rebrush an alternator

[boxer3main]

this was going to halt a rebuild, I decided I did not like old bearing...and had no means to take it off gently at first ...



Feeling brainy today..I realized the old bearing on the alternator to be rebuilt really ought to go. Here it is pictured with the bearing that came with my spec stage 1 clutch..The alternator bearing is the same as a pilot bearing. I only had one problem. the bearing was 22 years old.. pressed on. without the 3 dollar mini gear puller that I break even on japanese sized stuff…



I made this from the pile below to be a puller. Some ghetto suspension droppers, some threaded rod, etc. Sounded like a big gun going off when the stubborn old bearing finally let go.



The old bearing had plastic sides, as alternators do play with juice, I am sure the metal version installed won’t hurt anything. I put the new bearing on with some high temp wheel bearing grease..not only for another future rebuild, it is anti-magnetic.

front bearing is very easy, that comes next

[boxer3main]

how not to rebuild an alternator. the quote is my you tube comment for the video.

this vid is nuts. prying the bearing off of a sensitive stator.. a wrong sized socket smashing the plastic sides of new bearing cover. Does he realize on a normal engine those are designed to hit 15000 rpm? They make little gear pullers etc. the center punched holes on the stator shaft are for this. I have made my own heavy duty puller for very old stuck alternators..never EVER pry them.

where I said stator should be rotor..he beat the stator as well.

update on my own little rebuild. this engine is set to 8500, the alternator gets darn close to the 15000 rpm mentioned.

I verified bearing to rear cover by how snug it is to take back off, and without brushes in, the alt is a neutral spin. It goes on for more than a minute even by a hand spin. A hum climbed out before rebuild, a resonating noise. I knew then to get the back bearing to a new one.

As back bearing is smaller than the front by alot and the old was still good..this is another way of verifying front needs nothing. I may get it anyway, but I don't need to for this one.

[boxer3main]

this was stubborn. the left grungy one was stuck on the browned shaft of the front of rotor. 8 inch gear puller to the rescue. Can't just smash these around. the nut is easy enough to get..but the rotor. its a goner once its gone.
lucky save..it did need a front half as much as the back.


I decided to just swap the whole front end. so this makes front and back half, both bearings, a volt regulator and brushes. the stator and rotor is the only original..lo and behold, those last forever. The old alternator was infected with something. I do not even trust the alloy. As if annealed squishy. Saved another one.

this is being done on my own as 3 remanned alternators had something seriously wrong. looking nice and clean..they were a monster. I found mismatched brushes, some longer than others, and old style regulators (heavy stampings - I guess this creates a problem). The one in car as of now, is perfected, as this rebuild will be as well.

the rebuild will be even better, as regulator will have no stamping on the cover at all..and brushes from the same company. the last little tidbit is a new nut for the pulley up front.

[boxer3main]

this turned out nice and quiet. pulley on tight..soldering is all that is left. This version of a rebuild, using the clean halves of a flunking remanned is a reward that goes beyond the lack of quality they gave me.


new front half (obvious reman remnant, simply clean by company who rebuilt it), new bacj half, two new bearings, aligned, no slop..pulley put back on in a way that should make next rebuilder angry at his pansy tools.

A trick I learned with the nut that holds pulley. hammer one edge to make it a lock nut. this takes a small amount of skill..just make it tough to put back on and not hurt threads. a squish.

next is soldering the brushes and the regulator, and that is on hold for now. A nice winter chore..unusual for me to be going at these extras this time of year.