How To Adjust Alternator Belt Tension.
Posted: Sun Apr 15, 2012 1:04 am
How To Adjust Alternator Belt Tension.
By Morganizer (Link to original thread: http://www.delica.ca/forum/alternator-b ... -5849.html)
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I gather that adjustment of the alternator to tension the belt is so difficult because they use the same engine whether it's RHD or LHD. I bet on LHD the adjustment is simple; you just lift up the passenger seat and there it is.
Anyway, I adjusted mine today (RHD L300), and it was tricky, but manageable. Here's how I proceded:
1) lift up the passenger seat
2) remove the fan cowling (both halves)
3) jack up the front right corner of the vehicle. It is not necessary to raise the wheel off the ground. Lifting the body just gives you a little more elbow room.
4) remove the brush protection pan underneath the engine (2x 14mm bolts and 4x 12mm bolts)
5) loosen the alternator mounting bolt from underneath the vehicle using a 12mm socket and wrench
6) from the top of the engine, reach in past the fan (keys are in your pocket, right?) and using a 12mm socket and wrench with the long extension between the blades of the fan, loosen the bolt that secures the alternator in position.
7) go to Lordco and pay $17 for a ratcheting 12mm box wrench. Honest to god, I don't see how this job could reasonably be accomplished without it. Or we can have a belt-tensioning meet some time and you can borrow mine. From beneath the vehicle (not through the flap in the wheel well) rotate the bolt clockwise (righty-tighty) to tighten the belt. Conveniently (perhaps an oxymoron in this context) the belts are right there so you can poke them with your left hand as you tighten the bolt with your right. It's tempting to tighten them "once and for all!" but observe the cautions about over-tightening and stretching your belts.
8) go back out the way you came in, tightening everything you loosened, and putting back everything you took off.
The adjustment only took about 15 minutes...if you don't count the trip to Lordco and the time I spent earning that $17. And scouring the Internet for someone who had done this without modifying the vehicle, removing the driver's seat and moving the power steering pump out of the way, or pulling the engine because they happened to need an overhaul anyway. Oh, and the time spent pushing tools half way into various orifices on the vehicle and muttering swear words. But I actually enjoyed that. The thrill of a challenge.
By Morganizer (Link to original thread: http://www.delica.ca/forum/alternator-b ... -5849.html)
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
I gather that adjustment of the alternator to tension the belt is so difficult because they use the same engine whether it's RHD or LHD. I bet on LHD the adjustment is simple; you just lift up the passenger seat and there it is.
Anyway, I adjusted mine today (RHD L300), and it was tricky, but manageable. Here's how I proceded:
1) lift up the passenger seat
2) remove the fan cowling (both halves)
3) jack up the front right corner of the vehicle. It is not necessary to raise the wheel off the ground. Lifting the body just gives you a little more elbow room.
4) remove the brush protection pan underneath the engine (2x 14mm bolts and 4x 12mm bolts)
5) loosen the alternator mounting bolt from underneath the vehicle using a 12mm socket and wrench
6) from the top of the engine, reach in past the fan (keys are in your pocket, right?) and using a 12mm socket and wrench with the long extension between the blades of the fan, loosen the bolt that secures the alternator in position.
7) go to Lordco and pay $17 for a ratcheting 12mm box wrench. Honest to god, I don't see how this job could reasonably be accomplished without it. Or we can have a belt-tensioning meet some time and you can borrow mine. From beneath the vehicle (not through the flap in the wheel well) rotate the bolt clockwise (righty-tighty) to tighten the belt. Conveniently (perhaps an oxymoron in this context) the belts are right there so you can poke them with your left hand as you tighten the bolt with your right. It's tempting to tighten them "once and for all!" but observe the cautions about over-tightening and stretching your belts.
8) go back out the way you came in, tightening everything you loosened, and putting back everything you took off.
The adjustment only took about 15 minutes...if you don't count the trip to Lordco and the time I spent earning that $17. And scouring the Internet for someone who had done this without modifying the vehicle, removing the driver's seat and moving the power steering pump out of the way, or pulling the engine because they happened to need an overhaul anyway. Oh, and the time spent pushing tools half way into various orifices on the vehicle and muttering swear words. But I actually enjoyed that. The thrill of a challenge.