HELP. Alternator Question
 

My car started makiing a metallic whirring/grinding noise that seems to be coming from the alternator. I was going to remove the belt and see if the bearing is bad but can't figure out which way to turn the bolt holding the pulley on. The Bentley manual pic seems to show it turning clockwise (looking from the rear of the car) but when I did this it turned about 1/8 a turn and seemed to get tighter....
Also, IF I can get the alternator belt off can I start the car for a couple of seconds to see if the sound has dissappeared, thereby confirming it's related to the alt.?
Thanks,

"Righty tighty, lefty loosey". Turn it counter-clockwise as you face the rear of the car. After you get the belt off, you can turn the fan by hand. You should be able to hear/feel if the alternators bearings are bad. The fan should rotate very smoothy. Also, check to see if your fan blades are rubbing against the bottom of the fan shroud.

Yes it is left, I had to put a big pipe over my ratchet handle and tuck my pulley wrench underneath my AC compressor to break the Fan Belt Bolt. It came off easily after that. Good Luck. I would not run the car without the fan!

Hi Buck

I had the same problem a few years ago with a 1975 911 ? ..
depending on your alternator , you might have a hex socket 'hole' in the center of yours , if so just put a allen wrench in to hold the thing solid and use a wrench to loosen nut.Or just put a impact socket gun on it and spin it off ..

Then hand spin it and see if smoth motion , or as you said start the car for a few seconds to hear if the noise is gone , as you may have one thats only loud with some loading on the bearing by being pulled on by the belt

Joe

Thanks for the help everyone. I finally got it off and briefly ran it without the fan belt and the sound is completely gone which seems to indicate it was the alternator bearing starting to go. I could spin it easily after ther belt was removed and did not hear anything too loud. I also put a new belt on and the sound is completely gone, at least on my short test drive.
I also noticed there were 5 shims on the inside and 2 on the outside. I put them back exactly as before and it seems to be properly tightened but I am worried since I thought there were suppose to be only six. Should I remove one of the five on the inside...and what could have made the sound go away?
Thanks again,

Buck: It sounds like the bearing is failing. The sound has probably temporarily gone away due to the change in belt tension with the new belt. I'd pull the alternator and have a shop test it. Having just had an alternator fail 50 miles from my house, I can tell you it's no fun (and not cheap) to have the car flat-bedded home.

Good luck.