I am 1 step ahead of where
stateofidleness was when he originally posted his "Stuck in alternator swap" thread: I whacked the bolt (the one that goes through at
2 on the photo below) enough so that the alternator came loose and can be moved about in its space, an inch or two this way and that. But I am stumped as to how to extract it from its cubby hole---no matter how I twist and turn and lift etc, I can't seem to either slide it out or obtain access to the top (where I guess there are electrical connections to remove). Some questions:
I don't think I've read to do this anywhere else, but the service manual says to "remove protective shield" (marked as
3 on the pic) to aid with access. Have most of you that have pulled their alternators removed that shield? (I would just do it, but it looks like it will be a real PITA: access to the bolts holding it in is real limited.)
My kid suggested we take out the 6 bolts holding the cover plate (see
4 on the pic), which would get the bracket (
1) out of the way---should make removing the alternator easy, I would think. Since there's a hose running into that area (from the left and below), it's obvious some type of fluid (we guessed coolant) will be coming out if we do that. Is it coolant? Is this area high enough that not much will come out? Basically, does this sound like a good idea, or has anybody done this?
Any suggestions would be most welcome. I don't have a heated garage---wrestling around with an obstinate (and cold) alternator in a cold garage is getting old fast.
