Wingnut
Top Post Dawg
Alternator Re & Re \'How To\'
EDIT: This writeup is for the ALH motors. The BEW & newer engines have the alternators on top of the power steering pump, so are much easir to remove.
UPDATE:
Ok, so this isn't one of my best how to's. I was in a hurry and didn't have time to take many pics. I will take some more next time I am under a car and fill in the missing pics. Besides, the batteries in my camera were dead, so Ken took the pictures for me. Thanks Ken.
So down to it. Just looking at the location of the alternator made me cringe when I first started doing the job. But it turned out to be a lot easier than I thought.
You need to remove the serpentine belt, tensioner, A/C compressor & one of the cooling fans to get the alternator out. All in all, it took me just under 2 hours.
The tools I used were as follows:
8mm socket
10mm socket
13mm socket
16mm socket
16mm wrench
Various extensions
Pry bar or large screwdriver
T27 Torx bit.
So to start with, you have to jack up the car and secure it safely. Then remove the belly pan and passenger side skirt & wheel (Its not as cold as it looks):
Then, using the 16mm wrench (the longer the better), take the tension off the serpentine belt by pushing it upwards. You need to push it quite a bit to releive enough tension to remove the belt. Take it off one of the lower pulleys, like the A/C compressor. And be carefull when doing this not to pinch a finger. That tensioner is very strong. You then need to remove the tensioner. It is held in with 3 13mm bolts. The 3 bolts are quite close together. Here is a pic of the tensioner removed so you know the location of the 3 bolts:
(will add picture of it in the car at a later date)
Once the tensioner is out, you can easily get to the 2 bolts that hold in the A/C compressor. They are both 16mm. Once they are out, you need to pry the compressor downward with a pry bar. It will be wedged tightly onto the bracket (don't forget to unplug it).
(Again, I will post a picture at a later date)
Once the compressor is out, use a piece of wire or nylon zip ties to hold it up. You do not want it to hang by the hoses as that will put stress on the hoses and might break one of them?
In order to make room to get the alternator out, you need to remove one of the cooling fans. It is only held on with 3 torx screws, so should be a snap to remove. They are T27 screws, but if you don't have a T27, a T25 will work just fine. Once you have the fan out, it can just hang down under the car with the compressor:
Now you can easily see the 2 bolts holding the alternator in place. They are both 13mm. Remove the 2 bolts and then pry the alternator forward. Just like the A/C compressor, it will be pretty tight.
On the back side of the alternator, you have a bracket that holds the wire. This can be removed with an 8mm socket. You also have to remove the power cable from the battery. This is a 13mm bolt. Disconnect the battery before doing this. If you don't, you risk having the live wire short out on a part of the frame or engine. Finally, there is also a plug on the alternator that needs removing just like the one on the A/C compressor.
(One more picture to add here)
With the fan out of the way, there is plenty of room to wiggle the alternator out of its bracket. Here is a top view of the extra room:
Here are the 2 alternators side by side. Not sure how it happened, but the pulley just fell off the old one?
So now you just need to put everything back in the reverse order. To make it easier to replace the alternator, you need to widen the gap between the tabs. Remember how hard it was to pry off? This will allow the alternator to slip over the bracket much easier. Get a socket big enough to allow the threaded insert to be driven insid eit. I think I used an 18mm socket, but any large socket will do:
Thread the bolt in a few threads and give the bolt a few taps with a hammer untill the threaded insert moves about 1/8" or so. You can see here how much it moved:
You can do the same thing with the A/C compressor too, but since its hanging in the car still, I used a c-clamp and a socket:
Here are the 2 A/C inserts pushed back:
There isn't much else I can add at this time. But instead of sitting on these pictures till I had them all, I figured I would post what I had and add to it later. At least it will give you an idea of what you are up against.
Good luck.
EDIT: Paramedick did a great How To on how to re & re the pulley. With that info, this thread is now complete. Thanks Bruce
EDIT #2: FYI, this guide is for the ALH engine only. Anyone with a BEW (2004+) can change the pulley from the top. I was able to do it without removing the alternator. Its MUCH easier on the BEW engines.
