I'm in the middle of replacing my alternator. I'm at the point where I'm installing the 4 nuts that hold the air shroud to the rear of the alternator. I couldn't find a torque spec in the shop manual so I made them snug. Apparently I made them too snug because the fan was jammed against the cooling shroud. I loosened everything up and got the fan spinning but now I'm a little unsure how tight to fasten these. They seem like they're critical in holding the alternator in place so I'd hate to leave them too loose and have my alternator/fan come spinning out the rear someday. I'm using new nuts that have a plastic lock insert so I suppose they'll stay in place regardless of how tight I make them but I'd really like some assurance before I button it up. Any guidance would be much appreciated.

 

I would make sure your alternator is in the shroud correctly. Those 4 nuts are what hold the alternator in place in the shroud. Was it a completely new to you alternator or did you have yours rebuilt? Are you sure all of the proper spacers and sleeves in the correct places?

 

You’ve probably bent the four ‘ears’ on the back of the housing. It’s a terrible design as there is no support under them.

Take the alternator out, bend the ears flat again and fabricate a load spreading plate/washer to go under each nut.

We are working on a strengthening ring for the housing to fix this issue.

 

Thanks for the input. This is a new to me remanned Bosch alternator and I do have the alternator installed correctly in the housing. There is a flange on the front half of the alternator that I assume is supposed to mate flush to the inner ring of the fan housing. When I press the alternator flush to that inner ring and then install the fan, it binds against the housing. It seems that the fan is sitting too deep in the housing. I'm wondering if maybe the spacer on the alternator shaft has worn down (I reused the old spacer) and it's allowing the fan to sit too deep in the housing. I'm going to call Pelican tomorrow and see if I can get someone to measure a new spacer so I can compare it to mine. I may end up doing as suggested and add shims between the alternator and housing.

 

I measured the spacer from my alternator if it helps
24.45 mm or .963 in