(I’ll be darned… Wrote up a nice how-to and IE pukes it out… So here I go again…)
Last week my alternator died (231k miles) and I feared the worst… (Removal of hub/half-shaft, $150 for rebuilt alternator, etc)
So I decided to try to do a rebuild with new brushes with the alternator in place… And it worked!! ($4.50 and 2 hours later!!)
I spent most of the time trying to figure out how to best get the darn thing apart… The Helms blow-out diagram did not show all the parts – like screws and nuts…
It should take <1hour if you know all the different pieces…
I don’t have time yet to do a full write-up so here’s a Clif version:
Jack up car/put on ramps
Remove alternator ground (rubber boot thing on top of alternator). So total of 2 nuts and 1 black plastic piece. This may be an optional step as the rear cover looks like it’s slotted but I figured it’s only 5 minutes…
From under neath - remove green alternator connector.
Remove cables from metal bracket near bottom of alternator. Mine was on there pretty tight - and it took a little of wiggling to get it out.
Remove 3 8MM nuts. 1 near top of alternator, 1 near bottom, and 3rd one holding the metal wire bracket.
Remove 4th 8MM nut from under the metal wire bracket.
Using flat screwdriver, pry/push alternator rear cover off.
Remove 2 small philips screws off brush assembly (red/orange rubber thingy – it’s the only non-metal thingy near the rear-top of the alternator.) To do this, I used a 1/4" rachet with adapters to a philips screw bit. A right-angled screw driver would work great also! One caution is that the screws are small – use of a magnetic screwdriver, or a magnet on screwdriver would help! There’s 1 screw per side of the assembly – one you could see and the other hiding – on the the front side (of the car). A small mirror helps in locating the screw.
Remove brush assembly. On mine, it was pretty obvious that the brushes were the cause of the problems… One brush was shiny (like it was being used and scraped on the rotor) and the other was dusty (like it was not contacting the alternator rotor at all). So I tried removing the solder with a Weller iron set to 875’F but the solder did not want to budge… I ended up drilling it out and resoldering my new brushes in place. I had found the complete brush assembly for ~$20 @ http://www.directpartsonline.com – This is definitely the recommended route!! My brushes cost ~$4.50 from Napa, but if I were to do it again, I’d pay the extra bills to avoid having to desolder and re-solder the brushes…
Reassembly is the reverse…
I had searched as many threads as I could about alternator repair and the answers never looked pretty… I really did not want to take apart the car more than I had to.
nice work, i can’t believe you did that with alternator still in car:bowdown: i remember changin’ my alt an ‘it’s no fun jus’ tryin’ ta get yer hands in there to disconnect the damn thing. but then rebuildin’ it under there:bowdown: still gotta be easier than tearin’ axle out, like i did(pita)
My alternator just died tonight. I asked my mechanic how much
it’ll cost and he gave me an estimate for around $350/installed.
I was thinking about replacing the alternator myself and save
myself alot of money. If I did do it myself then I would buy a new
alternator, not rebuilding it myself.
Is it easy to remove the alternator and replacing it? It looks like
alot of work to get to the alternator…lots of things surrounding it.
I have a GS model.
yeah, it’s a pain…book says pull the axle, which is what i did…look in archives(i think) somebody says you can just unbolt the intermediate shaft and wiggle alternator out…i tried wigglin’ mine every which way, didn’t work. others say remove master cylinder claiming it’s easier to bleed brakes than rebuilding cv joint . i just followed the book, didn’t mess up cv joint. somebody else mentioned disconnecting motor mount and jacking motor up, gives you enough room to get alt. outta there…either way, there’s a good bit of labor involved. alt. is gonna cost you around $180(±)alone…good luck!!
Originally posted by blackDB1
[B]Great thread…and just in time!
My alternator just died tonight. I asked my mechanic how much.
…
…
I have a GS model.
thx. [/B]
You can try replacing just the alternator brush assembly ($20). A high mileage car like ours could just have worn out the brushes. I’ll bet most of the alternator problems are because of brushes…
(…I’ll bet $0.02…)
Anyhow – it should take < 1hour to take apart the rear housing of the alternator and check the brushes if you feel like working in a tight space…
I’ve read other articles of people taking apart the rear section of the alternator to make it easier to wiggle it out without removing the axle. I would have stuck to the Helms method (removing the axle) if the brushes did not fix my problem. Seems like the least painful of all (known) methods. If you don’t have air tools, one tip is to use a breaker bar to loosen axle nut with car still on the ground.
omfg wow… my car just died like 3 times… had to get it jumped 3 times then the third time it died was about 100ft away from my house… i’m about to go buy some brushes and do this… :bowdown:
edit: i need a soldering iron though i assume??? how much do those run? whats a good one i should get?
changing the brushes is a great thing to do and i’m glad i did it. everyone should do it to their 10+ year old cars. mine were worn way below the recommended spec., almost to the nub. i suspect it got rid of my dimming issues and the car “seems” to run better. best of all, its CHEAP.
no soldering, just pop em out and pop the new ones in. all you need is a philips screwdriver. i did mine while it was already out so good luck to you guys
Not sure if anyone has posted this before, but I recently discovered a way to replace the alternator without removing the half shaft. Simply unbolt the half shaft support bracket and rotate it downwards. Then remove your oil filter and set it aside. The reason for this is to allow space for you to rotate the alternator into the proper orientation for upcomming removal. Now, disconnect all leads to the alternator and unbolt it from its mount. You want the alternator to be completely free to rotate within the space it occupies. This next part will take a bit of time (still way less than dropping a half shaft). You now have to rotate the alternator until it is in the right orientation to fit between the frame and half shaft. Be patience, it will fit. Also, be careful! When you find the right orientation for the alternator it will literally fall out, so always have a firm hand on it. In other words keep your face out from underneath it.
I’ve done this on 2 2nd Gens so I’m %100 positive that this works. If anyone has any questions or concens let me know.
this thread is so money and it doesn’t even know it. i’m gonna pick up some brushes tomorrow. how big of a soldering iron do you need to melt the old solder?
I wouldn’t mess with the soldering method – too much work. I had a $150 soldering iron set to 850’F and made little progress. I ended up drilling out the old brushes and soldering in the new ones. Cheap soldering iron works in this case.
Still recommend getting the replacement assembly. That web site I posted waaay back don’t work – I think they closed.
Anyone know where you can get the bearings for the alternator? Mine squeel horribly. If I could find bearings and a brush assembly for decent price then I might not have to buy a new alternator for $250 CAD!
:bowdown:
