DIY Alternator Removal pics

Izzy from Renntech was kind enough to supply with directions to do this procedure. It is a bit vague though, so I thought some supporting photos would be helpful for future DIY's. I would advise getting proper pdf's from renntech then these pics might make some more sense. But as I look back it looks like I worked more than I took pics, sorry. I'll post better ones when I install new one. Whole thing takes a bit over an hour, really easy DIY. 1st disconnect battery 2. remove air filter 3. remove serpentine belt (super easy) Just turn big bolt on tensioner clockwise and remove belt at same time. It pivots and removes tension. 4. unscrew main bolt from alt carriage (lower left), unscrew air connector thingy, see pics of 2 screws (upper), pull apart electrical thingy make sure to push in metal clip at same time (upper), then unbolt and remove the roller thingy (lower right). Thats it easy huh? 5. a bit more confusing is turning and rocking the alternator clockwise to get the bottom of the alternator to clear the carriage mount. it takes a few rocks... 6. gently pull out to reveal the back of alternator, then pull off elctrical thingy and remove bolt and remove the other elctrical wire... Done, have a beer

actually when removing the inboud alternator bolt labled 2 in your picture you should unscrew it about 5 turns then use a hammer to hit it in towrds the engine. doing that pushes the bushing in and makes the alternator come out super easy and go in easy to if your not replacing it

Great post...wish I would have seen this a month ago before having a shop replace mine

thanks for your clear step by step instructions. is it me, or are they really starting to build these things taking ease of maintenance into consideration?

Very well done and the handwriting on the pictures is nice although it looks like the Beer DIY instruction got ahead of the label pics instruction?

Nice job! I would never have dreamed of doing that job without seeing your instructions. Was it really as simple as your pictures suggested and how long did it take?

What was wrong with your alternator and can the voltage regulator be replaced instead of the whole unit?

I like the "smiley faced" dude that was there through out the entire process. I especially liked the HUGE grin on his face when the alternator was completely removed! He looks VERY pleased! Nice write up!

Thanks for the nice write up,I'm sure I'll be looking for that post to review someday.

you forgot also that if you have an older car you should also have the plastic coolant nipple thats 2 inchs from the inbound alternator bolt cuz it will break, and you should have some rubber vacu7m hose to patch the platsic stuff incase it breaks

At least in my case the two screws holding the voltage regulator to alternator housing sheared off when I was removing them. I could have drilled and retapped the housing but I figured at that point I'd just install a new/reman unit. Shawn

Thanks for the positive feedback guys. It was really fun. I think after this I may have confidence to try doing my own brakes or oil change. Steven C: Yeah, I had a hard time writing with the mouse using the paintbrush tool in Adobe. I could not make a text box to save my life... 99firehawk: excellent observations (as always), as I prefaced this was my first DIY. I was very careful with the little plastic hoses during the removal and will need to be doubly on the install. Do you have a part number for that thing air nipple thingy, just in case? I also had a real fear of taking a hammer to my baby's powerplant on my first DIY, so I opted for full bolt removal at the roller. I saw I was differeing from the manual, but I was able to gently rock the alt out and I will gently reverse process, first making the right side go in first then turning clockwise to get the new alt to clear carriage lower left. Wish me luck.... Melchoir, symptoms were the voltage readings were wacky, I had an almost right amount of amps but low volts. The battery charge was sinking the longer the car was operating, and when it got really low, all of the lights on dash went wild. Volt reg is part of alt unit. Oreganet: It took a little over an hour, and about the same amount of prep time to find my old photography spotlight in the attic, pull out the space heater, organize the tools, etc. It was freezing in my garage yesterday. Gota911: yes happy faces abounded (as did atrocious adobe paintbrush writing) I was like a proud dad holding that little alternator, I can't wait for the install, I will receive part Tuesday. I will be posting new, and hopefully better, pics... I am glad I could finally contribute at least a little something to the board, because you guys have been most helpful to me.

If you or Robert still have your old alternator could you please post the Bosch part number for the voltage regulator?

That would of saved me an hour of cussing if I would of just did this, that is the best advice when doing this job. Also, it could save you from breaking the plug on the back side of the alternator, like I did.

Jason, how would I know the Bosch regulator part number as opposed to overall part number on the stick on the back of the alt?

Should be able to enter both part numbers into PET and figure out which one is the regulator.

I didmnt look but I doubt that the bosch alternato number will come up in pet and shurey the regulator isnt avaiable thought the dealer

You have to remove the regulator (it will look something like the two in the image below) to find the Bosch part number. And assuming that there isn't something special about it specifically called for by PAG then we should be able to source one from the aftermarket division of Bosch. The OEM division usually can't share things with the aftermarket division until several years after production and sometimes never, it depends on the specific part, patents, licensing agreements, etc. so I don't know if we can find the exact part.