Alternator Replacement (1 Viewer)

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Utahfj62

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Anyone pulled and replaced their alternator yet? I'm at 189K miles and the bearings in mine are shot - I decided to replace the entire alternator instead of trying to rebuild and replace bearings.

If anyone has suggestions or tips on best way to remove and replace it speak up. I'm going to be doing the job in the coming week - I'll post up picks and a write up - if it goes well. If I run into trouble and get pissed - write up will be doubtful.
 
Are there any upgrades available?

A quick web search indicates that you can get Denso (remans) and Bosch, both 100A. Do you suppose there is any difference?
 
When the time came I was going to pickup a Sequoia alternator because they are rated for 150amps. I'm pretty sure they would bolt-up, but do not know as of yet for sure.
 
OregonLC said:
Are there any upgrades available?

A quick web search indicates that you can get Denso (remans) and Bosch, both 100A. Do you suppose there is any difference?
Click to expand...

There are no more NOS alternators - Toyota only carries the remanufactured Denso. I've been told it is the exact OEM part just re-built.

I would put the Denso in before the Bosch. Just my opinion.
 
I replaced my alternator tonight - it was really easy - a two banana job.:banana::banana: I was surprised at how easy it was to do. I read the FSM before hand and it had a bunch of extra steps that were not necessary. The FSM tells you to drain the coolant and move the hose going into the bottom of the radiator - I found this not necessary. It also suggests to remove the pulley from the power steering pump - also not necessary.

So here were my steps.


  • First - remove the battery cables. You don't want to shock the crap out of your self or weld your wrench to the side of the engine block.
  • Remove skid plates.
  • Take 14 mm wrench and place on pulley tensioner - pull towards passenger side to remove tension on the serpentine belt - slip the belt off.
  • Remove two 14 mm bolts on top and bottom of alternator - top is a nut - bottom is a bolt.
  • Remove two clips on side of alternator - they are simply holding the electrical line in place and out of the way of the serpentine belt. Pinch the back of the clips and push them out of the alternator clip.
  • This should allow you to wiggle the alternator forward and off the mounting bolt on top. Carefully push the coolant lines out of the way to gain access to the two connectors on the back.
  • Carefully remove the grey plastic cover over a 10mm bolt. Take a small pocket screwdriver and twist the cap loose then it slides off - exposing the 10mm bolt. Remove bolt and cable attached underneath bolt.
  • This should now allow you to turn the alternator around to access the plug on the back side or cabin side of the alternator. It has a tab on the top side - press the tab in and wiggle the connector side to side - carefully backing the cable out of the alternator. This took a while for me to do - it was full of dirt around the edges and took some patience to work it out without damaging the cables.
  • Once free - carefully work the alternator down and out the bottom of the engine bay.
  • Repeat steps backwards to get it back in.

There was a lot more room to work under there than the FSM states. I had plenty of wiggle room to remove it. Entire job took 1 hour. Now I have bright lights on my dash, no more failing bearings and volts are back up to 14 - it was running approximately 13 and you could hear and feel the bearings failing.
 
I'm in the middle of replacing my alternator too right now. But the 3-wire connector was frozen to the alternator connect side; makes sense given my usage and its low installed position...:rolleyes: And I soaked it to no avail...

And that connector is, apparently, only available apart of the complete related harness :rolleyes:.
 
spressomon said:
I'm in the middle of replacing my alternator too right now. But the 3-wire connector was frozen to the alternator connect side; makes sense given my usage and its low installed position...:rolleyes: And I soaked it to no avail...

And that connector is, apparently, only available apart of the complete related harness :rolleyes:.
Click to expand...


Mine was too - it was difficult to remove. I turned the alternator so the plug was facing the ground and used a small screw driver to work the plug loose. Prying on the sides of the plug -VERY- slowly and carefully till it started walking out. It took some patience - but I got it to come out in 1 piece.

You are right - it is low to the ground and gets lots of contanmination in the pug. Mine was filled with fine silt, I cleaned it up before re-installing and it snapped right in. Patience and a very small screwdriver were the key to my removal.
 
Utahfj62 said:
Mine was too - it was difficult to remove. I turned the alternator so the plug was facing the ground and used a small screw driver to work the plug loose. Prying on the sides of the plug -VERY- slowly and carefully till it started walking out. It took some patience - but I got it to come out in 1 piece.

You are right - it is low to the ground and gets lots of contanmination in the pug. Mine was filled with fine silt, I cleaned it up before re-installing and it snapped right in. Patience and a very small screwdriver were the key to my removal.
Click to expand...

I did the same procedure including a round of silicone spray and then PB when I realized it was going to be stubborn to remove.

After finally getting the connector separated I could see the corrosion that sort of acted like glue...
 
So, spressomon, did you replace your alternator with a 150amp model?
 
Anthony.L said:
So, spressomon, did you replace your alternator with a 150amp model?
Click to expand...

No. I am going to be adding a MobiArc welder and the Sequoia alternator uses avalanche type diodes in the rectifier plate which are not compatible with any welder utilizing the alternator for its power supply. So I am stepping up to the 100A 100-Series alternator from the 80A that came with mine.

However I did research the viability of using the Sequoia 130 or 150A alternator and determined to do the swap you'd need to change from the oval style 100-Series alt connector (not sure if the later year 100 Series use this same connector or not) to the more square shaped plug found on the Sequoia. This isn't a direct bolt on upgrade...and it looks like you'd need to cut the extra mounting tab off the Sequoia alternator to get it to fit...

Onur shipped me the connector and that was as far as I got since I've since learned it isn't welder compatible anyway.

The LC alternator is on the left and the Sequoia alternator is on the right...
Sequoia and LC alternators.jpg
 
Last edited:
Ok, so if I sort out the connector issue and hack off that extra bracket it's a drop-in affair?
 
Last edited:
Ben, Joe and Christo (and Onur too ;)): :clap::beer::clap::beer:
 
Thanks Onur for the overnight connector delivery! New connector and wire pins are on...sure snaps onto the alternator like never before :rolleyes:...back out to stuff the alt up there and button everything up.
 
Anthony.L: I edited my post #14 above. The threaded stud that exists on the LC alternator and not the Sequoia alternator is irrelevant as it serves no purpose on the LC anyway. Sorry for any confusion regarding that...

Dan
 
I installed a new reman'd alternator today. I wanted to add a few things.

1. I had to remove the PS pump pulley to remove the alternator as it would not clear the pulley.
2. The the old side bolt holding the wire harnesses, to the side of the alternator, was way to big for the new alternator. I had to leave them hanging as they were not in the way.

Took me 2.5 hours.

The alternator that came off was the original. I am at 180k miles. The truck died on the way home from the mountains on Sunday and the bearings were making a ton of noise. I added a new battery and drove it home and around 3 days until replacing it.
 
How ironic. My alternator died Monday night as I was pulling into my neighborhood (well, it probably died slowly before that, but that's when the battery put up the white flag.) Battery was new in May, so I had it tested Tuesday AM - good. Ordered reman'd 100 Amp alternator yesterday, and walked in the door an hour ago with the new unit from the Toyota Dealership. Spent an hour at lunch starting the removal and came to the same conclusion you did, the PS pulley was going to have to go. Mine appears to be original and I'm at ~177K-ish. Bolts were on there tight. Was removing the pulley easier than swinging the entire PS pump out of the was as described in another thread (the mean green alt thread)? I know I'm the slowest mechanic on earth, so I had no illusions about the 1 hour time frame. My huge monkey arms don't fit up in there real well either. Did you have to remove any coolant hoses, or was there sufficient room to slide it forward and out under the radiator?
 
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