How-to: Alternator Replacement for VK-swaps

josx2

Bought an X
Supporting Member
Location
Mebane, NC
This is for those who have done a VK swap on their rig.

You may wanna be proactive in this & take the time to do crack the necessary bolts loose & put some antiseize on them. During your swap, if you didn't remove the power steering pump, and the bracket that holds the alternator/power steering pump...those bolts may not be fun to remove on the side of a trail when needed. Lucky for me, I had to replace that bracket during my swap, so my bolts were easy to remove while I was doing this last night.

Unlike w/ the VQ's....if you need to replace the alternator, it will NOT slide out above the frame rail immediately after removing it's bolts. The power steering pump & the bracket that hold the alternator/power steering pump are in the way of it coming out (red line is the part of the bracket that's in the way, alternator is peaking above the frame rail after I removed the bolts). Can't slide it out thru the front either because the Y-pipe for the transmission cooler lines is in the way of it being able to slide down.

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The only way to get the alternator out is to....yup....move the power steering pump & pull out the bracket.

Step 1 - Remove the serpentine belt from alternator & p/s pump

Step 2 - Drop the alternator
Once the two bolts are removed, wiggle it out & rest it on the steering rack.​

Step 3 - Crack bracket bolts loose, remove some
There are 5-14mm bolts for the bracket. Bolt #1 is up UNDER the p/s pump...but you can still easily get to it. I removed bolts 1, 2, & 3 as shown in the pic. I loosened & left bolts 4 & 5 as you need the bracket to stay put to loosen/remove bolts for pump, and to get pump loose.​

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Step 4 - Remove bolts holding p/s pump
The p/s pump is only held in by two bolts (12mm & 14mm bolt heads). 12mm is at the 3:00 position, 14mm is at the 6:00 position. The pulley has 4 holes in it...1 is bigger than the other 3. Line that hole up with the bolts so you can slide a socket in there to remove the bolts. Once the bolts are out, it may take some elbow grease, but wiggle the pump so it starts to move out of the bracket towards you. Chances are it wont' clear the bracket due to the hoses & what-not attached to it.​

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Step 3 - Remove bracket & move p/s pump forward
Once you wiggled the p/s pump free so it can easily move, remove the last of the bolts holding the bracket in place. Now, the p/s pump & bracket are free to 'move' around. Remove the bracket & set it aside. You'll be able to push the p/s pump forward several inches now so the alternator can clear it and come on out.
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Step 4 - Remove the alternator
I found that having the ears orientated as shown in the pic was the easiest way for it to clear & come on out
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That's all! Now just reverse it all to put it back together.
 
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