Revision as of 06:25, 23 May 2012

Keep your alternator in good condition.

1 Disassembly
2 Rotor Maintainence
3 Rear Bearing
4 Front Bearing

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Disassembly

Remove the brush holder assembly
Remove the three 8mm-head long bolts from the rear face. You can use an 8mm socket or 5/16" socket.
Then separate like this:

Note that one through-bolt is longer than the other two.

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Rotor Maintainence

Rear Bearing Repack: Carefully pry up a bit of the retainer and pack it with high-temp wheel bearing grease. Then carefully tamp the metal back down.
Clean the slip rings with ether and polish with super-fine (400 or 600 grit) non-ferrite sand paper.
Wipe off all grease. Carefully remove excess grease from back side of bearing and slip rings.
The front bearing can be packed in a similar way.

To check if the bearings need changing or packing, spin them. They should be silent, and not spin free which indicate there is no more grease in them. They should turn easily, smoothly and silently.

To get to the front bearing:

Remove the pulley with a 13/16" box wrench or socket
- Use a large screwdriver in the pulley fins to hold it steady while removing the nut
After the pulley is off, remove the three screws hold the bearing retainer. Then separate the rotor from the aluminum case plate.