vertrx7 wrote:
I appreciate the information. My rebuilder said it was the decoupler and replaced it. $49 out the door and said the alternator was charging fine. In a way, i wish he'd rebuilt the whole thing. With 171,000 on the clock, I know I'll be into it again.
As for the install, and for me when I revisit this post when I do this again, loosen the arm that has the two 13 mm bolts in it that holds the back of the alternator bolt. Makes it real easy to put the alternator back in. Be careful removing the electrical connection. That plastic socket on the alternator is brittle and you'll have to crazy glue it on if you snap it off trying to manhandle the connection off.
Finally, the tensioner is a 15mm bolt as mentioned above. Problem is, its so tight in there with the ratchet, you can't get enough swing room towards the driver side. What I did was swing the ratchet and the tensioner as far as I could, located the belt on the lip of the alternator and then reset the ratchet going back to the passenger side, then pulling again to the driver side. Its a two step process. May work easier with the specialized tensioner pulley tool, but mine is still in my tool box in storage.
Now to get my 13mm deep drive socket out of the bottom of the car since it dropped all the way down!
I believe I used a box end wrench on the tensioner (if you have a ratchet one even better) when I used to have the viscous fan. If you need more hand torque, extend it with a pipe.