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[PMitchell]

Hi, can anyone point me in the direction of a set of instructions for removing the alternator on my '03 2.6 V6 facelift please?
I see Mark DTMs guide for fixing it, but I haven't got the blessed thing off yet!!

It has started to produce a high pitched whine and it is a little like something has 'caught' in the casing, a bit like the old peg-and-cardboard in the spokes on a pushbike. (Sorry, I must be older than I thought)

It hasn't failed yet but I always think prevention is better than a cure, so will happily pull it out and check it.  I couldn't determine any slack in the front bearing when I checked this weekend and it seemed to run freely enough, but when it's running it does emit a nasty scraping kind of whine.  I did change the aux belt tensioner pulley to check it wasn't that - it wasn't, and I did run the engine with the aux belt off and it was as quiet as can be, so not a cambelt / tensioner issue either which was the good news.  The I looked at how to get the alternator out, seems that there are two fixings, one Torx bolt at the top and a bolt with a nut at the bottom, I just can figure out what i need to remove to be able to get my hand or a spanner on the inner end of the bolt yet.

All help gratefully received.

thanks in advance.

Paul

[ngrainqey]

iv only ever taken off the alternator with an engine out so bear with me....

there's two torx bolts (about 3-4 inches long) one at the top right and another at the bottom right as you look into the bonnet from the front of the car, there's a nut on the end of them which you need to "manage" to get a spanner onto to undo the torx bolts (or they just spin) then you repeated wiggle the torx bolt untill they eventually come out and then tap with a hammer or a different suitable wacking tool! and it wriggles off

HTH

[PMitchell]

Thanks, I'll give it a go, with my 'additional patience' head on.

[Marks DTM Calib]

Inlet trumpets out
Disconnect battery
Remoe aux belt
Remove two securing bolts and pull alternator forward
Disconnect the wires from the back.

Its normaly the rear bearing that goes noisey, replacing both is easy enough and sub 10 quid for a set of SKF ones (they are standard sizes)

[PMitchell]

Many thanks for the advice.  As said, just the bagpipes out, battery disconnected and that's simple.
I got it out and stripped it, and it was quite different to the pictures on here.  Still it was similar and a Bosch 120Amp unit though, and no real problem, I've had enough practice in the past to work it all out.  The rear bearing was mullered and had spat all of the grease out and the front bearing was a bit rumbly as well.  For info. the rear bearing on this unit was a 6003 so a bit smaller than the 6203 and I guess that's why it gave in so early. Car has covered 61,000 miles so I was a bit surprised to have it go so early.  When I stripped it down the bearing was a shade rusty so maybe it had had a water contamination at some point.  The bearing carrier on this alternator is also the slip ring cover and made of plastic, so had the bearing really overheated and seized it would have been much worse.  I'm glad I took it out and checked.

A bit of help for those who are not as dextrous or flexible as as they might like to be, when refitting the alternator, connect up the wires first (obviously!) then offer the unit up, having left a large screwdriver on the tray under the radiator first.  When you have the bottom 'eye' lined up, shove the screwdriver in the bottom mounting and that will hold it as it can't fall at the top due to the aux belt tensioner housing being in the way.  Then line up the top 'eye' and put the bolt in from the front (wrong way around) to hold it all in alignment, then pull out the screwdriver and fit the bottom bolt.  It is a fiddle to get the nut on but not impossible.  Then remove the top bolt and thread a very thin wire right through the bolt hole to the rear and pull it far enough out so that you can get the wire wrapped around a couple of threads of the bolt, then pull the wire through and the bolt will follow.  It stopped the frustration of looking for the bolt when I (didn't!) drop it and you are then able to have an easier time of getting it in.  I struggled for ages to do it any other way, I guess I needed longer thinner fingers/wrists/hands to do it by feel, since you can't see the mounting hole when you are leant over the front of the car.

Bolt and nut sizes I used -
16mm for the nuts (or a 10mm spark plug socket)
7/16 AF ring spanner for the torx end of the top bolt (back of alternator)
13mm for the main connection to the battery from the alternator and 2BA for the ignition wire to the alternator (some metric equivalent will fit, but I anly had the 1/4 inch drive BA set handy!)

All fine now.

Thanks for the help, much appreciated.