[bernas68]

Hello everyone!

As promised, here's my little contribution to the How-To's.

Basically I had a busted alternator and had to swap it for a new one. Going to Alfa was out of the question ($$$) and my Alfa-Specialist is pretty far away from where I live. (and I thought it would be a simple enough task to tackle myself...) So I went ahead and did it! Probably the hardest job I've done so far on any car!!!

Ok, so the first thing is to get the car on a leveled surface and get the front of the car up with a jack.


Next you should secure the car, with the help of stands (and some tree logs if you don't entirely trust your recently purchased stands...)


After removing the wheel, you can see the inner wheel arch guard (or something), which you will have to remove.


and it will look something like this


Now you'll have to slacken the aux belt tensioner with a size 17 (if not mistaken) wrench...

and hold it in place with the help of a slim Allen wrench (or something else you can get your hands on)


To be continued...

 

[bernas68]

At this point, your aux belt is almost ready to come out, but you'll still have to remove an idler...


It's got a pretty long screw, so you'll have wiggle it a bit to get it out, but it's easy enough


Next up (or out) was the rear exaust downpipe (eper says we have to remove the front one too, but I only did the rear one)


Now you should support the engine with the help of a jack and a wooden board so not to harm the sump


And remove the rear engine mount...



To be continued...

 

[bernas68]

Next one out is the engine mount that is located next to the plenum (in the engine compartment)


Now you should slacken both alternator bolts and then remove the lower one and leave the upper one for later...

It's very tight on there, so you'll have to be very patient

Now we'll have to address the belt-side engine mount

easily enough, you'll have to remove three bolts


And now your engine will be supported by one engine mount (gearbox side) and the jack you left under it (hopefully...).

Now you have to open the fuel hose support, so not to stress it too much


At this point, you can pull out the upper alternator bolt just before you hit the inner fender sidewall and raise the engine, with the jack, so that the bolt now has enough space to come out, since there's a sort of opening on the sidewall.
Now your alternator should be loose!
(or not...)
In my case, the alternator was stuck, so I had to put the bolts back in, and with the help of a hammer, open up the gap between both sides of the mounting bracket on the alternator (it's kind of hard to explain, but I'll get some pics later on).

Next up is the radiator fan mount, that will have to come out, so you can push the engine forward (believe me it does make a difference).

To be continued...

 

[bernas68]

Ok, so the fan mount...


Disconnect the wires (make sure you put them back in the correct way...)

With the help of some cables (or whatever you want to call'em), you can pull the engine forward...



To help me push the engine a few more centimeters (or inches) forward I used the car's jack against the engine firewall


And now if you decide to remove the right side transmission shaft, you could get it out through the wheel arch, but I'm going from the top, remember!


Anyway, why should I remove the tranny if I can see (and access) the alternator from the top? :biglaugh:


It just came right out and was replaced easily.
Half the nightmare is over, now it's all about getting it back together... Hard, but not as hard as the first part (because now you know how it works and what to do first).

 

[bernas68]

The old and the new (refurbished) alternators.


Bottom line:
I know there are various approaches to this swap, but this is the way I chose and it's sort of what eper tells us to do.

Hope this helps!

And here's a link to my approach, full of help from other users.
http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-147-156-andamp-gt/946673-156-v6-alternator-aproach.html

All the best!
:beer:

 

[All j]

Hi bernas68,

Thank you for a great picture guide!!
Just doing the same on my 156 V6 CF2 and have a question regarding the step with the cooling fans.

Did you remove the fan assembly completely from the engine bay or just put it a bit towards the battery?

If you took the assembly out was it then through the top or the bottom?
It seems so limited space that I cannot get the assembly out either way.

Hope you can help with how you did this.

Best regards Allan