deskinthewoods
Well-Known Member
From the shop manual...
Steps to change Alternator on diesel L300 Delica?
- Thread starter sck_nogas
- Start date
Better a little under-tensioned rather than over tensioned... if they start to slip you should be able to tell (battery light/squealing) and you can re-tension them then. Over-tightening the belts can ruin things (bearings/etc).
Shouldn't really be able to if they were torqued to spec in sequence...
Are you able to tell me if the pulley tensioner is clockwise to loosen counter-clockwise to tension? I've been trying to loosen it with normal counter clockwise, still can't get the belts off... Looking at the diagram, I'm thinking it may be reversed. It is so difficult to reach the tensioner bolt I'm hoping to get some insight before giving it a try. Thanks, Attila.It went okay. The real issue I had is that I have a 2016 Hyundai D4BF engine installed instead of the old 1991 Mitsubishi 4D56T engine. (Previous owner had Comox Valley Delica replace the engine with a new one in 2016) So, the bad alternator used a type-5 connector as compared to the stock Delica connector. But, fortunately they just left the old connector and harness in a ziptied bag. So, I took out the old connector, and ziptiied the new one back into a bag, and was of to the races. I did NOT have to remove the drivers seat, but I realized this after I did.
First thing I would do is...
- Check your belt tension to get a gauge of current status...
- Make sure that the hinge bolt at the bottom is loose. Otherwise, the alternator won't budge.
- Then, depending on what your alternator tensioner looks like, if it's got a bolt conecting it to alternator, make sure that bolt is a little loose.
- Lastly, (I think it's clockwise) turn the tensioner bolt about 4-5 turns and you should notice a change in the belt tension.
Thank you so much. I have the hinge bolt out all of the way, so the alternator is loose, but not loose enough to remove the belts.... I'll try turning the tensioner clockwise. Any advice when putting it back together in terms of getting the vaccuum hose back on. I could barely reach it to work it off, made me wonder about putting it back on... Is it just me or is it really challenging accessing the various things up there?
Two suggestions...
1 - As you take things apart, turn the video on your cell and record you talking to yourself about what you are seeing. Having a video in which you talk about the bolts and seeing which one goes where is SUPER helpful, when you need to put things back together. You will NOT remember EVERY step, even if it's just a few hours apart.
2 - Get some ziplock bags and write down the bolts/parts for each thing. I have a few labeled bags full currently (and I save the bags, so each time I take off the engine cover, I keep track of the parts)
Steps...
1 - As you take things apart, turn the video on your cell and record you talking to yourself about what you are seeing. Having a video in which you talk about the bolts and seeing which one goes where is SUPER helpful, when you need to put things back together. You will NOT remember EVERY step, even if it's just a few hours apart.
2 - Get some ziplock bags and write down the bolts/parts for each thing. I have a few labeled bags full currently (and I save the bags, so each time I take off the engine cover, I keep track of the parts)
- Driver Seat Bolts ( four 12 mm bolts)
- Parking Brake Cover Screws (two Phillips head, one wide)
- Parking Brake adjuster Nuts (two 10 mm nuts, one flanged)
- Fuel cover release screws (two Phillips head)
- Engine cover Bolts (five 12 mm bolts, one square bracket, one Phillips head screw)
Steps...
- Turn on the video on your phone and start recording, while talking to yourself.
- Using a 12mm socket, unbolt the 4 bolts holding the driver seat to the pan, put the 4 bolts in a baggie!
- Lift the driver seat out through the driver door and place carefully on the ground
- Using a Phillips head screwdriver remove the 2 screws holding the plastic cover on the parking brake, put the 2 screws in a baggie!
- Slide the plastic parking brake cover forward. You may have to partially lift the parking brake handle to do this, and place carefully aside
- Take a picture of the number of threads showing on the parking brake adjuster, so you can put it back about the same.
- Also take a picture of how the parking brake cable threads out through the hole, around the handle and back out through the adjuster, it helps to know what it should look like.
- Using a 10mm wrench, unbolt the two nuts on the back of the braking brake handle. put the 2 bolts in a baggie!
- Using a Phillips head screwdriver remove the 2 screws holding the fuel cover release handle and put the 2 screws in a baggie!
