Alternator pulley going out

vincennescrd · **Posted:** Tue Apr 26, 2011 5:37 pm

Did some reading and found out the pulley is some special kind of deal. Now I found a pulley that is exactly the same but doesn't have that crazy stuff on it. Do you think it will work to change it to this pulley or is it going to mess something up

CATCRD · **Posted:** Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:56 pm

What do you mean it doesn't have crazy stuff? If it's the same diameter, only not clutched, it won't work. It will squeal and jump like crazy. It might even spin the pulley back off while you're driving. It happened to someone on here who tried a solid pulley.

vincennescrd · **Posted:** Tue Apr 26, 2011 8:36 pm

Ya I'm talking about the clutch. I don't see what it would matter about throwing it off. The way I understood it just quieted it down on startup.

vincennescrd · **Posted:** Tue Apr 26, 2011 8:38 pm

And shutdown

uham · **Joined:** Tue Nov 30, 2010 10:48 am **Posts:** 37

vincennescrd, Advanced Auto Parts sells a re-manufactured alternator with a new style pulley for $159 + $60 core and they provide a limited lifetime warranty. This ended up being the most economical route for me when I had the belt chirp problem.

geordi · **Posted:** Wed Apr 27, 2011 10:07 am

Uham... You stole my answer! :-)r

Basically, what he said. I had the same problem, screwed the alternator up trying to get that stupid pulley off, and ended up solving the problem completely with a new unit from Advance. Just do it, its half the price of a dealer alternator for the SAME remanufactured part.

BTW: "Remanufactured" usually means that they just re-used the casing, all the internals are new. (it will be the same crap parts anyway) Why pay more?

CATCRD · **Posted:** Wed Apr 27, 2011 8:31 pm

vincennescrd wrote:

Ya I'm talking about the clutch. I don't see what it would matter about throwing it off. The way I understood it just quieted it down on startup.

Basically any time the engine is idling the tension pulses in the belt are enough to make it squeak and jump around on the tensioner. You're not the first person to try a non-clutched pulley. Hasn't worked yet.

The pulley cost me about $55 and was super easy to swap out with an impact wrench and hex bit socket.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Sat Apr 30, 2011 3:33 pm

Actually not such a dumb question when the FSM just says "Rotate belt tensioner until it contacts its stop." remove belt. No hint as to direction of rotation or which numbered item on the illustration is the tensioner. I've not done this yet so someone who has may want to confirm or correct the following. On page 7-31 of the 2006 FSM the numbered items are: 1=idler; 2=alternator; 3=idler; 4=AC compressor; 5=cooling fan pulley; 6=crankshaft pulley; 7=tensioner (should have an arrow pointing to in on the belt routing diagram under the hood); 8=power steering pump; 9=serp belt; and 10=viscous heater. Per some chat on the Edmunds forum use a 15mm socket wrench on the hex profile machined on the shaft of tensioner (what you think is a hex head bolt). Rotate the wrench clockwise (facing the engine) with your left hand to remove tension. Use your right hand to take the belt off of right hand idler pulley (#3); relax the wrench to restore tension; and repeat these 2 steps (shift wrench postion if needed) to remove belt from alternator. There is not much working space so apparently doing this in 2 steps is best. Remove old belt; route the new belt per the underhood diagram around all the pulleys except the top idler pullley (#1); rotate the wrench to remove tension; slide belt under the top idler pulley; and rotate wrench to restore tension. DOUBLE check for proper routing over/under the varioius pulleys and that the belt is centered on each pulley; correct as needed. Do a final check making sure all tools are removed. Crank up engine and watch belt to see if it's tracking properly. If so you are done. If the old belt is in good shape save for emergency use.

Very strange I posted this response to a query on how to relax tension to install a serpentine belt on a CRD but now that query has disappeared and I'm not even sure it was in this string. :banghead:

Oh well maybe this is of value assuming it's right.

chrismc · **Posted:** Sun May 01, 2011 3:03 pm

papaindigo wrote:

Very strange I posted this response to a query on how to relax tension to install a serpentine belt on a CRD but now that query has disappeared and I'm not even sure it was in this string. :banghead:

Oh well maybe this is of value assuming it's right.

Sorry, I deleted the post you replied to. I ended up finding the answers to my questions in another very old post before I saw yours. Thanks for the thorough reply though, it is appreciated!

One other thing I read that seems important is that if you are just replacing the alternator decoupler pulley and not the whole belt, don't remove/unroute the belt. Just slip it off the alternator pulley when you have the tension removed, and it will make it a lot easier to get back on.

papaindigo · **Posted:** Sun May 01, 2011 3:38 pm

Nice to know I'm not losing what little mind I have left, thanks for the update. Good point relative to the alternator pulley whether you are doing just the decoupler or the whole alternator.

chrismc · **Posted:** Fri May 13, 2011 9:42 am

I finally received my back-ordered Miller Special Tool for this job yesterday and got it done. I had a hell of a time getting it loose. With 3 foot extensions on both box wrenches, I was certain that something was going to fail catastrophically. I had even been pre-treating it with PB Blaster for a couple days prior. It did finally come off, and it took all of two minutes to do the job once that was done. Has anyone put anti-seize on the alternator shaft when installing the replacement? I don't think it would cause any problems, and could make the job a lot easier next time around.

