Dead Alternator - How do I remove it?

[Fred]

Hey guys, been having some problems lately , with the charge light coming on, the car died this morning, the alternator is stuffed... only had the car for 2 months, lukily its under warranty, so he'll take care of cost's, but he's in Sydney and im not, so i have to R&R myself...

My question is , do any of you guys have experience with removing the alternator, iv'e removed the side cover, and it don't look to easy, one guy said i'd nearly have to take the engine out by looking at it....

I know that would n't be the case, but is there a trick....Also, do they fail frequently on these...

Thanks for help guys...Fred.

 

[Guest]

its a semi known issue.
its a PITA to remove, 2-4 hours depending on your luck,
you have to tilt the motor to get it out.


take its to a garage and get them to do it and send the warrenty people a bill,

its there responsibilly to fix it not yours.

 

[Fred]

there paying me to do it....so i have to remove the upper r/h engine mount, and does it drop out the bottom, or come out the top...bottom by the look of it, so do i have to remove all the suspension too...???

 

[bradc]

yeah, it's a lot of work! Labour costs are typically above $200 to remove and refit it.

As far as failure rates go, it would seem that about 1 in 20 people have had alternator issues, most of them have been on cold weather spec cars.

 

[Guest]

So can you just buy a new alternator brush to recondition it or is there more involved?

 

[Fred]

the way it died, i'd say its more regulator related.....one thing, do u jack up the engine...???

 

[Fred]

got it out... : )...hope this doesn't happen to anyone else anytime soon....what a load of crap involved to get to an alternator...hope it lasts a bit longer.....

 

[2000VR-4]

Hey Fred, if you got time could you make a detailed post about what you had to remove and how long. I am sure there would be a few people on here interested.
Cheers,
Jason

 

[Guest]

Yup its fun!

Hey guys,
This is my first thread post! Think I got it a bit back to front.
I had mine two weeks and lost power. Alternator is from an FTO. Took the guy quite some time. Cost about $600 including labour. Luckily mine was on warranty as well.
Good luck

 

[SLY-031]

I had mine replaced not too long ago. I had no interest in doing it myself, so it went straight to a workshop.

$300 or so of labour
$350 for the recon(not sure what was replaced/serviced)

Not fun.

 

[Guest]

So what can we replace the alternater with? Might be a good idea for some of us to keep an eye out for any cheap ones that come up that we can recondition and have as a backup for replace before it goes to make more reliable.

Any ideas?

 

[Fred]

i'll try and do a how to, but i'm not good on a computer, and don't really know how to attach pics, i really did n't know what needed to be removed, i took stuff off i did n't have to, in all to get it out it took me about 4 hrs, if i had to do it again, i'd say 2 hrs max....half the job is knowing what to do, i dropped the subframe about half an inch, which i probably didn't need to do, lowered the engine a bit, and removed the big mount which holds the alt/belt adjuster on, i also removed suspension damper fork, sway bar link, lower control arms (removed at subframe end only) and while i was at it i machined my front rotors at work today...can't believe the car didn't vibrate under brakin, it took 5 pases on the brake lathe to clean them properly.... (sorry off- topic)...anyways if someone can tell me how to upload pics i'll do a how to...(or how I do that is...lol)

Cheers. Fred.

 

[2000VR-4]

Hey Fred, cheers for that. When you are typing a reply you will see a paper clip (to the right of the smiley face) icon, use this to attach thumbnails. Good luck

 

[Fred]

did this work...???

 

[2000VR-4]

Yep

 

[Fred]

here's a few more guys...oh and say hi to...me.........

 

[2000VR-4]

lol, I am watching Futurama ATM The one when Fry does a deal with the Robot Devil so he can play the Holophoner

P.S This isn't a dating site Fred, no need to take ya shirt off for pics lol

 

[Fred]

maybe i want to.....lol...its old thought id put a mug to the name thats all...

 

[2000VR-4]

All good, just messing with ya mate

 

[Fred]

here's the damage, tested all parts, could not fault, could not test regulator, as it is controlled by the ecu ! (never heard that before) but auto elec was 99% sure the reg is to blame, and i was 100% sure, because how quick it died, and was charging 0 volts.... so strip down, clean, new bearings, clean up armature, replace regulator with genuine mitsi one, + labour...$285.00...that was a great price, but i dealt with them before, and help them out with problems.... so all should be sweet...everything cleaned & tiedied, and they said judging by the wear on the brushes, the 65,000km on the car would be about right....cool....