Info on swaping Alternator.

[Sherlock87LXI]

Ok...
Cant find walk through for alternator replacement.
gonna go buy one now.
car's battery light is staying on.
alternator had previously been only putting out 12.9-13.1 V. normal i was told is 14+.
This is AFTER i shut off everything in the car. Headlights... AMP, wipers... you get the idea.
NOW its not charging at all.
LXI - so fuel injection is off battery power. hmm it sounds like its missing TOTALLY when the battery is outta charge( i charged it over night so yes, the battery holds a charge) i coasted past 2 red lights to work where the car has been dumped for now.
Im assuming that the alternator i need is a 4 pin cause its an LXI... im gonna get one now.
but alas. HOW YOU GET IT OUT!?!?!?!
some one said you drop the driver front tire and the frame 6-8 inc and pull out bottom. ARE YOU F******* KIDDING?
ARGH. HELP!

[k-roy]

quote "ARE YOU F******* KIDDING?"
I wish I was. I had to drop the driveshaft to remove mine. I could not manage to wiggle it out. Its either that or the intake manifold. I flipped a coin.

[Sherlock87LXI]

Who wants pictures?
lol
time to get a play by play.
cause its in my dads garage.
and hes as much a pessimest as anyone ive ever met.
"Its aint gonna happen."
so i guess we see.
HERE WE GO!!!

on yeah. anyone have a step by step for me?
cause i know enough about cars as much as i know how to fly in space. Only in my dreams.
:eek:

ill let you know how i go in 30 min.
TIME TO START SAWING!:rant:

[shepherd79]

you don't have to drop anything on LXI.
here is how i did on my friends LXI.
1. remove the aircleaner that attaches to the intake manifold.
2. remove the belt of the alternator pulley.
3. remove the alternator.
4. lift it through the space between firewall and intake manifold. it will fit, trust me.
5. install a new one in reverse.

[k-roy]

Man I wish I had a LXi, that woulkd have been much easier.

[Sherlock87LXI]

out as of yet.
going to get new one. BRB

[pimp86LX]

im so glad the prelude needs an alternator and not the accord.

on the lude its RIGHT in front of your face as soon as you pop the hood...much like a GM car.

[conquestpa]

why, how hard is it to do on an carbed model?

[Sherlock87LXI]

lol i did it in 2 hrs. including driving to get the part.
Thank god for NAPA discounts. :)
i had a 85 accord LX (carb). i ruined the tie rods and CV axels. was so mad. but at least i got the alternator in. 3 bandaids later. :p
thx for the tips guys. i owe ya!

oh yeah. and it pulled out behind FI and firewall WITH room for fingers.
HEHE

[shepherd79]

i told you it would work.
removing the alternator on carbed accords require removing driver side axel.

[Sherlock87LXI]

well that explains why the driver tire and suspension was torn off a LX parts car when the alternator was missing.
what a pain in the ass that musta been.
I almost feel bad.
:flipa:

HAHA

out

[k-roy]

It is a Major pain in the ass on a carbed model. If it happens again I'll pull the intake manifold.

[RustyHo88]

Originally posted by shepherd79
i told you it would work.
removing the alternator on carbed accords require removing driver side axel.


no it doesnt. all you have to do is remove the alternator, and slide it out underneath the air cleaner housing near the firewall, and pull it out from the tranny side of the engine. its probably a good idea to remove the heater hoses connecting to the nubs on the firewall to give you more room. ive swapped alternators 3 times in 2-3 g hondas. once by pulling the axle (no fun!), once by removing everything on the drivers side of the intake manifold (easier, but time consuming), and once by pulling it along the firewall (20 mins!).

[Project-LXi]

Ok, I just replaced my alternator 4 days ago, I will give u a walkthru that doesnt require any going under your car. Its not the easiest replacement as the space is very cramped, but its do-able w/o removing any major components.

Before you begin you will need the following tools:
A 1/4 or 3/8 drive socket wrench (recommend 3/8 drive for leverage)
in whatever size you choose, you will need a medium size (roughly 3 - 4 inch) extension piece, anything longer and you will encounter problems.
You will need the following sockets:
12mm
12mm deep
14mm
10mm - nut driver for this one preferably

Step 1: Air Box
If you have your stock air box, you will want to remove it to gain access. This is very ez. If you are unsure what your airbox is, look for the silver PGM-FI logo, behind it will be a big black box, remove it! If you have an aftermarket CAI or Short Ram style intake, guess what: You can skip this step altogether!!