immadmacs · **Posted:** Sun May 22, 2011 8:10 pm

Ok, just to make sure. I don't have to worry about any weird timing junk to replace the alternator, right? Alldata is very unclear with their service information. My alternator is making a terrible noise and seems to stop putting out full power when I accelerate. It sounds easier to replace the whole thing at 160 from Autozone, than replace the pulley ,buy a tool, risk breaking the alternator and rent a car, etc. This may one of be the cheapest repairs I have done, other than oil changes. It sounds easy, is it that easy?

geordi · **Posted:** Sun May 22, 2011 9:49 pm

You aren't far off on your guesses. There are 3 bolts directly on / around the alternator body (two in front at the bottom, heads pointing toward the front of the engine) and one behind the alternator pointing straight up... With 2 more through a bracket bolted into the cylinder head - bolt heads pointing toward the driver's fender. Pull the bracket bolts, then the 3 on the alternator... And it comes right out.

If you have the new one with you at the time, this is about a 30 minute job including remove / replace the main belt, and drinking the beer slowly.

Take the battery out first, it's too hard to do this with that installed and in the way. Basic sockets are all you need for this job, EXCEPT for the main belt removal tool - That is a 15mm short socket on a flat bar, installed pointing toward the passenger side, then pulled across toward the driver's side (rotating the tensioner clockwise) to release the pressure.

immadmacs · **Posted:** Sun May 22, 2011 10:35 pm

Sounds like the hardest part is drinking the beer slowly. Thanks!

mk38tech · **Joined:** Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:25 pm **Posts:** 72

uham wrote:

vincennescrd, Advanced Auto Parts sells a re-manufactured alternator with a new style pulley for $159 + $60 core and they provide a limited lifetime warranty. This ended up being the most economical route for me when I had the belt chirp problem.

what was the mileage you replaced it at? did you have tensioner problems prior to? ive replaced the tensioner twice in the last two years and im starting to suspect the alternator pulley. im not use to a pulley thats hard to turn by hand(clutched) my cummins alternators just spin spin spin when you touch em. i got 82k on mine by the way. debating how im going to go about with that timing replacement. another reason i wont sell the cummins haha, no timing belt to replace

mk38tech · **Joined:** Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:25 pm **Posts:** 72

papaindigo wrote:

Actually not such a dumb question when the FSM just says "Rotate belt tensioner until it contacts its stop." remove belt. No hint as to direction of rotation or which numbered item on the illustration is the tensioner. I've not done this yet so someone who has may want to confirm or correct the following. On page 7-31 of the 2006 FSM the numbered items are: 1=idler; 2=alternator; 3=idler; 4=AC compressor; 5=cooling fan pulley; 6=crankshaft pulley; 7=tensioner (should have an arrow pointing to in on the belt routing diagram under the hood); 8=power steering pump; 9=serp belt; and 10=viscous heater. Per some chat on the Edmunds forum use a 15mm socket wrench on the hex profile machined on the shaft of tensioner (what you think is a hex head bolt). Rotate the wrench clockwise (facing the engine) with your left hand to remove tension. Use your right hand to take the belt off of right hand idler pulley (#3); relax the wrench to restore tension; and repeat these 2 steps (shift wrench postion if needed) to remove belt from alternator. There is not much working space so apparently doing this in 2 steps is best. Remove old belt; route the new belt per the underhood diagram around all the pulleys except the top idler pullley (#1); rotate the wrench to remove tension; slide belt under the top idler pulley; and rotate wrench to restore tension. DOUBLE check for proper routing over/under the varioius pulleys and that the belt is centered on each pulley; correct as needed. Do a final check making sure all tools are removed. Crank up engine and watch belt to see if it's tracking properly. If so you are done. If the old belt is in good shape save for emergency use.

Very strange I posted this response to a query on how to relax tension to install a serpentine belt on a CRD but now that query has disappeared and I'm not even sure it was in this string. :banghead:

Oh well maybe this is of value assuming it's right.

this may sound stupid to some people but it would be nice if we could find a thread dedicated to install and removal of the serp belt. the tensioner is nothing like my trucks, its soft aluminum mut crap that should be stainless at a minimum, the threads strip very very quickly, the tensioner is made by vm which is what you will find in a MOPAR box when ordered, and its fairly difficult to actuate the tensioner in any other way except using the bolt itself. a simple task can end up being a very big headache especially for someone with just the one vehicle as a daily driver. by the way, i posted this somewhere else cant remember where. if you cannot get that darn tensioner out to replace it, you can use a lisle 44180 ( http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detai ... &ppt=C0374 ) to hold the power steering pump pulley so you can get it out of the way. makes things much easier. i would have to recommend this as a last resort. i bought this tool because someone said it could be used to get the fan clutch off which i have yet to figure out how without destroying something or taking the entire vehicle apart. i was gonna find a darn use for that tool haha :JEEPIN:

Alternator pulley going out

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