Alternator fitting

I have an adjuster bar coming from J999PRE - but at the weekend I was fiddling and have noticed that the alternator is wobbling on the bottom hinge - so when you tension it up on the belt the blooming thing is twisting so the pulley doesn't line up correctly, and consequently the belt came off!!

Does anyone have any fitting instructions/guide to removing the alternator? It looks to me like the radiator is going to have to come out as I can't get to it from below or above!?!

Any information will be gratefully received

According to the manual it just shows the lower bolt to be removed and the top bolt. Obviously access is not covered. Can you not get at the lower bolt from below? Perhaps it is not fully tightened. When replacing the belt you normally have to loosen all the bolts to be able to allow the alternator to swivel to allow the belt to clear the pulley. I have my engine out at this time but I will have a look at the alternator to see if there is a bush in its casing where the retaining bolt goes through. Mind some times if space is tight it might be a good idea to get the rad out as it is very easy to puncture the fins. It also allows you to give the system a good flush and perhaps change the antifreeze.

Hey MickT,

thank you for the response, if you get a chance to look at the bottom mount on yours that would be very helpful. I've crawled under the engine and looked up but there is too many pipes and suspension to get a look at it. I was wondering if the bottom bolt has just come undone! But although I can just get fingers to it, I can't get a good enough feel for whats there!

You're right about removing the rad - especially as it boiled off a lot of coolant at the weekend once the pump stopped

The alternator lower fixing/pivot is a tube through a wide lug on the alternator.

At the engine, there is an L shaped bracket bolted to the side of the block, with a welded nut on it, at the front there is a flat plate- IIRR, that bolts on top of the front cover. A long allen headed bolt goes right through from front to back.

You can try to undo this bolt from underneath if you have the special extra joints in your arms, it is in line with the fanbelt. Usually, it is quite tight, and the special soft Suzukimetal that the head is made of just becomes a round hole.

Then as you say, you remove the radiator, then undo both brackets off the engine to remove the alternator, and replace that bolt with a hexagon headed one.

My alternator has a full length bush through which the bolt slides. It is there to strengthen the casting of the alternator and should not wear unless the bolt is loose allowing the alternator to shimmy around it. It seems the rad out option is best for you on all fronts!