How do you replace the alternator on a 1996 Toyota Corolla?

Answer 1

If you are standing at the front of the car with the hood raised, the alternator will be bolted to the side of the engine closest to you, at the left corner. You will notice the metal housing with coils of wire showing through the grates. Begin by disconnecting the battery cables. The alternator is secured to the engine with a bolt hinge on the top, and with a bolt slide on the bottom bracket of the alternator. The bolt slide mechanism is to allow the belt tension to be adjusted. 1) Begin by loosening the bolt that attaches the bracket to the slide. The head of the bolt faces the passenger side, and will require the use of a 12mm socket. You just need to get it loose enough to let it move. Don't completely remove it yet. 2) Next, unscrew the bolt that controls the tension on the belt. This will be the long bolt with the head facing towards the front of the car. It also requires a 12mm socket. Keep turning the bolt counter-clockwise until you can move the alternator enough to remove the belt from the alternator pulley. 3) Now you can unscrew the bolt on the top bracket. This bolt requires a 14mm socket. 4) Disconnect all wires from the alternator. You can now remove it from the engine bay. 5) Installing the new alternator is simply the reverse of removing the old one. Reattaching the bottom bracked to the bold slide can be challenging, and may take some trial-and-error to fit it back in. Do not tighten down the bolts yet. 6) After you have remounted the alternator, and have the belt back on the pulley, begin to turn the tensioner screw clockwise. This will push the alternator away from the engine, tightening the belt. The way to tell if you have tightened the belt enough is to push down in the middle of the belt (between the two upper pulleys) with your finger. A properly tightened belt will only flex by about 1/4" to 3/8". 7) Now you can tighten down the rest of the bolts that mount the alternator to the engine (remember not to accidentally continue tightening the belt-tensioner bolt). 8) Reconnect all wires to the alternator. 9) Reconnect the battery leads. You must first attach the negative (-) lead, then connect the positive (+) lead. Most of the time, when an alternator fails, we don't realize it until the battery is dead and the car no longer starts. If this is the case, you must remember to give your battery a full recharge before attempting to use the new alternator. Running a car engine when the battery is extremely hard on the alternator because it has to not only power the car, but recharge the battery as well. This can cause your new alternator to fail as well, putting you back at square one. That's all!