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I was removing my alternator, on my way to the head gasket. This is my first serious engine work but iv already hit a snag 🤦*♂️. I got the drivebelt off, and went to work on the two alternator bolts. Lots of PB blaster, and still couldn’t turn then with a ratchet. So I busted out a breaker bar and finally got the first one turning pretty well. I head a “snap” sound. But it didn’t seem to effect anything. Little later I realized I could turn the bolt by hand, so I sat there turning the bitch until I had a nice blister, and still hadn’t came out. It was dark so once I put the flashlight on it I realize it was spinning but not coming out at all.
2nd bolt. Samething, turning with ratchet and breaker bar. This time it was a pretty big snap eventually. After I picked up my tools that went flying i noticed the bolt was all of a sudden sticking out a couple inches. As shown in the picture (pretty obvious which one). Now I can push it back in and pull it back out to the length pictured. But no matter how much I turn it won’t come any farther out.
What went wrong here, how can I avoid this in the future, and what should I do now to remove the alternator?
When I did the plenum I had to take all that stuff off. You can undo the AC motor and hanger w/o draining the system then lay it back over the passenger side fender. Maybe take the top hose off the thermostat housing. That will give you greater access. I think you are going to have to find a way to take out the broken end on whichever side you can then drive a punch or something of steel through the hole to get the other half out. There is a link on the Hughes engines website that shows how to do the plenum. The beginning part shows/explains how to move the Ac
When I did the plenum I had to take all that stuff off. You can undo the AC motor and hanger w/o draining the system then lay it back over the passenger side fender. Maybe take the top hose off the thermostat housing. That will give you greater access. I think you are going to have to find a way to take out the broken end on whichever side you can then drive a punch or something of steel through the hole to get the other half out. There is a link on the Hughes engines website that shows how to do the plenum. The beginning part shows/explains how to move the Ac
The Haynes manual makes it look very simple and straightforward. If I use something as a pinch and knock the bolts out, won’t that damage the threading and prevent me from being able to re assemble it?
Top bolt threads into the bracket. Bottom bolt has a nut on the backside of it, I do believe. Need to put a wrench on that.
I did attach a wrench like the Haynes shows. But it wasn’t doing anything at all. After I looked it backside is completely round and doesn’t appear to be a nut.
See if you can pry the bolt out. If it moves a couple inches, there shouldn't be anything else keeping it in.
ill give that a try! When I say “wasn’t doing anything” I mean the wrench felt no resistance at all when I was turning the bolt. I’ll snap a picture of the back.
Did it break? If you can turn it, but, it doesn't thread out, pry that one out as well. You won't be able to drive it out with a punch though. (at least, not thru the bracket.....)
My idea was to give more access. If the nut is rounded you will need a good quality vise grip to grab it and hold back against you turning the bolt from the front.
Prying it out was definitely the answer. The bottom one wasn’t to hard when I got the pliers. The top one took some jiggling around but eventually came out. The bottom one seized and snapped. It looks like the top one had the inside of the alternator turning with it...which is why it kept turning and turning but not coming out!
Now I realized I should of disconnected the electrical before taking the bolts out :/ It started raining pretty hard so I only got to take a few minutes at trying to get the first electrical off. Going to be a bitch to try and turn that rusted nut while the alternator is loose. If anyone knows the exact size of the nuts for the electrical wiring that would be awesome too. I think the one I need might be to rusty of a socket to work. 3/8 socket on the big one?
(Pictures below)
Alternator removal
