You are moving the entire tensioner spring loaded arm. It rotates to the right and that loosens the tension. Letting it go it springs out to the left and tightens the belt.

 

Jump starting it and doing a short drive will do nothing for a dead battery.
Get it started, go to a local parts store have it tested and then replace your failed battery.

 

My bat was fine when I tested it a week and a half ago but thanks for the advice.

 

Take it back to the guy and have him test it, maybe something that he did not replace went out.
How much did you pay to have your rebuilt by this guy?

 

He didn't rebuild it he only replaced a part. I don't have the paperwork in front of me so I couldn't tell u which one. I'm gonna call him tomorrow.

 

So why are you wasting our time? Huh? HUH?


Just messin' with ya.

Give him a call and let us know what he says. I am betting he says bring it back and I'll make it right at no cost.

 

if you're going to remove the alt, then put a 15mm socket on the tensioner bolt, put a piece of pipe on the end of your socket wrench for leverage (about 18" is fine), and turn clockwise (like you were tightening). Remove belt. Then, unbolt the alt. To pry it off with no damage, use a standard size claw hammer. Insert the claw end into the left gap underneath the alt and pry it out like you were taking a nail out of a board. If you have the Bosch alt, then careful with the wires - the clearance is tight. If you have the valeo alt, then unscrew the wires before you remove the alt (the wire connectors are on top of the alt, the bosch connectors will be on the bottom). It'll make things easier.

 

Nice Spike, I was hoping you would chime in after reading about your alternator woes the past few months! I called Leroy and he kinda grunted and said bring it by and he'll take a look. I asked him what part he replaced and he couldn't remember... I trust the guy though, his shop looks like an alternator and starter shrine with bits and pieces hanging from the walls and ceiling. He is about 80 and has trained all of the alternator repair guys around where I live. So I guess I will give it a go and see what he says. Do you know about how much it costs to rebuild a bosch? Thanks Jay

 

I just finished the alternator swap. Piece of pipe added to the end of the wrench to get leverage on the tensioner pulley (15mm) is needed (turning clockwise to relieve the spring like tension and then it springs back in place), otherwise it is a hard pull and you do not get all the slack that makes removing the belt a little easier. I did not have a piece of pipe handy, and was thinking that is what I needed and had to get my son to get the belt off while I held the tension off, and without the leverage of the pipe there was not all that much slack. I did notice that the RAVE manual shows the tensioner pulley differently than where mine was. RAVE appears to show it more towards the center of the engine and below and above other pulleys, but mine was just below the alt. and the pulley closest to the battery as others have noted. Belt will pretty much stay where it is and can be put back on the pulley of the new alt without having to reroute the belt on any of the other pulleys.

Also, as mentioned, once you get the alt free from the mounting bolts (13mm), you will need to pry it up and wiggle a bit to get it out of the mounts. I used a big flat blade screwdriver and inserted just below where the left bolt mounted through the alternator. On the Bosch, like I have, you will need to twist and turn the alt to get to the nuts on the two connectors on the bottom of the back. Once I got the alt free from the mounts and up out of them, I ended up turning the alt back slightly down and an angled up towards the driver side a bit and got to the nuts with sockets. I rotated slightly to get to one nut and then the other. The smaller wire is very thin and short, so do be careful moving the alt around, I pulled on mine quite a bit and it stayed intact. Also, note the smaller wire required 11mm socket on the nut on the stud, and the larger wire requires 13mm socket on the nut on the stud. I was spinning the nuts by hand when I got them really loose and holding pressure back toward the stud as not to drop the nut and it kept spinning. I was thinking, how many threads does this nut have in it. What I found out is the the nut is attached to the lug on the end of both wires and will not drop, so I was holding it towards the stud and I did not let it come off. So that may help somebody. I had never seen a lug with the nut mounted on the end where the nut could still turn while the lug stayed in place.

I tried to leave the mounting bolts a little loose to give me some wiggle room on reinstall on the alt pulley to help get the belt over the lip. I ended up having the bolt closest to the driver side out too far and it interfered with the belt path. So I ended up getting both bolts through the mount points and started threading into the back of the mount and that got the bolt heads out of the way of the belt and still left me a little wiggle room for the pulley to dip it down a little to help get the belt back on. If you have the piece of pipe you may not need to do this as you will have more slack in the belt.

I picked up a new Bosch for $254 including overnight UPS shipping/insurance from PartsGeek.com out of NJ. Their shipping rates are very reasonable and flat rate in cont. US.

Thanks Spike for your information in assisting me before I tackled this. I too thought with your recent ALT issues you would have it all fresh in your mind.

 

Thanks for the tips! I am going to attempt it this weekend.