AC/Alternator belt replacement

[ephewe]

Hey guys. So I was just outside trying to replace my AC/Alternator belt. The old one shredded itself last night, barely made it home on battery power only. New belt came today. After doing some quick research I see what is involved in getting the alternator to pivot down, in order to give me enough slack to be able to slide the new belt on. Problem is, the alternator doesn't pivot down enough and there's really no way to get leverage to pry/force it on. I'm wondering if anyone has had this problem or am I missing something? As it stands, the alternator swings up and down about half an inch, just by using my hands to lift it up and down. I am pretty sure I have loosened the adjusting bolt as much as it will let me. If I keep loosening the adjuster screw will it eventually reach a limit and then break if forced further? Because that's what it feels like..? There is basically no clearance and I'm running out of daylight, but I did remove the skirt in the front to try and get a look at the alternator from the bottom, and I just can't really tell.

[RX400h]

Hello, Dan.

Have you looked at a video such as this one?

 

[ephewe]

Yeah I’ve checked out the videos. I wouldn’t post here without first checking that stuff, heh. 😛 There’s one in particular which shows a schematic and this is how I know that I’m doing the right thing (loosening the right bolts, etc.). The thing is, it seems like I can’t loosen the tensioner any more, and it needs to be looser. Tomorrow when I have some light, I’m gonna try and actually disconnect the various cables in the hopes of creating more clearance, then I’m gonna see if I can’t get the tensioner to loosen even more, because the last video I looked at seems as if it *should* get looser. This is the video btw, in case anyone ever wants to see. I think this is the best one available:

 

[ephewe]

Ok so I figured out what the problem was. The adjuster bolt is actually seized in the pinch block. This is why I couldn’t lower the alternator enough. I ended up completely removing the lock bolt to get the alternator out, so I could get a look at it. Right now I have the car running with the alternator held in place only by the top mounting bolt being tight, hehe. I need to get a new pinch bolt, adjuster bolt, and pinch block, now…

[RX400h]

Great. Patience/persistence is the key!

 

[ephewe]

Hey guys. Thought I would post an update. I ended up having to cut off the adjuster bolt with a hacksaw after completely removing the alternator. I then replaced the lock and adjuster bolt (along with the little threaded block). Everything is good. I can cold start the car with the AC on and I get no squeal at all. Yay!

Now I’m looking into replacing the catalytic converter because the mounting for the sensor is actually broken and the sensor is dead anyway. Once I get that done, this thing will be running like new lol. 150,000 miles on it.