Help needed. Putting Alt in. Cant get plastic air flow guide on!

[ErikT]

Please help. I have reached the point of desperation and I dont know how you guys do this.

I replaced the alternator on the car and wired it up. The problem is that I am struggling and struggling to get the plastic air flow guide on the back of the alternator fan housing...and it just doesnt match up!!

To trouble shoot, I took the wires off and the alt out and the plastic guide goes on outside the car, but it will not go on in the car.

Is there a secret to doing this? 101 Projects makes it sound so easy. It was easy to take off but is a ***** to put on and its killing me. I dont know what to do. Please help!

[no substitute]

What year, doesn't fit how? Is the fan housing in the right position? It has to be rotated to seat properly, otherwise it will be too high on the case.

[ErikT]

Car is an 86 Carrera. The fan housing is in the proper position with the numbers up and TDC mark down. The problem is that the air guide is all pinched in there in the back. Even with angling the whole assembly forward, I still can not get it to fit over the bolts coming on the back of the assembly.

there are 2 "fins" at the top of the air guide....perhaps I should bend these down to make the whole thing smaller and easier to manipulate?

I have literally spent hours on this PITA stupid job.

[ErikT]

BTW....another problem is that if I tighten down the 3 bolts holding the alt and fan in the hosing, the fan does not spin and it rubs!

WTF...what a stupd POS this is.

[Wil Ferch]

Would my tech article on alternator repair/ replacement ( Pelican Tech articles) help here ?
Dunno...been a long time since I wrote it but I went real slow....step by step.....

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/911_volt_reg_replace/911_volt_reg_replace.htm


Wil

[ErikT]

No thanks Will, I followed the article, Waynes 2 books, Bentley and the Haynes manual.

Im doing it right but its just not happening. BTW...looks like the fan housing is cracked on two of the fins. Is this a big deal? Probably why it rubs when tightended down. damn.

[no substitute]

I've done this twice, and while a bit of fitting is required it wasn't that difficult. Wil's article is well worth reviewing to help you resolve some of the problems you're encountering. It fit once, and it will again. Take a break, read a little, and then go back at it.

[Ray 911s]

If the bolts are not tightened evenly the fan will rub in the housing. Generally if they are all torqued to the same value, the fan should sit concentricaly inside the housing. If not, just observe where the blades hit the housing and tighten or loosen the nuts on the opposite side to sqaure up the assembly.

The two fins, in my experience, are easily cracked and nearly every one I've seen (OK, I've only done six of them!) has some small amount of cracking or flexing. They're not under any stress in application, so I wouldn't worry unless it looks like they are about to detach. The orientation of the fins should be twelve o'clock and ten-thirty. In other words, they are not both on top, but are more leaning toward the driver's side. The ground strap, or wire depending on year and previous work, may be causing the interference in the fit.

Also, make certain that the wiring harness is not binding. When you removed the alternator you may have pulled excess wire into the cavity in the shroud. There is enough slack that you could conceivably pull and extra couple of inches inside and that would be sufficient to make reinsertion a real problem. The wires slide through a grommet in the shroud. It's not easy, but you may be able to either push from inside the shroud or pull from outside the shroud to get rid of the slack.

Those are the only potential troubles that come to mind from my meager experience with these devils. I hope it helps. Other more experienced wrenches will certainly chime in as well.

[ErikT]

Ray, thanks. It does appear that there is too much wire in the air canal, therefore making it not easy to manipulate. I tried to reseat it with wire on the outside, but still no luck.

Regarding the cracked housing.... when the belt is on there under load, will this not cause the fan to rub?

I do not think that I cracked this housing. I noticed it there when I had the thing out this morning. Maybe I cracked it but I dont see how. I need to get another housing apparently

[speeder]

Can you take a picture or two and post it here? Are the wires interfereing w/ it somehow? It's not usually very difficult to install this, so something is wrong w/ your set-up. I would also advise taking a break from it, I can read the frustration in your post and I've been there, but you don't want to force it or break the thing nad then find out that there was nothing wrong w/ it, just human (your) error.