- Using a needle nose pliers (or another tool) rotate the connection for the fuel cover on the handle to allow you to remove the handle. Put the handle in the baggie with the screws?
- Using a Phillips head screwdriver remove the single screw on the Engine cover and put in a baggie
- Using a 12mm socket, unbolt the 5-6 bolts holding the engine cover down, including the square bracket for wire management and put in the previous baggie.
- Now, lift (using the parking brake handle) the engine cover, making sure that the parking brake cable goes out through the hole and that the fuel cover release cable also goes through it's hole. Place the engine cover carefully aside.
- Revel in the wonder that is the top of the right side of the engine!
- To put it back on, do the inverse, making sure to thread the two cables through their respective holes when putting the cover on, and make sure that you thread the parking brake cable around the handle.
Thanks. first step after work today, turn that tensioning bolt clockwise, see if I can get the belt off! Take the alternator to the place to get it rebuilt. Then remove my drivers seat while I wait to get the alternator back! I really appreciate the support and detailed info!
I managed to remove the alternator. Turns out that the tensioning bolt lowers the belt tension with a counter clockwise turn direction after all! Eventually it all came loose, after a bolt fell out which was not the tensioning bolt (possibly the lock nut/bolt? not sure but the belts came off!) I struggled to remove the alternator thinking that it was just difficult to thread it out of the space past all of the bits of chassis etc. No it turns out that I hadn't removed the vacuum hose as I thought I had. I kept telling myself "this thing is heavy, don't drop it on your face" So of course eventually the vacuum hose came off and it dropped on my face LOL! Never the less I was very happy that I'd finally removed the damned thing! I will definitely use your excellent instructions and remove the driver's seat before I attempt to put the alternator back on. I still don't expect it to be easy but it may just be possible for me to put it all back together
Been there, almost done that!
It's basic quantum mechanics. Objects above your face exist in a state of both falling and not falling. Becoming aware of the danger from a heavy/sharp object dangling above your face is enough to collapse the quantum probabilities and cause the heavy object to resolve into a state of falling towards your face.
The same effect works with threading in bolts: if you're working blind, they both thread in easily and fail to engage at the same time. Getting into a position where you can see the bolt usually causes it to resolve into the intermediate "cross thread" state with one exception: if the bolt's now above your head, it will immediately fall towards your face.
And if you're me... dismantle device, convert socket to USB-C.
I wanted to thank sck_nogas for all of the support with the alternator removal/re-installment instructions. I eventually got everything put back together after a few adventures... One of which being snapping the hinge bolt somewhere between 30-35 foot pounds of torque. Probably a blessing in disguise, better to have happen at home than during a road trip... I did find a place that sells Delica parts and works on Delicas, 20 minutes from my home, where I was able to purchase a new hinge bolt. The second extra adventure, (outside of my usual rookie blundering...) was that I was unsuccessful in retrieving/harvesting the original nut that holds the hinge bolt in place which was stuck on the tiny section of snapped bolt. So I just used a m8x1.25 nut from home depot... the threads stripped at less than 25 foot pounds of torque. (the specifications for that nut are 25-40 foot pounds) . This began a saga of stripping the threads on various nuts, including one that was supposedly "stronger for automotive use".... Eventually I found out that there are distinct quality/strength ratings for all fasteners and most standard nuts of that size have nowhere near the strength to handle more than 25 foot pounds of torque. Once I discovered this pearl of wisdom I was able to buy grade 8 (class10.9) nuts ( the strongest that they sell) from a business that specializes in fasteners. The feel of tightening that nut was entirely different from the lower grade products, it just had a positive feel, no give. So I gave it 30 pounds with some loc-tite on the threads, then put on a second nut to help lock it in place. The local Delica parts and repair place told me horror stories of Delicas coming in with the hinge bolt half out or entirely missing. Apparently that bolt goes through the oil pump, and if it loosens it can make the hole oblong as it rattles around. Apparently replacing the oil pump requires removal of pretty much everything but the kitchen sink to access... So I was paranoid about having it come off while driving...
