thelaurie

My alternator went out last weekend, and I have ordered and received a new one. I'm hoping to get it installed this weekend. I've been searching here and numerous other places for instructions on how to install a new one. I've found several articles but they're all about 1 page. I'm pretty sure they're not as detailed as I'm going to need. I've never replaced one, but it's something I want to try. I know, I'm probably nuts. Hell, if I can build a computer, I should be able to handle this, right? I'm all about RTFM if I can find the FM. Go easy on me...

Does anyone have or know of a good site to get detailed instructions on replacing an alternator? It's important that I do this myself (or with guidance). When I drive it, I want to know it's my blood under the hood.

Thanks for any help and/or information.

Laurie
'88 928 S4 Granite Green Metallic

brutus

You will be working under the car. So need a good floor jack and a couple jack stands. Try to avoid putting much stress on the wiring harness (disconnect battery before you start) . So do not let the alternator hang on the wires. Two bolts are all that hold the alternator to the engine. You can leave the belt on the crank pulley and after releasing the tension slip it off the alt pulley....that way you need not remove the other belts. Working on your back in the driveway the alt is rather heavy to hold in place with one hand while you insert the very long bolt with the other.

Rob Edwards

Tony's got a nice writeup as one of his many maintenance DIY's:

http://members.rennlist.com/v1uhoh/alternat.htm

thelaurie

Thank you, Brutus. I have a great floor jack and stands I got from Sears, and I have one of those things you lay on with the wheels so I can slide in and out. I would definitely not let the alternator hang (that seems like a no brainer but then again...)

I saw that I need to disconnect the battery (negative first). I'm not sure how to loosen the belt (that hasn't been in any instructions I've found so far.

Thank you for the guidance. I really appreciate it.

Laurie

Bertrand Daoust

You got everything you need here.
Chapter 3 and 5 I think.

http://www.dwaynesgarage.norcal928.o...0Procedure.htm

Thanks Dwayne.

thelaurie

Rob, excellent article by Tony, you are correct. I'm very visual, so the pictures are a tremendous help. I will be printing this out and ready to tackle this.

I'm looking forward to getting under her this weekend. That just sounds wrong...

I will post again as to whether or not I was successful. But as they say, failure is not an option. A 928 is kind of like a pet or a child. You make a commitment to take care of them, no matter what the cost. Of course, sometimes you just have to sell them or drop them off at the pound.

Thank you,

Laurie

thelaurie

Thank you so much! Between you, Brutus and Rob I am completely hooked up!

I wish it was Saturday right now. I can't wait to get started.

This site rocks, and so do it's members.

I look forward to posting when I'm done and we're back on the road. I think we'll hit Lodi and do some wine tasting. Yeah, that'll be nice.

Have a great evening,

Laurie

Bertrand Daoust

Welcome Laurie.
I'm just the messenger here!
We need to thanks Dwayne for his great work.

Have a great evening too.

Rob Edwards

EDIT: Duh, I forgot about Dwayne's outstanding TB writeup. Oh well, here's a Cliff's notes version with some additional pictures and notes..


I did this a couple weeks' back on the GTS, here's a step-by-step from memory:

1. Disconnect battery.

2. Jack up front of car, secure on jackstands, liftbars, etc.

3. Remove the alternator cooling hose from the cooling duct/cowl on the back of the alt. If you don't have a hose and/or a cooling duct, get them both for the new alt.



The fan shroud will really cut down on your space to work here. You can partially lift the fan shroud up and out of the way so there's more space to get at the mounting bolts. There may (should be) a zip tie holding the fan shroud to the lower radiator hose. On 5-speed cars the shroud can then come out with a little jiggering. If your car is an automatic it can be more tricky 'cause of the oil cooler hoses- perhaps it can be moved up enough to get more clearance.

