Technical Fitting a new alternator

[Matthew Kirk]

Hi guys,

I tried finding a similar thread but I couldn't so forgive me if this has already been covered.

I have ordered a new alternator for my Panda 1.2 (with air con) and I've come to realise that the job might be a lot more difficult that I first realised. From what I've read, people have said that I may need to:

- Remove the air con compressor and pipes
- Remove the engine mount
- Disconnect exhaust flange
- Remove driveshaft

Surely this cannot be serious, I thought I could just remove it and drop it through the car. Having previously owned a Ford Focus 1.6 where the alternator was situated at the front of the engine, this particular design seems flawed.

Can anyone give any advice or guidance on how to change it on a Panda 1.2 Eleganza 2009. Thanks for your help.

Matt.

 

[AB100]

Hi guys,

I tried finding a similar thread but I couldn't so forgive me if this has already been covered.

I have ordered a new alternator for my Panda 1.2 (with air con) and I've come to realise that the job might be a lot more difficult that I first realised. From what I've read, people have said that I may need to:

- Remove the air con compressor and pipes
- Remove the engine mount
- Disconnect exhaust flange
- Remove driveshaft

Surely this cannot be serious, I thought I could just remove it and drop it through the car. Having previously owned a Ford Focus 1.6 where the alternator was situated at the front of the engine, this particular design seems flawed.

Can anyone give any advice or guidance on how to change it on a Panda 1.2 Eleganza 2009. Thanks for your help.

Matt.

Well, it's a cramped space. Focus has more room under there.


We had ours replaced last year and I hate having to pay someone else..........


Some say it's possible from underneath without removing the aircon unit but I'm not so sure. Anyway - they didn't remove driveshafts and so forth, they just popped the aircon unit off the top, to make access easier and then dropped the alternator down, which I'm told was a pig to do.


£200 with fitting. Hurtful.

 

[koalar]

Not a job I have done myself.


Hanynes manual

1 disconnect battery
2 remover air cleaner
3 remover auxiliary belt
4 remover right hand side drive shaft
5 unscrew the bolt securing the rear engine mount to the subframe
6 disconnect the cables
7 remove the alternator

Doesn't mention removing the engine mount or supporting the engine just remove the bolt ?

No mention of aircon ?


or exhaust flange ?





Could be worse. On an A class you have to drop the engine and gearbox.

 

[Matthew Kirk]

Hi,

Many thanks for your help guys. The alternator should arrive tomorrow and when it does I'll be sure to try and fit it in the evening.

Hopefully it shouldn't be too difficult - unlike the A-class, that's crazy!

Matt.

 

[Matthew Kirk]

I tried removing the alternator last night. I removed the bottom bolts of the alternator but couldn't remove the top one without removing the air con condenser.

How do you remove the air condition compressor, I couldn't find the bolts.

I also saw that I need to remove the some lower parts - drive shaft/exhaust

Any help appreciated.

Matt.

 

[AB100]

I tried removing the alternator last night. I removed the bottom bolts of the alternator but couldn't remove the top one without removing the air con condenser.

How do you remove the air condition compressor, I couldn't find the bolts.

I also saw that I need to remove the some lower parts - drive shaft/exhaust

Any help appreciated.

Matt.

You'll probably now see why I took it to an aircon garage for them to fit the alternator and then re-gas the aircon.


I'm pretty sure that if you do remove the compressor, you'll need to disconnect the pipes and thus you're looking at losing the coolant, which is illegal. Even then, they told me the alternator had to go out from below.


I was told the top bolt was undoable without removing the compressor but I'm not sure how. Sorry can be of no more help. Proper pain.

 

[portland_bill]

Haynes manual

1 disconnect battery
2 remove air cleaner
3 remove auxiliary belt
4 remove right hand side drive shaft
5 unscrew the bolt securing the rear engine mount to the subframe
6 disconnect the cables
7 remove the alternator

Doesn't mention removing the engine mount or supporting the engine just remove the bolt ?

No mention of aircon ?


or exhaust flange ?

eLearn, the official Fiat manual says almost as Haynes does.
Also says remove engine steady bar/mount
And, remove bolt holding exhaust to bracket on gearbox. Presumably so it can be pushed slightly out of the way.
No mention of disturbance to any aircon components, so presumably alternator bolt is difficult but not impossible.

Drive shaft can be either popped out of the box, which means oil loss, so new gearbox oil needed, or remove boot from shaft inner joint and remove shaft from joint. may need more grease, and new clip.

Might take all Easter weekend. Ensure large supply of chocolate eggs is available as recompense.


Really looking forward to mine sometime in the future.

 

[DaveMcT]

Are you 100% sure the existing alternator is goosed? Have you checked the wiring connections? Though TBF, that's likely to need almost as much work.

 

[Matthew Kirk]

Hi DaveMCT,

The alternator's bearings are failing and with the belt removed you can hear the 'chirping' that is replicated when I spin the alternator pulley.

The alternator itself is fine and charges perfectly it's just sadly the bearings are on their way out.

Matt.

 

[Matthew Kirk]

Hi DaveMCT,

The alternator's bearings are failing and with the belt removed you can hear the 'chirping' that is replicated when I spin the alternator pulley.

The alternator itself is fine and charges perfectly it's just sadly the bearings are on their way out.

Matt.

 

[DaveMcT]

Hi DaveMCT,

The alternator's bearings are failing and with the belt removed you can hear the 'chirping' that is replicated when I spin the alternator pulley.

The alternator itself is fine and charges perfectly it's just sadly the bearings are on their way out.

Matt.

Alternator bearings can be replaced. But quite often it's not the bearings but the stator core that has corroded, cracked and causes the scraping noise. Its more common on cars that don't get much use.