Step 2: Getting the belt off
First thing you need to do is to locate your alternator, if you are looking at your engine bay from the front of your car, it will be on the right hand side. Look for belts and pulleys. The first big pulley you see w/ a belt wrapped around it is you pwr strearing, follow the belt down and back to locate your alternator. Now comes the fun part, getting the bolt loose. You will need a 12mm (short) socket wrench DO NOT USE AN IMPACT WRENCH* you do not have to take the bolt off since it will be easier to do is w/o a belt in your way. You also may need to move some wires and lines to fit your arm down in there so you can get leverage. For now you just need to get it loose. You should now be able to push on the alternator (towards the front of the car) in order to loosen the belt. Now you can remove the belt. Try to avoid twisting the belt as you may cause it to crack.

*If you use an air powered impact wrench for this like I did the first time I replaced my alternator, you WILL get it stuck trying to remove the bolts. And unfortunatly you cant tell it to go in reverse because if your impact wrench is like mine, and it most likely is, the adjuster piece you do that with will be the part wedged against the side of the engine bay. It took 45 min just to get the damn thing unstuck!! So, trust me DONT EVEN TRY IT!

Step 3: Unhooking the Alternator
Now its time to remove the alternator. To do this you will have to remove both bolts on the top and bottom. You will also notice that there is an adjuster bolt for the top mounting bolt, you shouldnt have to worry about it just yet. If you didnt remove the top bolt (12mm) in step 2, remove it now. Be careful not to get your wrench stuck! (I used a regular wrench w/ head that works like a socket wrench) After you remove the nut, the bolt slides out, keep it as you will need it. Now reach in towards the back of the alternator and unplug the green (least on my car) cirular pronged plug. You will notice another wire leading into your alternator, it is your battery lead. Slip the rubber booty off the wire to gain access to the nut, remove it save it and take off the wire. Now you will need to reach your arm down where the airbox was and feel around the bottom of the alternator till you find its 2nd mounting bolt. Get your 3/8 drive and add the extension, fit it with the 14mm socket. remove nut and bolt and set them aside w/ your other ones. Your almost done!!

Step 4: Removing the alternator.
This may be a bit tricky and you may be thinking there is another bolt holding it in; there isnt. All you have to do is shimmy it back and forth a few times to get it loose. you will now need to remove it by bringing it back and then up thru where the airbox was, its a tight fit @ first but it will clear w/ room to spare.
Take a deep breath...
YOUR DONE REMOVING THE ALTERNATOR!


Putting Humpty Dumpty back together again:

Now... you are all ready to install your new alternator. I wont go into great detail w/ this since it is basicly the same thing in reverse. You do however need to know this: once you have the alternator bolted on and the belt slipped back on, you will need to adjust the adjuster screw that I mentioned in step #2. In order to do this you will need your socket wrench and your 12mm deep socket. While you are tightening the bolt, keep one hand on your serpentine belt. push down hard on it then release pressure every few seconds of tightening. You will notice when it slipped on that it will budge about 1/2 - 3/4 inches. The goal is to get it so it budges about only 1/16 of an inch. After you are done tightening so the belt is properly tentioned, you MUST re-tighten both mounting bolts, otherwise the alternator will come out of alignment and the belt will slip causing an annoying screeching sound. If all is well and your belt still screeches (often the case when you upgrade to a high output alternator and retain your OE belt from the 80s) you will need to replace it. It is a better choice to use a gatorback style serpentine belt, as they are quieter and more durable than a regular one.

Hope this helps, good luck!!

[Magny]

Originally posted by RustyHo88
no it doesnt. all you have to do is remove the alternator, and slide it out underneath the air cleaner housing near the firewall, and pull it out from the tranny side of the engine.

guess you haven't done all of them yet lol.


Originally posted by Shepherd79
i told you it would work.
removing the alternator on carbed accords require removing driver side axel.

You don't really need to remove the axel, can't quite remember how I did it, but i know i used a big a$$ pry bar to pull it slightly and get the alt. out alone.

All in all IMO pulling it out the bottom is the shortest and easiest way to do it.


oh BTW you can change the location of the alt. to the front if you removed the ac compressor(for whoever did this), and with a little modification of a new bracket plate to place it there. I found a how to on the net for it. gotta look for the link again. once you relocate the alt to the front, life is easier to remove that damned thing.

[3G Jester]

yeah carb'd kids can remove the carb airbox and some of the carb shit instead of the axel

i have to at the end of next week :(