So important lessons for the rookie that I have learned from this process:
1) Ask for help, people on this forum (and those at my new favourite parts outlet) are incredibly generous with their knowledge and insight
2) take pictures and video of everything while taking things apart (Thank you again sck_nogas)
3) be careful where my head/face is when wrenching overhead (dropped the alternator on my face and got the torque wrench in my eye when it slipped off my infamous hinge bolt nut, good for a halloween look... but in retrospect, better to avoid....)
4) not all fasteners are created equally, better to use the strongest available especially when using high torque values often required in automotive applications
5) lots of people in the know recommend getting the original alternator rebuilt rather than going with after market alternators
6) you may not need to remove the drivers seat to remove and replace the alternator but for my rookie attempt it was helpful as far as orientation as to where some things are located (especially the 2 vacuum hoses located on top of the alternator) . If I were to do it again I would attempt to get it all done without the driver's seat removal, as I ended up doing all of the actual work from underneath, but having seen things from above I was much more confident while working blind from underneath.
7) You do not need to change the oil to do this procedure as per one of the members of this site, you can clamp the the two oil lines instead of draining all of the oil, though you may want to time this with an oil change as the oil return line? ( the bigger one) is rather in the way when sliding the hinge bolt in and out and if the oil is drained you can remove the oil return line entirely which will ease access for hinge bolt removal and
re-installment.
8) always block my wheels for forward and backwards rolling potential. I was using home made ramps made of scrap lumber stacked like stairs, screwed together, put blocks behind my rear wheels, had the Deli in gear (4WD low) and parking brake on, but later I removed the parking brake in order to remove the driver's seat, and had it out of gear so I could run the engine with it still up on the ramps, had not considered forward roll possibility. Fortunately I was behind the van slightly leaning on it with my thighs while getting a tool, when it started rolling forward... rolled right off of my ramps... no harm no foul, but I shudder to imagine had I been underneath on my creeper wrenching away.... That experience would have dwarfed my alternator on the face and wrench in the eye, by orders of magnitude to the point where I may not be here now wryly musing about my various errors and learning experiences....
either way here I am, mostly intact and quite pleased with my newly rebuilt and re-installed alterator!
So important lessons for the rookie that I have learned from this process:
1) Ask for help, people on this forum (and those at my new favourite parts outlet) are incredibly generous with their knowledge and insight
2) take pictures and video of everything while taking things apart (Thank you again sck_nogas)
3) be careful where my head/face is when wrenching overhead (dropped the alternator on my face and got the torque wrench in my eye when it slipped off my infamous hinge bolt nut, good for a halloween look... but in retrospect, better to avoid....)
4) not all fasteners are created equally, better to use the strongest available especially when using high torque values often required in automotive applications
5) lots of people in the know recommend getting the original alternator rebuilt rather than going with after market alternators
6) you may not need to remove the drivers seat to remove and replace the alternator but for my rookie attempt it was helpful as far as orientation as to where some things are located (especially the 2 vacuum hoses located on top of the alternator) . If I were to do it again I would attempt to get it all done without the driver's seat removal, as I ended up doing all of the actual work from underneath, but having seen things from above I was much more confident while working blind from underneath.
7) You do not need to change the oil to do this procedure as per one of the members of this site, you can clamp the the two oil lines instead of draining all of the oil, though you may want to time this with an oil change as the oil return line? ( the bigger one) is rather in the way when sliding the hinge bolt in and out and if the oil is drained you can remove the oil return line entirely which will ease access for hinge bolt removal and
re-installment.
8) always block my wheels for forward and backwards rolling potential. I was using home made ramps made of scrap lumber stacked like stairs, screwed together, put blocks behind my rear wheels, had the Deli in gear (4WD low) and parking brake on, but later I removed the parking brake in order to remove the driver's seat, and had it out of gear so I could run the engine with it still up on the ramps, had not considered forward roll possibility. Fortunately I was behind the van slightly leaning on it with my thighs while getting a tool, when it started rolling forward... rolled right off of my ramps... no harm no foul, but I shudder to imagine had I been underneath on my creeper wrenching away.... That experience would have dwarfed my alternator on the face and wrench in the eye, by orders of magnitude to the point where I may not be here now wryly musing about my various errors and learning experiences....
either way here I am, mostly intact and quite pleased with my newly rebuilt and re-installed alterator!
Jack stands and wheel chocks are much cheaper than a replacement rib cage and skull...