The battery load tested Good, so it's the alternator or voltage regulator. I'm trying to get the alternator out and am stuck.
Looking at Bentley and 101 Projects, both talk about "tapping" the idler pulley bolt such that the back bushing gets loose, allowing the alternator to be removed.
I've been doing a lot of tapping (some I'd have to call quite a bit harder than that) and wiggling. The alternator moves around a little, but won't come out.
The back bushing seems locked in the alternator flange and appears to require an awful lot of force to break loose from that flange. Look at the attached pic - that bushing is in there solid.
Is breaking loose of the bushing in the flange really required? What exactly is holding the alternator in on the idler pulley side? Is it squeezing of the support slot by the flange in the back and the pulley in the front? Now that things seem loose, can I just take a pry bar and lever up the idler pulley side (as one other forum member has done)?
To make more access, Bentley also talks about removing the U-shaped protective shield above the idler pulley. Of course it doesn't say how, and the bolt holding it down is impossible to get a wrench on without taking off the shifter cables. Anyone get it off?