Hi all,
I've been having strange battery problems over the last month or so. It all started when my battery became weak and could barely start the engine. After a few times on the charger, and repeating the same process, it was starting to look like an alternator issue. And, once my car died in the middle of an intersection here in busy Seattle traffic, I knew it was now time to replace it.
After doing a bit of reading and talking with others, I decided to go ahead and tackle the alternator replacement on my 2000 LX470 myself. I purchased a rebuilt Denso from Amazon: http://amzn.com/B000QV4YYQ . The unit showed up on time and, although the box was a bit beat up, everything appeared to be fine.
Removing the old alternator was a complete bitch because I was doing the work in my parking garage (currently renting a condo) and had only a headlamp. The biggest pain were in two areas:
1) Removing the electrical connectors on the back of the alternator.
2) Removing the entire alternator from the bottom.
Anyway, to get the job done, I had to remove the air filter and intake system up to the throttle body. I then removed the skid plates and loosened the bolts on the alternator. Because the alternator wouldn't slide out without first removing the power steering pump, I had to remove it as well. Removal of both units went pretty well using 14mm socket and an extension. I also removed the upper radiator hose and pushed it to the side (just so I could fit my arms down inside). A little fluid came out but I was able to do this without much fluid loss.
As I mentioned above, the alternator removal part was a PITA. The fan shroud, fan, power steering lines, and radiator hoses were all in the way. After a bit of monkeying around with a screwdriver, I was able to pry the alternator out through the bottom. I did tear up the bottom of my fan shroud a bit, but, nothing was damaged.
After inspecting the new alternator (just to be sure I received the correct part) I followed the same procedure to get the new unit back up into position. This was a bit more difficult because I was fighting gravity and couldn't remember the exact position to use as the unit slid back up between all of the hoses. I had to stand on top of the engine with my knees on the intake manifold and the front radiator mount.
The new unit slid into place and I connected all of the electrical. I then put the power steering pump back in and tightened all of the mount bolts. Belt was already replaced less than 2k miles, so I just used the same one. I patched everything back up again and gave it a test start. 16-17VDC looked like a dream! Everything ran well and the rig didn't die anymore while idling. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard this car idle so smoothly before.
In conclusion, this is definitely a decent sized project, so give yourself some time. Overall time took me about 4 hours. If you ever find your car dying at idle speeds, this could be one of the causes. Not enough power from the alternator could definitely starve your car from getting the power it needs to run all the circuits when driving.
Thanks to all of you for the write-ups about your alternator projects on ih8mud...
Mike
I've been having strange battery problems over the last month or so. It all started when my battery became weak and could barely start the engine. After a few times on the charger, and repeating the same process, it was starting to look like an alternator issue. And, once my car died in the middle of an intersection here in busy Seattle traffic, I knew it was now time to replace it.
After doing a bit of reading and talking with others, I decided to go ahead and tackle the alternator replacement on my 2000 LX470 myself. I purchased a rebuilt Denso from Amazon: http://amzn.com/B000QV4YYQ . The unit showed up on time and, although the box was a bit beat up, everything appeared to be fine.
Removing the old alternator was a complete bitch because I was doing the work in my parking garage (currently renting a condo) and had only a headlamp. The biggest pain were in two areas:
1) Removing the electrical connectors on the back of the alternator.
2) Removing the entire alternator from the bottom.
Anyway, to get the job done, I had to remove the air filter and intake system up to the throttle body. I then removed the skid plates and loosened the bolts on the alternator. Because the alternator wouldn't slide out without first removing the power steering pump, I had to remove it as well. Removal of both units went pretty well using 14mm socket and an extension. I also removed the upper radiator hose and pushed it to the side (just so I could fit my arms down inside). A little fluid came out but I was able to do this without much fluid loss.
As I mentioned above, the alternator removal part was a PITA. The fan shroud, fan, power steering lines, and radiator hoses were all in the way. After a bit of monkeying around with a screwdriver, I was able to pry the alternator out through the bottom. I did tear up the bottom of my fan shroud a bit, but, nothing was damaged.
After inspecting the new alternator (just to be sure I received the correct part) I followed the same procedure to get the new unit back up into position. This was a bit more difficult because I was fighting gravity and couldn't remember the exact position to use as the unit slid back up between all of the hoses. I had to stand on top of the engine with my knees on the intake manifold and the front radiator mount.
The new unit slid into place and I connected all of the electrical. I then put the power steering pump back in and tightened all of the mount bolts. Belt was already replaced less than 2k miles, so I just used the same one. I patched everything back up again and gave it a test start. 16-17VDC looked like a dream! Everything ran well and the rig didn't die anymore while idling. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard this car idle so smoothly before.
In conclusion, this is definitely a decent sized project, so give yourself some time. Overall time took me about 4 hours. If you ever find your car dying at idle speeds, this could be one of the causes. Not enough power from the alternator could definitely starve your car from getting the power it needs to run all the circuits when driving.
Thanks to all of you for the write-ups about your alternator projects on ih8mud...
Mike