EDIT: This writeup is for the ALH motors. The BEW & newer engines have the alternators on top of the power steering pump, so are much easir to remove.
UPDATE:
Ok, so this isn't one of my best how to's. I was in a hurry and didn't have time to take many pics. I will take some more next time I am under a car and fill in the missing pics. Besides, the batteries in my camera were dead, so Ken took the pictures for me. Thanks Ken.
So down to it. Just looking at the location of the alternator made me cringe when I first started doing the job. But it turned out to be a lot easier than I thought.
You need to remove the serpentine belt, tensioner, A/C compressor & one of the cooling fans to get the alternator out. All in all, it took me just under 2 hours.
The tools I used were as follows:
8mm socket
10mm socket
13mm socket
16mm socket
16mm wrench
Various extensions
Pry bar or large screwdriver
T27 Torx bit.
So to start with, you have to jack up the car and secure it safely. Then remove the belly pan and passenger side skirt & wheel (Its not as cold as it looks):
Then, using the 16mm wrench (the longer the better), take the tension off the serpentine belt by pushing it upwards. You need to push it quite a bit to releive enough tension to remove the belt. Take it off one of the lower pulleys, like the A/C compressor. And be carefull when doing this not to pinch a finger. That tensioner is very strong. You then need to remove the tensioner. It is held in with 3 13mm bolts. The 3 bolts are quite close together. Here is a pic of the tensioner removed so you know the location of the 3 bolts:
(will add picture of it in the car at a later date)
Once the tensioner is out, you can easily get to the 2 bolts that hold in the A/C compressor. They are both 16mm. Once they are out, you need to pry the compressor downward with a pry bar. It will be wedged tightly onto the bracket (don't forget to unplug it).
(Again, I will post a picture at a later date)
Once the compressor is out, use a piece of wire or nylon zip ties to hold it up. You do not want it to hang by the hoses as that will put stress on the hoses and might break one of them?
In order to make room to get the alternator out, you need to remove one of the cooling fans. It is only held on with 3 torx screws, so should be a snap to remove. They are T27 screws, but if you don't have a T27, a T25 will work just fine. Once you have the fan out, it can just hang down under the car with the compressor:
Now you can easily see the 2 bolts holding the alternator in place. They are both 13mm. Remove the 2 bolts and then pry the alternator forward. Just like the A/C compressor, it will be pretty tight.
On the back side of the alternator, you have a bracket that holds the wire. This can be removed with an 8mm socket. You also have to remove the power cable from the battery. This is a 13mm bolt. Disconnect the battery before doing this. If you don't, you risk having the live wire short out on a part of the frame or engine. Finally, there is also a plug on the alternator that needs removing just like the one on the A/C compressor.
(One more picture to add here)
With the fan out of the way, there is plenty of room to wiggle the alternator out of its bracket. Here is a top view of the extra room:
Here are the 2 alternators side by side. Not sure how it happened, but the pulley just fell off the old one?
So now you just need to put everything back in the reverse order. To make it easier to replace the alternator, you need to widen the gap between the tabs. Remember how hard it was to pry off? This will allow the alternator to slip over the bracket much easier. Get a socket big enough to allow the threaded insert to be driven insid eit. I think I used an 18mm socket, but any large socket will do:
Thread the bolt in a few threads and give the bolt a few taps with a hammer untill the threaded insert moves about 1/8" or so. You can see here how much it moved:
You can do the same thing with the A/C compressor too, but since its hanging in the car still, I used a c-clamp and a socket:
Here are the 2 A/C inserts pushed back:
There isn't much else I can add at this time. But instead of sitting on these pictures till I had them all, I figured I would post what I had and add to it later. At least it will give you an idea of what you are up against.
Good luck.
EDIT: Paramedick did a great How To on how to re & re the pulley. With that info, this thread is now complete. Thanks Bruce
EDIT #2: FYI, this guide is for the ALH engine only. Anyone with a BEW (2004+) can change the pulley from the top. I was able to do it without removing the alternator. Its MUCH easier on the BEW engines.
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