Originally posted by RawBurt:
Originally posted by andy:
It would be easier if I could turn it around and have the wires face out towards the wheel well. I'll give it a go today in better light.



It sure would, but the wires do not have much slack in them. And I would not want to be putting stress on them in fear of cracking, breaking or whatever.



It does! Turns out the alternator can be almost completely turned to face out, or at least with the pulley facing the read of the car, to get a good hold on that 10mm bolt, the wire clip and the plastic clip. The plug harness has lots of slack. The stiff welder gage wire has enough slack, but is harder to maneuver, obviously. So for future potential DIY reference, once you get the alt off the brackets, work at it to get it such that you can work from the wheel well. Same goes for putting it back, although I suspect it's easier to install the alt back in the bracket w/o the big wire fighting you.

Seems my new Carquest Premium reman alternator has a squeak rotating the pulley clockwise, but quiet CCW. Should I take it back? I don't know which way the belt rotates or if the squeak will go away after it breaks in a little.

Andy 96 Contour V6 101000 miles