Alternator - Huh?

Re: Alternator - Huh? (tuban)

Wed, 29 Apr 2015 17:46:57 GMT

Thanks for the tips. Yep, my alternator is sitting quite happily on top of the cross-member. I considered adding an inspection plate in the engine bay wall to the trunk to give me access but not enough trunk wall in the right place. I know, what a cowboy:-)

I dream about chopping the last 50cm off the back of the car and remove the trunk and make the trunk firewall removable. Much better engine access and ideally I could sit the engine on a frame/base, disconnect the various crap and then wheel the car away, leaving the engine on the frame/base. This was how I was able to work on the engine of my rear-engined Hillman Imp in the 1970s. I think that the car would look pretty good with a squared-off tail just behind the wheel arches. I'm now getting ready to be flamed for my 1970s fashion sense:-(

Re: Alternator - Huh? (mr2ns)

Wed, 29 Apr 2015 13:27:58 GMT

Hey mate. I dropped it via the bottom. Key is to lower the crossmember. No need to remove just undo the bolts and that will give you enough room. I also had to disconnect my BPipe (leaving it where it is but just moving it to the side) but i do have an aftermarket Berk Exhaust. Its a bit of a pain but you can do it.

Re: Alternator - Huh? (tuban)

Fri, 24 Apr 2015 16:26:39 GMT

Hi, how did you eventually remove the alternator? I'd seen pull it out the top but this seemed to be for N/A. Did you really have to remove the exhaust and the cross-member? The Toyota manual shows nice pics of the alternator being replaced with the engine out of the car! Sounds like a Toyota engineer must have been on holidays when they designed this. Thanks

Re: Alternator - Huh? (mr2ns)

Thu, 01 May 2014 12:30:36 GMT

So got the Alt out and had it tested and its definitely a dud... What I cant confirm is - Amp, part number and is it a NA Alt.... Can anyone confirm?

See pics attached

Re: Alternator - Huh? (Reddtarga)

Thu, 24 Apr 2014 17:23:31 GMT

Depending on condition it may be best to reco your old one, so perhaps get a couple of quotes from different alternator specialists in your area.

S/H alternators can be a bit of a lottery and I suppose you know that if you're looking for a S/H one, the NA and turbo ones are different sizes, and the NA one wont fit your turbo mounting bracket.
They are different power ratings as well, and the early ones had a round connector while the later ones had an oval connector that will probably be the case with the one on your motor.

Re: Alternator - Huh? (mr2ns)

Thu, 24 Apr 2014 16:26:31 GMT

So recommendations... Any one know how much it will cost to recondition an alternator? Awhile back 2nd hand alternators range are around $150, is that still the case?

Re: Alternator - Huh? (mr2ns)

Tue, 22 Apr 2014 18:35:27 GMT

I do now.. I have the right wheel off already... yeh on jack stands and have done the earthquake test.

Re: Alternator - Huh? (Reddtarga)

Tue, 22 Apr 2014 18:34:05 GMT

I assume you know you'll need to remove the rear wheels to get at the X-member support bolts.
When you replace them later make sure they are really tight, (83 ft/lbs)
Once again, make sure the car is supported safely for the job!!

Good luck with the simple job of replacing the alternator lol.

Re: Alternator - Huh? (mr2ns)

Tue, 22 Apr 2014 18:02:36 GMT

ahh yess... its all coming back now...

Thanks

Re: Alternator - Huh? (Reddtarga)

Tue, 22 Apr 2014 17:29:35 GMT

Errrr....Are you serious?
Those 3 bolts in the center only hold the rear engine mount.

The X-member is held by 4 bolts up into the chassis (2 on each side)
Jack the car safely with jack stands etc, and undo them just enough to create clearance to remove the alternator.
The X-member wouldn't need to come out completely for that job, but you would need to support it with something like a trolly jack if the 4 holding bolts were actually taken right out, because if the exhaust pipe were removed as well as the 3 rear engine mount bolts the X-member would fall right down if not supported.

Re: Alternator - Huh? (mr2ns)

Tue, 22 Apr 2014 14:50:22 GMT

Is it just the three central bolts you need to undo?

Re: Alternator - Huh? (Reddtarga)

Tue, 22 Apr 2014 13:29:36 GMT

Those X-member bolts have a lot of extra thread.
It may be possible to create enough clearance by just loosening them, and not totally removing them.
There may be perhaps 20 mm or so before they come right out.
Normally the exhaust pipe will tend to hold the X-member up but you may be lucky.

Re: Alternator - Huh? (mr2ns)

Tue, 22 Apr 2014 11:50:20 GMT

I may be stubborn but alternator is loose, just trying to squeeze it through the crossmember and axle. Before i can do this, my Berk B Pipe needs to be removed. Ive unbolted but I just cant squeeze it through. I dont remember having to remove crossmember when installing it. So might just have drop the crossmember and accept I wasted time removing bpipe.

Re: Alternator - Huh? (dennis the menace)

Sat, 19 Apr 2014 21:06:57 GMT

Short answer - NO. The alternator needs to be unbolted (good luck there) then you slide it across the engine bay, rotate it and lift it up from the passenger side.

It's a 6 of one/half a dozen of the other job, and sometimes it's less frustrating to remove the cross member. Gives you a chance to clean it, and check the state of the mounting bolts at the same time. Speaking of mounts, it's a good time to examine your suspension bushes (including the sway bar mounts that live on top of the cross member.

Best of luck!

Alternator - Huh? (mr2ns)

Sat, 19 Apr 2014 13:05:20 GMT

So I believe my alternator is to blame for the weird smell I got and then my battery being dead. I charged the battery up and checked with multimeter and found the amps were not increasing when car was started and revs high. The smell, I can only think that the alternator blew - weird but sort of elec burning smell. The belts are fine. Soooo my questions:

I haven't done it in a long time, can a Gen 3 turbo alternator be removed from the bottom, without removing the crossmember? How many hours am I looking at?
Has anyone got there alternator reconditioned lately? How much? I know I could prob find a second hand of the forum - last time I looked about 5 years ago, they were around $150. But i know these are now 20 years old... so reconditioning one is a good idea.

Cheers guys