Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting How do you replace alternator on a 95 gl 2.5 auto?

How do you replace an alternator on a 95 gl 2.5v6 auto???????

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The job is a real pain. I had to change the brush assembly. The hardest part was the alternator mounting bolt, not the right side axle removal, not the exhaust y-pipe removal, not the sepentine belt removal. It is easy enoungh to get a wrench on the bolt head in it original configuration but you sure cannot turn it easily.
I thought about it and I modified the alternator bracket mounting for the next time I have to remove it by drilling out the threads on the aluminum bracket for the alternator large bolt and the use of a nut. I can now loosen it with a wrench on the wheel well side where it can be reached rather than only on the engine side where it is nearly inpossible to get any arc movement on the wrench. Now the next time it will be a snap. I just have to put a retaining wrench on the on the inside and undo the nut from the outside. A little loctite or a locking nut and no problems with any incidental loosening. Does any engineer at Ford have any common sense or do the accountants have all the say.

Its not as hard as you make it out to be. it is difficult to reach, but if you have the right tools, i.e. 1/2 inch extensions, than leverage will not be an issue and you will be able to remove the alt within an hour. im not sure if drilling out the threads was such a good idea? but hey its your car.

if i had to take it out i would rather put in a new one rather than rebuilding my original, just so that i dont have to worry about it for a while.

I removed but it did not solve my problems so i wasted my time. Are you sure its the Alt?

Got all the tools including many 1/2 extensions etc. It is not reaching the bolt that is the issue, it is about being able to do do it reasonably. Still was a pain. Now with a proper locking nut on the outside I can remove in 5 minutes. With a couple of engineering degrees and 30 years experience I know this is right to do. This modified configuration (bolt and nylon locknut) now matches every other alternater mounting system I have worked on including my Ford Clubwagon 460 CID. Manufacturers do not always choose the best methods. When I worked in the mining industry and new underground load/haul dump machines (scoop trams as we called them) were purchased, the first thing we did to them before they were used was to completely strip them down and fix every design flaw. Once they are underground they get worked on in place and every bit of downtime counts.
Note that on our cars the radiators cannot easily be removed from the top like just about every other car. What the heck was Ford thinking about this configuration that was reasonable. Yes you can remove them but it is a pain and it does take a lot more time than it should. They need to consider repair times and costs in the design not just the manufaturing cost.

Hmm. I know its not a pissing contest. but ive seen kep-nuts, nylon nuts, torque sealed hardware come loose either when shipping because of the sonic vibration or shaking, in enviromental testing then shock and Vibe, during Halt testing. but maybe we dont have these type of issues on cars. The thing i think loosens and brakes loctite is the constant vibration at its resonant frequency.

i know loctite 222 would not be the best choice on some applications.

but please show pics, im glad you have the degrees and experience to make educated decisions. if it works we can all use your setup.