Date:         Sat, 20 Oct 2012 18:59:15 -0700
Reply-To:     Steven Johnson <sjohnso2000@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Steven Johnson <sjohnso2000@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Swapping out the alternator and fun with a pivot bolt
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Hey all,

Just want to let you know that I finally got the new (rebuilt) alternator
swapped
in my 91 Westy.   I wanted to relay my method so that those of you who are
dummies
like me might have an easier time of it when your time comes.  And it will
come....

Three weeks ago I decided to tackle the problem of replacing the alternator
with one
from The Bus Depot and so I removed all of the junk in the rear area over
the engine
bay.  Tossed the pad and matt over the rear seat and had a look.

I remembered before tackling the electrical connections to go up front and
remove the
battery connections so there would be know damage to any of the system.
That's the
straight forward part.

Now the electrical on the alternator is fairly easy the large connections
are one nut
and washer.  I suggest you grab your digital camera and take a couple of
pics of how
everything is wired up so you'll have a reference.   But it's fairly
simple.

So I removed the large wire connections with no issues.   Then the smaller
connections
on the smaller post were easily removed and put carefully into a baggie so
they wouldn't
get missplaced.

After a general inspection I realized I didn't have to remove any of the
other belts and
all I had to do was loosen the lower pivot nut to bolt on the bottom which
is easily done
by using a 13mm socket and a short 3" extention though the power steering
belt.  Once
slightly loosened then the 13mm can be used to loosen the alternator
adjusting bolt and
the larger toothed bolt can be turned (I used a cresent wrench for this).
Just rotate it
or remove it completely like I did and then you can push the alternator
down to get the
belt off the pulley.

Well, then it came to the bottom pivot bolt which I could not figure out
how to get to
with the box end wrench.   After much internet searching and finally asking
the list I was
assured that I should be able to reach the front bolt top behind the
alternator base with
no problem.   Well this didn't happen until the next weekend and I finally
realized that all
I had to do was shift the alternator all the way it would go to the left
and down and I could
indeed slip the 13mm box end over the top bolt coming from down the right
side and the
alternator and to the left of the power steering pump.   It just fits in
there to hold the
bolt from turning while on the rear side of the alternator you fit the 13mm
socket on the
nut and loosen and remove and viola!  The bolt slid out the back with very
little persuasion
from a narrow diameter magnet retrieval device that I had in my tool set.

Great!  Now I was able to get the alternator out.   Okay, after much
reading on the internet
again, I found that my best option to get the pulley nut off was to just
take it to a tire
store and have them air wrench it off and put on the new one.   Trust me on
this.... it is
the best way to go.   So I went down to the local Big O and the guy had me
leave it there
as it was a Saturday and they were busy.   So I did and picked up the
alternator with it's
the pulley transferred to it and to top it off the guy didn't charge me
anything....  Cool!

So I got the alternator back to my garage and started putting it back in
and realized that
getting the pivot bolt back in wasn't going to be as easy as taking it
out.   Uggg!

So that's where I left it for that weekend and during the week when I could
glossed over
google and the archives for any info that would give me the tip I needed.
No luck...

So, this weekend I finally got to look at the engine bay again and tried as
I did the previous
week to feed the bolt in and lay it gently  down and then carefully align
the alternator.
Dang!  Every time I tried to touch the bolt it would just roll away and
then I'd have to
remove the alternator and realign it again.  I did this several times as I
had the week before
to no avail.

So let's take a break and think about it some more....

I finally got back out to the garage and really looked at what I was
working with and decided
that the bolt had to be directly aimed at the hole so I looked around for
something that would
hold it level with the hole on the head side of the bolt.   A cap...no....
then I thought of
something that might work better.   I was a piece of foam from old length
of pipe wrap.  I tore
that off and set it down on the engine and lay the bolt head on it with it
started in the pivot
hole.  I tried this a few time and was still unable to get the bolt stay
still and go in the
hole.   Drat!!!!  And a few other misc. explicatives....

Now I'm not sure how I came on the thought but I needed something to try
and hold the bolt
still while reaching with my fingers.  So a grabbed a long flat bladed
screwdriver and slid
it down toward the readjusted bolt on the left side and reach in with my
right hand and carefully
nudged the bolt to the hole.  It felt like it might be going in but it
stopped and would not
go very far.

So I rechecked the hole alignment up front with the same pivot bolt and got
an eyeball view
of how it should align.  I then tried again and with very little effort was
able to get the
bolt to go into the hole and was able to slide it along with the
screwdriver keeping it from
slipping away.

Whew!   I was delighted indeed.

So use some kind of narrow straight-edge to stablize the bolt with your
left hand and then come
in from the right with your fingers and you should be able to get the
booger in.

If you have extra large hands I'd think that you could use in the right
hand some long nosed
pliers but I didn't have to.

So stay creative folks.   There's always a way.

I hope this helps someone when the time comes.....

Cheers!

Steven
91 Westy