So yesterday as I was driving home, the battery and brake light started flickering...
You all know what that means... alternator died... exactly at 60k miles.
Spent last night watching YouTube videos showing how to remove it.
Woke up this morning with extra energy and removed it.
Took it to get the brushes replaced and put it back in.
Everything works great. A diy for the more capable guys.
1.5 hours to remove
1 hour to get the brushes replaced
1 hour to put back in the car.
Total cost 75$

Had to remove fans

All plastic covers on the right side and cover behind the wheel

No need to drain radiator.

Just use plastic caps.

Access to belt tensioner, lower bolt of the alternator

Here it is. Bearings in great condition. Only problem with the brushes.

All good!

 

Nice Job! I didn't know brushes were serviceable on these (back in the day, sure, did it often!)
for future reference, do you have part numbers for the brushes.
By the way, are you saying brishes are $75 now? Wow, prices have changed a lot from my day!

 

Now that's impressive, great post. I totally love DIY jobs, but I don't think I would have even attempted to tackle this one. But seeing your pictures gives me hope that I could in fact do this job. Please, let us know the part numbers for the brushes.

 

Same thing happened to me at 90,000 miles. To make it worse, it went into limp mode. I was 10 miles from my house so I had to drive the car to the nearest garage. They replaced it with a remanufactured alternator. Well, that piece of junk lasted less than a year and my brake and battery lights came on again. It was replaced a second time by another garage with a new alternator. It has lasted another 90,000 miles and it is still working.

Thanks for the pictures and inspiration. If this alternator ever goes bad, I will fix it myself.

 

I dont have the part # for the brushes, but there is a cheap rebuild kit on ebay...
the 75$ are for the brushes and regulator (they come in one piece, and for replacing them and testing the alternator on a test bench.
here is the pic of the kit.

 

I take it hou were able to remove the alternator from the top once the fans were out? How bad was it to access the alternator bolts? Good job on this!

 

Yes, after taking out the fans and two plastic tabs on top holding the radiator - you can just barely squeeze it out from the top.
The alternator bolts are relatively easy to access and remove. Easier than I thought.

 

Good to know. This was a good DIY post. Thank you