4. Loosen the tensioner bracket: first the locknut on the M8 (13mm head) bolt whose head is pointing at the ground, then the M8 bolt itself, then the M10 (17mm) nut on the 'back' of the medial alternator mounting flange, then the M10 bolt that holds the bracket to the engine block




5. Loosen the big M10 x 130 'through' bolt that mounts the top of the alternator- the alt should pivot back and forth now on its mount. This bolt will have to come all the way out in order to drop the alternator, you will want to figure out some way to move the lower radiator hose out of its way. I think I used a 6" extension bar to push it forwards and out of the way.

6. Have a plastic bucket or box to lay the alternator on so it doesn't hang from its wiring. (The bugger weighs 16 lbs...)


7. Undo the 4 8mm nuts holding the cooling shroud on the back of the alt- pop it off, and undo the 13 mm nut (big red cable from the battery to the B+ terminal) and 8 (ground?) mm nuts.

8. On the new alternator, make sure the split bushing in the mounting ear is pushed all the way to the rear, so that the gap between the front and rear 'ears' is as wide as possible. When you tighten the upper 'through' bolt this bushing gets mashed against the alternator mounting cassette, so you need to squeeze it back with channellocks or a C-clamp and some sockets. If you don't do this it can be a struggle to get the alternator up and fully into position.



9. Install a new alternator cowling gasket onto the back of the new alternator- wipe the perimeter with brake cleaner so it'll stick.

9. Swap the cables onto the respective terminals of the new alternator. Orient the plastic alternator cowl and install it so the cable strain relief pokes out the top.

10. With one arm, lift the alternator up into place, with the second arm get the M10 x 130 bolt back through the mounting holes, while holding the lower radiator hose out of the way with your third hand.

11. Carefully start the big bolt into its threads by hand until you're sure the bolt is in place. Don't want to cross thread this! Tighten until you can just barely rock the alternator back and forth.

12. Reinstall the belt over the pulleys so you can read the text on the belt from the front of the car. Very important if you have OCD.

13. Reassemble the tensioner bits back into place, leaving each bolt slightly loose. Then tighten the belt by turning bolt 'B' clockwise. The belt should be quite tight, maybe 1/8" deflection with a firm push.



14. Tighten up all the other tensioner bolts and the upper alt mounting bolt -15 flt lbs for 13 mm M8 bolts, 30 for the 17mm M10's.

15. Reinstall the cooling hose on the shroud.

16. Reinstall the cooling fan shroud if you had to move it, reinstall a big black ziptie around the lower rad hose.



Done:

brutus

Note to Laurie....get some good rubber gloves. Your engine will not be anywhere near as clean as Robb's. His borders on mental illness.

redpathtribe

Laurie, also don't forget to remove the belly pan first...

No. 8 on Rob's list is a HUGE help in installing the new alternator. I've done it both ways, and you will wrestle like crazy with it if you skip this step.

Once you get this done, maybe you can come out and join us on April 7th in Scottsdale for the Cars & Coffee car show... and bring your Newf along, he'd love it

thelaurie

You gentlemen are already my hero's. If you ever make it to the 916 (aka Sacramento CA), beers are on me.

Thank you for the fantastic information and yes, pictures.

Not sure if I'll wear gloves or not yet, I'm kind of looking forward to getting a little dirty.

Have a great evening,

Laurie
(and if I earn my wings, I'll be Monkey Wench by the end of the weekend)

brutus

If you opt to do it sans gloves use some hand cream to load up under and around your nails...makes clean up so much easier.

thelaurie

Rick, I'll be sure to follow step #8 to the letter, it sounds like it'll make things much easier. It was great meeting you in Phoenix, wish you could have come along on the ride with us. Driving the cab through the mountains was a real treat indeed. That baby hauled a$$.

As for bringing my boy to AZ, that'd be one long ride for him in my 928. I don't think his hips would take it, he'll be 10 this month. Great idea, though. If only it were 5 years ago, he was still a spring chicken then.

Odd question, do you have an SUV? Email me if you do, I have something I'd like to send you.

Thank you for the tips

Laurie

thelaurie

I also heard a tip that if you use vasoline on your hands and then wipe them down good it'll fill in the cracks and make it easier to clean up. I plan on wearing my grease with pride.


Laurie