Alternator replacement 1988 325is

[cleoent]

Is it a DIY kind of job? Friends 325is car just died. Battery is relatively new, i think the alternator is gone. I'm not asking to help me decide what's wrong, i'd like to know how easy the process is... took a look at the DIY library and saw nothing for an alternator

Help

[cleoent]

No one has had an alternator go bad?

[equate975]

Ive taken mine off a few times.

IIRC it goes something like this

pull the airbox and AFM off so you can see the alternator

Look at this pic (not spot on but you should get the idea)



The bolt on the top is what gives the tension for the belt, if you loosen the back of the bolt (the one twords the rear of the car) you can put IIRC a 17mm socket on the front of if and loosen it, this willl slide it down this little rail deal and the belt willc ome off.

There is one other bolt I think right under the alternator that works as a pivot. Just undo that and it will come off.

Finally, just unscrew the positive and negative wires off it. I think positive is 12mm and negative is 8mm

Remember to disconnect the battery before working on it.

One thing you might want to check is the alternator brushes. If you look on the back of it theres a white piece of plastic with 3 phillips screws I think, if you unscrew them you can see the brushes. The bentley will tell you how long they should be.