Sheild For The Alternator

[Blaxus]

Well I managed to remove my alternator from my 92 LS.

I then proceeded to clean it thoroughly. I also fabricated and fitted a plastic shroud to help prevent any further contamination from, what seems to be all to common a problem, a leaking power steering pump.

I have also thrown some Barr's P/S stop leak into the pump reservoir and will monitor any poss. improvements.

Great thanks to whoever posted pix #187/188 in the pic gallery of the shroud. I really hope it works well.

Thanks again,

Jeff-

[mig25]

Excellent ! How hard was to remove the Alternator?

Was there any Killer bolt that never seem to come out?

I will probably do the same with my alternator, I have an LS 400 1990. I need to protect it, but also I want to make sure it still receives the proper ventilation, I do not want to cover it all and block the air flow. Remember , the alternator has some sort of internal fan that needs to breathe in order to cool the internal parts.

Let me know how it went, I'm curious about it . Thanks

welgaby@msn.com

[VBdenny]

Good report. Let us know how the PS stop leak stuff worked and what brand you used. Also, any chance you took pictures of this procedure? I haven't seen any alternator removal pictorials yet.

I also appreicate the information about the internal cooling of the alternator, something I hadn't thought of before.

[Blaxus]

Well to address the last two posts.

1. The shield appears to have no noticeable effect on the ventilation of the alternator itself. The factory shield covers the lower passenger side quarter and the new shroud covers the the whole passenger side to protect from the leak. As far as the alternaotr having an internal fan - I've never heard that before. In any case the shroud itself is displaced about a 1/2" or so from the actual alt unit - so no interference.

2. The actual removal of the alternator was actually not too difficult. It was all of the previous leakage from the pump and accumulated dirt and particualte matter that needed to be cleaned that was the killer. But here is how it's done.

Remove/install:

1. Put the car on some ramps.

2. remove the batt cover and neg batt connection, air intake, and air assmbly.

3. remove the engine undercover...note that whe I did mine I noticed that alot of the bolts holding the cover and side covers were frozen w/ rust and broke off. Need to still remove these with a tool or drill out to rplace the covers properly.

4. Disconnect the drive belt. Using a 14mm box wrench turn the belt pretensioner to the left, use some leather work gloves and the muscle you have built from going to the gym- it's easy but req's some strength. While you turn the pretensioner countercolockwise the belt will loosen, you can then slip a side of the belt over the top roller.

5. Then locate the top alternatr nut and remove using a 14mm socket.

6. Go under the car. Locate the bottom alternator mount bolt and remove. Note* you may need to remove some assortments of brackets, and other misc. nuiscnaces.

7. after the lower bolt removal the focus on the electrical connections. A. one needs a socket or box wrench 10 or 12 mm? B. the other is a clip that needs to be unlocked and then pull.

Here's the fun part!!!!!

8. Now you enjoy the "birthing process" as I call it. this is where you have to slide that alt assembly forward off the front mount bolt and then, much as a doctor would, manipulate the assmbly to come free and remove down thru the bottom portion of the engine compartment.

9. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!! you have yourself a slimy, grungy baby alternator in your hands. 10 lbs, ? ounces.

10 Clean real well. I used Simple Green sprayed directly on a rag to clean.

11. Fab a shround from a clean plastic jug as pictured in the gallery pix # 187/188.

12 Then reinstall in the reverse order. and Voila, Success.

* I used a Chilton's Import Manual avail at Pepboys for about $30 for the somewhat helpful 4 or 5 step instructs they gave.

Good Luck!!

Jeff-

[Blaxus]

VBDENNY,

I mentioned that I used Barr's p/s Stop Leak in the first post.

Jeff-

[mig25]

When I said an internal fan, I meant to say the rotor. The internal rotor of an alternator is groved , it Produces air movement, same as a fan does. This will help cool the alternator. Here is a Picture of an alternator (Not Lexus) but it is just to set as an example. It has all the air passages. There are some other styles of alternators that use an external fan. See pictures below:

[Blaxus]

Mig25,

I understand what you mean about airflow. I noticed no real possible depreciation in airflow when I fabricated and attached the shoud. Remeber, there is still a 1/2 clearnce at least between the shroud and the alternator air openings. My main concern is heat and melting. So i will I will probably remove and replace with an aluminum/sheet metal shroud later.

Jeff-

[redhawks2]

Would it be possible to install some sort of sheild without removing the alternator??

[Blaxus]

That's what I wondered too.

But I wanted to thoroughly clean and inspect the unit itself., so I just took it out.

alot easier to put in and put back together once you're removed it first.

So there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

[mig25]

:P My Lex has 135K miles, the alternator is dirty. If I remove it to build a shield around it, I will use aluminum instead of plastic. Also I will have the alternator rebuilt, Since I have it on my hands, with 135K miles, I might as well rebuilt it and avoid removing it again within few thousand miles, who knows when it would go bad… :P

welgaby@msn.com

[tansupplyman]

Do NOT recommend building this from aluminum. You will be extremely close to "hot" connections; could short out and cause a fire. The stock aluminum one is not that close to the hot connections; really why it is not effective --- not big enough.

Also a 'gallon round jug' will also you to curve the cover around the back upper edge so as to prevent any thing from entering--note you don't cover the whole back side.

Just no reason to build from aluminum--much harder and dangerous.

As I said--the brush block with the 2 brushes can be installed within 5 minutes--really, less time. The only other thing to do is to look at the brush contact surfaces on the rotor to see if they have worn down A LOT [if not a lot--don't worry about it]. If so, install a new rotor--$70. You can really put the brush holder in yourself--think 2 screws are all that hold it in.