covers> <EL Reverse Glow Gauges> <Dimmer Mod>
<Ford Taurus Cupholder Mod> <CC Tunk Light Mod> <Fut Short Throw Shifter>
<Custom CAI> <AEM Bypass Valve> <OBX Headers>
<Magnaflow High Flow Cat> <Dynomax Super Turbo Muffler>
<Drilled/Slotted Rotors> <Painted Calipers> <Axxis Metal Master Pads>

tubadude

using gloves?

a real man goes barehanded!



i had to pack some bearings a few days ago, that was a bitch to get all the grease off.

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Tubabusters to the rescue!

sam o nela

Lol yeah i used to do it bare handed...but now I see how thin and brittle my grandfather's skin is after 40+ years of working on trucks....I think maybe I should use some minimal protection

__________________


<Monocolor Paint Scheme> <JDM Clear Corners> <Cleared out Rear Turn Signals>
<Acura Caliper Grill Emblem> <Independent Yellow Fog Mod> <15% Tint>
<Iggee Seat Covers> <EL Reverse Glow Gauges> <Dimmer Mod>
<Ford Taurus Cupholder Mod> <CC Tunk Light Mod> <Fut Short Throw Shifter>
<Custom CAI> <AEM Bypass Valve> <OBX Headers>
<Magnaflow High Flow Cat> <Dynomax Super Turbo Muffler>
<Drilled/Slotted Rotors> <Painted Calipers> <Axxis Metal Master Pads>

TO90LEGEND

Give the guy a break, I purchase those tight stretchy cotton gloves you geat a flea markets for like $4.00 for 12 pairs. They give you good protection and your hands can still breathe and they don'r feel restrictive.

pnoye2

NOT to be off topic here, but yes I'd admit... I use to work on cars barehanded meself, until I started working for Cerritos Nissan many many moons ago, which required on most stealership and I've been using gloves ever since.

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293K+ miles; original power/drive trains