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Re: Replacing an alternator - how hard can it be?? Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Mon, 11 Mar 2002 17:06:06
In Reply to: Replacing an alternator - how hard can it be??, THORFINN, Mon, 11 Mar 2002 12:18:36 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Two hours to replace an alternator - that's what it took me the last time I did it.
However, the other folks have an excellent point - it may not be the alternator at all, but the voltage regulator. The regulator plugs into the back of the alternator.
Before you do any work, always remove the battery ground clamp. The alternator ties directly to the battery, and a slip of a screwdriver can be pretty messy.
If you have access to an oscilloscope, you can determine if the problem is a voltage regulator or alternator. Check out:
http://www.haller.ws/volvo/alternator/
If you undo the bracket that holds the oil filler tube to the intake manifold, and tie back the power steering hoses, you can reach the back of the alternator and reach the voltage regulator. I bought a new one from Sobstory for about $35 and installed it in about 30 minutes. Turns out it wasn't the problem, and ended up replacing the alternator. But this is the first alternator I've had to replace, whereas I've done about 3 or 4 voltage regulators.
You don't mention what year car/engine model. Replacing the alternator depends a bit on which engine. No matter what, you jackup and support the car, and remove the fender inner liner. You then need to remove the serpentine belt. That's where the differences come in - it's easy with the old two-belt manual tensioner. With the single-belt automatic tensioner, you need to compress the tensioner and keep it compressed while you remove the belt.
Getting the alternator out of the yoke can be interesting, as it's wedged in pretty good. The part that took the longest was swapping the pulley from the old alternator to the new one - the rebuilt I got from Sobstory doesn't come with a pulley (most don't). It took a torch to loosen up the bolt holding the pulley on.
Again, depending on what year you have, if you have the 80 amp alternator, upgrade to the 115 amp. It was only $20 more at Sobstory.
posted by 140.157....
, Mon, 11 Mar 2002 17:06:06 <-- Viewing This Message
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