Hi all,

I am new to these forums... and have a couple pretty basic newbie questions.

I am driving up 3.5 hours into the mountains tomorrow to do a rescue mission on my friends '96 F-350 with the 7.3L diesel. We need to go replace the alternator so that we can drive it back down the mountain... anyhow, my questions are:

1) The part number for the alternator he purchased from NAPA is: RAY 2135024. Is this the right alternator? It is a 165 amp alternator... but Chilton's seems to think he should have a 215 Amp alternator...

2) Is this alternator replacement really as easy as Chilton's shows? Their basic steps are:
i. Disconnect the battery ground cable (I'm going to d/c the positive cable and ground cable)
ii. Remove the adjusting arm bolt
iii. Remove the alternator through-bolt. Remove the drive belt from the alternator pulley and lower the alternator.
iv. Label all leads on alternator
v. Remove the alternator from the vehicle
vi. Reverse above procedure to install.

I haven't looked at his engine yet... but since he has a serpentine belt, I figured he would have a tensioner... does he have a tensioner? Will we need to do anything special with the tensioner to replace his alternator? The Chilton's manual mentions that some vehicles may have an automatic tensioner and that a special tool must be created to remove the tension... although it doesn't specifically say this 7.3L will have one... Thoughts? Comments?

Any other thoughts or comments people have are more than welcome...!

Thanks!
Rob

 

If i remember correctly the tensioner is an 18mm. I think there is only room for a wrench, don't remember if short socket will fit. That should be about all the steps, don't know for sure on the alt. size though...

 

I froze up an alt on a trip, got a Kid at a junk yard to replace it, wasn't bad. He said for those yrs they'r all the same if ur in a jam, pulled one from a 5.0 Mustang... but the bolt hook up ain't the same, so he drove 15 miles and back to get me a new alt. I broke down at an exit with a off brand Parts store, he got the kid for me, he only had the belt.

 

all you need to do is take the drive belt off. use a 15mm short socket on a 3/8 breaker bar ratchet wont fit to losen the tensioner. then undo the power cable on the back of the alt and the connectors on top then 4 bolts and its out

 

Thanks guys! This is all really good advice! I will be going to the store to buy a 3/8" breaker bar shortly...

I'm guessing the 165 amp alternator will be fine... might not put out as much power as desired, but should be enough to get the rig home. Will just need to monitor battery charge in the future to ensure it really is sized large enough.

Keep the advice coming if there is more!

 

I believe stock alternator is 130A and ambulance package is 215A. Don't really need a breaker bar to get the belt off. Thing to remember is if the alternator came with or without the pulley. If without then you will need a special puller to get it off and back on correctly. Don't want you to get all that way and start beating your head against the truck because you have no way to remove the pulley.

Here is a good link for reference ... 1996 Bronco/F-Series Workshop Manual

Post back and tell us how it went ...

EDIT: I was thinking about the other two pumps. Alternator pulley just screws on, too much sun today .. honey do's.

 

as in breaker bar i meant the little 10" one with a 3/8 drive not a 40".you dont need to really use it to force it lose but its nice becuase i know in my truck a ratchet wont fit but the breaker bar is just slim enough to fit

 

I just loosened mine this morning. All it takes is a 15mm socket and aa ratchet. I used 1/2" drive but 3/8" drive will work too.
A breaker bar will work also. The longer the handle the better. That way you have plenty of room to hold it.
But like I said a socket and ratchet will do just fine.

 

thanks for correcting me guys, I had 18 mm on my mind, but its been a while.

 

Wow... what a day... I had been planning for a day with a barrier or so, but I was not prepared for what I encountered...

So I went to bed pretty early on Sat night so I could get up at 5:30am on Sunday. I didn't quite realize there was going to be a big storm during the night that would cause so many problems:

Treasure Valley residents clean up after storm; 7,200 customers still without power

I had planned on waking up in the morning and reading over any new replies... I was unable to, though, due to the storm that knocked our power out all night and in the morning. Sorry for everyone that replied on Sat evening... your replies would have been incredibly helpful had my internet worked! Oh well, so I got up and got moving right away. I drove 2 hours and 45 mins and then found out that the road was closed 45 minutes from my final destination due to forest fires that had erupted. I guess I could have checked for this on the internet before leaving... oh wait, my power was gone... So I turned around and drove 2 hours and 45 minutes back to Boise and then drove up the other way. Another three hours later and I finally arrived on the scene... to find out that NAPA had sold us the incorrect alternator! The nearest open NAPA was over 2 hours away... so I called some NAPA people who were nice enough to open up the local NAPA that was only 20 minutes away. This was a nice gesture... but probably giving me the correct alternator in the beginning would have been nicer... oh well. The pulley nut was a bear to get off... ended up needing an impact wrench to break it loose. Everything else went smoothly... thank goodness. I'm not sure I could have dealt with too many other issues...

So I left home at 6:45am... returned home at 10:30pm... that is just too much time to change a simple alternator...