Replacing Alternator

Right I've been putting this off for about a month now, and really need to get round to doing it

I've looked at it and there are 2 bolts holding it in place, can I remove these from above? As I have a Veilside nose, and a bottom tray on + I really don't want to jack the car up.

Do I have to remove the Fan Cowl to access it, and do I need to loosen off the belt? (If so how do I do this).

Any help would be appreciated, as I'm looking at doing it tomorrow.

ok, you will need to remove the fan cowling and top rad hose, there is a half circle under the fan that clips on both side's.

Once the cowling is removed its a good idea to remove the viscous fan for easy access, there are 4 12m nuts, once the fan is off there will be a massive hole ready for the belt to come off.

To take the belt off you need to release the tentioner wheel, mostly they are a 14m head and you need to push down and to the drivers wing (if you pull the belt you will see the way it needs to go, you may need to use a bar to help push it but make sure you dont snap the head off by pushing it the wrong way (take your time).

once the belt is off you are now ready to take the alternator off.

firstly undo the 12m nut holding the 12v on (remove the negative terminal of the batt first) then unplug the plug at the back, once you have done that undo the 14m bolt at the top then undo the 14m nut at the bottom, the bottom nut screw onto a long bar that holds the alternator in place so it wont fall on the floor once its all loose.

both removed pull the alternator from the bar and refit the new 1 then put it back together in reverse JOB DONE.

Thanks for your help, will be trying tomorrow as long as the weather is good.

Right after lots of fiddling and about 6 bolts, 2 clips later I have the fan cowl off. (I had to undo the ac fan as well)

Do I have to remove the blades from the fan (if so is it the 8 or so bolts around the centre of the fan, or the 4 on the pulley?)

Also I'm still not to sure how to loosen off the alternator belt. I can see the 2 bolts that I a will have to undo, but the belt is really tight - I assumed that it swung into place.

Thanks in advance for any help - Warren.

as per littlenums post its the x4 12mm bolts. get x2 14mm spanners/sockets and use one as a brace on one nut whilst you undo the other and to free the final one just brace on a previously loosened one (it will tighten back up but not so much you won't be able to undo it without bracing the other loose bolts).

re the belt is your car manual?

Thanks Scooter, no its an automatic. Just dont know where to loosen the belt

Right got the belt off the rest should be straightforward.

Done, and Working - Don't want to do that again in a hurry..

Thanks to everyone that helped

Just taken mine off to get it fixed or replacement great thread all done with no problems thanks little num

Just going through this, Ohh what fun, out in the fresh air and getting stopped by the rain (four times so far). Why does it have to be the bottom bolts that go a bit rusty so you can't get the thing off? Hmmm.

Just going through this, Ohh what fun, out in the fresh air and getting stopped by the rain (four times so far). Why does it have to be the bottom bolts that go a bit rusty so you can't get the thing off? Hmmm.

i see you must of checked the voltage to the battery then and found it to be bad ?

Yes the battery was new 6 weeks ago, but I still had it checked. It was the alt dead, the rectifier was shot. Another pain, the bottom bolts to the rad cowel would not come out so I had to take the rad out, then I discovered I need a new radiator Hmmm, still I'm hoping to drive down through part of France in the late spring so just as well I found out now.I managed to get the alt fixed locally, there's a firm here who repair all those types of things, they were a great help if ever anyone has similar probs, they are called 'Alter-start' in BARNSTAPLE. Ordered the rad, the story continues, so does the spending.

Just used this guide worked great! Only took 15 minutes.

Question though, I undid the top radiator pipe and a bit of water came out. Do I need to bleed the rad now?

it should sort itself out, just top up the front coolant overflow tank a bit if it's low.

After it's cooled down from the next use remove the rad cap and check it's brimmed as per usual :-)

On a separate, but related topic, does anyone have a good source for purchasing the proper alternator plug with wire tails to do a repair to my own alternator wiring?

Now, I'm running a 1JZ and I believe the plug, which is a three pin round, is different to the 2JZ, which is a three pin oblong pin AFAIK.

But I figure anywhere that would sell one particular type of NipponDenso plug would be a safe bet to find the other.

I've seen a few on Ebay & Driftmotion, all in the States, but the cost of shipping is silly in comparison to the price of the plug.