My "How-to" on changing an alternator... I have done it twice on my car now. Yes, it is about a 3-4 hour job for the do it yourself'er.
- Take the passanger's side wheel off
- Remove the two splash guards that are around
the driveshaft
- Disconnect the tie rod only
- Disconnect the 3 wires that go to the alternator
- remove bottom two bolts (Unbolt the black
bracket from the alternator, not the block)
- To get to the top bolt, I ran a long extension
from over near the driver's side wheel, with a
swivel type socket on the end of it. It was
VERY tight, so use high quality/strength tools
- Once all 3 bolts are out, the alternator is
still wedged quite hard in the brackets, so you
need to get a good grip on it and pull it out
of the bracket. It took alot of my body weight
on it to get it out, and I am a big guy, so
again, if its not on a lift this could be quite
challenging
- After a few bashed knuckles the alternator
should be out, and with a little finessing, you
should be able to squeeze it out with out
touching the drive shaft.
- As for replacing the brushes and regulator, I
took mine to a shop and had them replace the
brushes (of which 1 brush was off the spring)
They did not have my regulator in stock, so I
risked just changing the brushes (which did NOT
solve my problem ! To change out the
brushes, just unscrew the four screws, and take
them out carefully, so you don't loose a brush
in the alternator.
