bradthebold

I have the ebay california_alternator_starter one. I tried to wrap it in saran wrap, but it was questionably successful. I'm sure some got in it. I blew it out, but that didn't help. I'll try to take it apart.

Tom M'Guinn

That doesn't sound right. It should spin freely. I had one with a catch in it, and it ended up chirping. LAlectric thought it might quiet down over time, but I ended up getting a high-quality local rebuilt unit and modifying that one instead. When they are new, they come apart pretty easily, so I ground the front cover separately, to eliminate the chance of getting metal shavings inside. Zap the pulley off with an impact wrench, pull the 4 bolts to get the front cover off, and see what's going on in there....

ehall

This is the thread that keeps on giving...in a good way.

bradthebold

I got the front cover off, but couldn't figure out how to take it apart further than that. There is some lateral play to it and the cover wasn't tightened evenly (1 was very tight). When I loosely put the cover back on, it spun smoothly. It may have deflected the shaft a bit to where it was hitting side of the wiring.

I definitely did not entomb it in plastic like these pictures, so I'd like to take it further apart to make sure it's clean. How do you get the center off of the back cover? It looks like there are inaccessible screws hiding under the center section that hold the back cover on.

mahoney944

the back and midsection are attached from the inside. You have to remove the screws on the front and slide the middle and rear section off together.

When I took mine apart, I left the front pulley and cover on and just removed the 4 long bolts. The stood the alternator up on the pulley and pried between the black mid section and the front cover, side to side until it slid off. Once apart you can separate the mid section from the rear cover accessing the screws inside the cover. It becomes more clear after you see it apart once.

Tom M'Guinn

Don't try to pry the back cover off. With the front cover off, you need to first remove the rotor (big spinning thing). If it doesn't pull out fairly easily, you might be better off leaving it if the alternator is now spinning freely. You can damage the bearing if not careful. There's some youtube videos showing various shade tree techniques for getting them out, though none are pretty. Once that's out, there are a couple screws inside holding the plastic rectifier/diode housing to the rear cover, though for cleaning there's no real need to go beyond removing the rotor. To get the rotor back in, you have to push the electrical brushes in with your finger, then insert a little wire or pin in the hole on the rear cover, though the holes in the brushes. This holds the brushes out of the way so that you can slide the rotor's shaft back in place (don't forget to pull the wire out so the brushes spring back against the rotor's contacts).

Tom M'Guinn

Posts crossed, but same idea. Sometimes the rotor will stick to the front bearing/cover, and other times it'll stick in the rear bearing/cover. My post assumed the rotor was still in the rear section since he said he got the front cover off.

bradthebold

It didn't come out easily, so I just put it back together and it spins fine mounted up now.

DLS

is there no one who have found a smaller alternator with freewheel pulley that fits without the need to cut the bracket?

V2Rocket

not all of the Quest alternators require cutting the bracket - some manufacturers put the case screws in a different spot.

re: the pulley, someone else recently found one that should work on a 944...look down the thread.
i had never heard of a freewheeling alternator pulley until 2 weeks ago.
https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-...d-upgrade.html

DLS

I don't know if we even have nissan Quest in Sweden.
Does anyone have the cc specifications of the original alternator? Thinking about whether you can modify a vw golf, skoda octavia alternator to fit that's easier for me to find in Sweden.

audisport

A lot of alternators are shared across platforms/brands. Mount bushings or pulleys are changed for the application. Looks like this unit was also used by Ford, Mistu, ect. Just have to see if you can cross reference a part number though one of your vendors.

https://en.as-pl.com/p/A5287

Tom M'Guinn

+1 -- they list that same alternator for many cars of the era. That makes them easy to find for sure, but on the other hand it apparently means there are differing case styles among MFGs, some of which take less modifying than others to fit on the 944.

Dkritz944

Dkritz944