How hard is it to replace an alternator bearing

I've only ever changed the whole alternator, if you can find a source for the bearing you could probably take it apart and change it though. A new alternator from the dealer is over $400 last I checked, but you can likely buy a rebuilt one for much less from a local auto parts store. Changing the alternator is not particularly difficult, if you're comfortable doing general maintenance.

right up! but are we sure that it's not an alignment problem? a bolt failed on me @ the intersection of nowhere & no brain (grade 8? whatdayoumean, i never got out of 5th?) the v belt could no longer transmit power (shredded, there is a Jon Deere that fits) & thus the alt didn't charge. rebuilt alts are cheap, when i was young & broke, i once rebuilt a 4 barrel Weber -- try that in your spare time. your choice. 60 US or 3 days asking yourself -- now where do you think that goes. i like learning & my money!!!!!

why are you still talking to a dealer? you are now part of a huge community. network!! you will be taken care of. the only requirement

-- pass it on.

I've never done it on a FWD Volvo, but in any case the challenge is access. There are only 2-3 bolts and about as many wires to R&R, but in some cars you will swear you need 5 more elbows in your arm to get to them. Don't skip the "disconnect the negative battery cable" step that any manual starts with. There is often no fuse of any sort between the battery and the big red wire on the alternator, and if it shorts to something, there is enough current available to set the wiring harness on fire.

the rebuild price still seems steep. contact me privately i might have a line on better/cheaper.

oooh!! you raised a # of points. replacement 30 min to 3 weeks (45 min). 4 hands are better than two (esp if the +2 are young strong & stupid). tension? well, you know when you know. it just runs right. officially, check deflection -- it should be about 1cm. getting the belt off is not a problem a knife, scissors, a rusty spoon. putting back together is more of a problem. i think you will need to pop the timing & re tension everything.

this raises another ? WTF? alts don't just break. people put them back together usdab & then they fail. whoever replaced the timing belt needs to answer a few ?s.

According to my Haynes manual (I no longer have the car, so I can't verify) there is a spring-loaded tensioner which automatically maintains the correct tension. It says you have to relieve the tension when removing and re-fitting the belt by putting a spanner on the tensioner nut and turning it anti-clockwise - i.e. pushing the end of the spanner towards the rear of the engine compartment.

That sounds like a serpentine belt like a friend's Buick used. As lousy as that car was, I have to admit it was the easiest most straightforward alternator replacement I've ever done. Bolted right to the top of the engine and took about 5 minutes to change.

With V-belts, you tension them until there's about 1" of deflection when you push on a span of the belt with your finger. It's not rocket science, doesn't have to be exact, but too loose and it squeals, but too tight just puts more stress on the bearings.

The belt to the alternator is called the alternator drive belt generally, sometimes it also drives other things, sometimes a single belt wraps this way and that, driving most or all of the engine driven accessories, that is referred to as a serpentine belt. Yes, changing the timing belt generally involves removing any other drive belts since they pass in front of the timing belt. Yes if the alternator shaft wiggles at all the bearings are shot and it should be replaced ASAP. It sounds like your mechanic is honest.

If you are comfortable doing basic mechanical work then I think you will be fine with this. Get a Haynes or similar manual, read through the instructions a couple of times, make sure you have all the required tools and parts on hand, and then set about the work. Allow a weekend just in case you break something or get stuck, plenty of people here can offer you tips if you have trouble. So long as you don't lose any bolts or forget how it goes together it should go pretty smoothly.

it seems like you know that weekends can be good/bad. no matter how well you plan, there will always be that last little "gevortner" that you didn't think of -- or was it a "ramitsframits"? i could quote the hhtg, but you know where this is going. always have alternate transport. 99% of the time things are easier than they seem. the other

110 seems fine. if it seems heavy, consider Archimedes.

You would probably have to remove the belt to tell. The play in the shaft may be only a few thousandths of an inch, a good bearing should have *no* runout that you can feel.

I see you used a "mobile mechanic."

Not necessarily a bad way to go.

I was doing a transmission R&R on a Volvo 850R and having never done this task on a FWD, I was a bit nervous about pulling the CVCs.

I called a couple mobile mechanics I found from cragigslist.com, and quickly zeroed in on one guy who knew the answers to the questions I asked him, to try to prequalify him.

To make a long story short: a Win-Win situation.

Well, everything is done now. The old alternator did produce a noise, but the shaft was not moving. The new alternator is in place. I'm glad I did not do it by myself -- did not have all the tool, and access is tough. I helped mobile mechanic to do it though: took him two and a half hours - of course it was his first volvo. Half way through the project I thought I'll have a bunch of spare parts as opposed to a car, but alas the car is all done and running fine.

Thank you very much for your support!

Henry

Times and alternators have changed a bit, but in the '80's I had the fortune to take a car (either and AMC or a Volvo, I forget) to a local 'old school' mechanic. It had a noisy alternator. He replaced the bearing in it. The charge was $.50 for the part and about $25 for labor. Total.