I picked up an alternator for a pretty good price, after calling around. Spent about three hours removing the old unit & replacing it with new/shiny/better. This, of course, required removing the air breather & duct assembly, the oxygen sensor, the upper radiator hose, a wiring harness routing five unidentified wires, a throttle cable, and a palm-shaped gizmo that supports the radiator hose.
Got the unit in place, pried it into location with a tire iron & replaced the bolts; started putting pieces back in reverse order from above ... and can't get the belt back on the pulley. This is not my first rodeo - more on that farther down - and I know generally how to do this.
After climbing a stepladder - srsly - to lean farther over the radiator (I'm just shy of 6'2" ... I haven't needed a stool to reach anything in a very long time), I finally located the tension arm/pulley assembly for creating slack in the serpentine belt.
By this time, it was already noon, and I decided I'd had enough for that session. Cleaned up, changed clothes, and toodled back to work. I'll work on the belt tonight.
Ya know, I was a pretty fair shade-tree mechanic, back in the day. I've replaced everything on a '67 Ford truck except for the engine block. Rebuilt axles, replaced u-joints, adjusted clutches, replaced leaf & coil spring suspensions. I've replaced alternators, pumps, starters, and just about every other component there is ... rebuilt carburetors, you name it.
Now I remember why I stopped working on the blankety-blank cars. The manufacturers don't want you to, and they've dang near made it impossible. I have very little skin left on my knuckles & forearms this afternoon, as a result of squeezing adult-sized arms through spaces made too small and too crooked to allow such passage.
Update: ... and after I go buy a 1/2" to 3/4" adapter so I can use a socket wrench as a breaker bar, to move the spring-loaded tension arm. {sigh} It's always something.
The heck with it. I'll get the belt back on, but I'm done. Give me a '67 Bronco, and I'm good.
New car? Not so much.
Psalm 22:27-28: “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the Lord's, and he ruleth among the nations.”
7 comments:
I'd LOVE a 67 Bronco, or an International Harvester Scout.
Hi, John. Those were good trucks, in my humble opinion. The Bronco was actually Ford's response to the Scout, according to an old ('70s) book on 4WD vehicles.
I had two: '67 & and '69. The coil front suspension didn't like whoop-de-doos much, but otherwise a fine vehicle. And easy to work on.
When we first moved to Chicago we lived in an apartment... because of the lack of garage - I had an engine block sitting in my bedroom for several months. LOL. I don't remember where it went - it might have gone into the Pinto wagon we owned at the time. Back then my husband worked on cars because he had to - now he does the minor stuff.
I "can" do some of the easier stuff - but prefer to let others get their hands all dirty. *grin*
This post reminds me of trying to change the plugs on my 99' S-10. Just not enough room to do anything, so took it to the dealer. In order to just change the plugs it has to be on a hoist with the front wheels remove and then you need a 2 foot and a 1 foot extension and a universal joint to get at them. Love how they do good planning.
Teresa - I understand! I worked on my older cars because a) I could, b) I enjoyed it, and c) I mostly couldn't afford to pay anyone else to do it. But mainly I enjoyed the sense of accomplishment.
Richard - that sounds about right. My truck has no spark plug wires; the plugs are under a cap which is designed to be inaccessible to the backyard mechanic. The plugs themselves are not even visible. Now it seems that it will be a two-person job just to move the serpentine belt 1.5". Yay.
Most of the time a long half inch breaker bar can be used to prise the tention back off the idler pully..but the new vehilces have so much junk on them that it is damn near impossible to do it with disassembly of half the extras on the block.
And that is why I am no longer a shade tree mechanic
GuyK - that's exactly the problem. To have adequate room, I'd need to remove the fan shroud from the radiator, and possibly the fan itself. I'm going to give it one more try with just a short handle, and ... well, then we'll see.
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