Also, it should not be necessary to bend the air foils. Please post a picture.

[Ray 911s]

Sorry - I may have mis-read your post. I thought you meant the plastic/metal air guide inside the shroud was cracked. If you are referring to the alloy fan housing that is a different story.

I believe I have read/heard of people using JBWeld on these housings. The process was to drill a small hole at the end of the crack to prevent (or slow) crack propagation, then apply JBWeld to the crack. I can't comment on the advisability of this repair. When I discovered a crack in mine I threw it away and bought a different one. Check with Jerry at www.euroeastparts.com for a used housing.

Still, however, if the crack is partial and has not opened up wide then it is unlikely to be the source of your rubbing. Patiently adjust the tightness of the nuts on the back of the alternator studs holding the assembly into the housing until you true it up. Again, start by making sure they are evenly tightened (use a torque wrench if you have one), then tighten or loosen nuts on the opposite side from the interference until it is squared up. It shouldn't take more than a quarter to half turn on a couple of nuts. Be patient; it will true up.

One more thing to check. At about seven o'clock the ground wire is fastened to the assembly. Make sure the ring connector is not between the alternator and the plastic air deflector or housing. This will affect the alignment of the fan as well. It should be the last thing on before the nut.

[ErikT]

At about seven o'clock the ground wire is fastened to the assembly. Make sure the ring connector is not between the alternator and the plastic air deflector or housing. This will affect the alignment of the fan as well.

I am not sure what you mean. When I am looking down into the section when attaching the wires...the brown (ground) wires are on the right...the Red wire is on the bottom and the blue wire is on the left. See Pic.

Im assuming that the brown is ground.

All of the wires fit into the air guide...but the air guide is not fitting onto the back of the housing. I tried twisting it and also the housing in every conceivable position but it still doesnt work.

At this point...its all MOOT, because i noticed that the housing is cracked in two places and will need to buy a new one before I can proceed.

This $150 repair is quickly turning into close to a $900 repair, with additional parts and car rental. Grrr....

[Ray 911s]

There's another ground that comes up from the engine case to the alternator assembly. It is not installed until after the alternator/deflector/fan/shroud is put together, but before bolting everything to the shroud.

Upper left in this photo. Wire coming up from case bolt that attaches to the alternator assembly.

[Ned nyna 11]

Connect up the alternator after the guide is in position but before you install the guide screws.
Ned

[oneblueyedog]

The relay is positoned at the bottom of the fan housing.
The cracks in the webbing of the fan housing make it difficult sometimes to keep the belt tight. I had to replace mine.

Lee78SC

[Wil Ferch]

ErikT's 1986 car has the "relay" ( more correctly..."voltage regulator") at the 12 0'clock position of the fan housing. Some SC's ( those with the conversion kit to go internal VR?), I think, have this at 6 o'clock....

Wil

[ErikT]

There's another ground that comes up from the engine case to the alternator assembly. It is not installed until after the alternator/deflector/fan/shroud is put together, but before bolting everything to the shroud.

Ray...are you sure this additional ground is on an 86 3.2? I didnt take it off when removing assembly and dont see it there now. Also, there is not a mention of it in Bentley or Waynes book.

Maybe it is missing on the car? I cant see it in the picture that you posted...

[Ray 911s]

Here's photo identifying the ground. Circled in white, upper right.
You know - the other left. .




It has been on every alternator I've ever changed, although some have had wires as shown while others have had braided straps. All mount to the same locations.

This ground is shown in Wayne's rebuild book on pages 135, 155, 179, and 182. It is also mentioned in the disassembly phase on page 26 and shown on page 27.

Wayne's 101 Projects book mentions this ground on page 63 in paragraph 2.

The braided version is shown in the Haynes in photos 7.14a and 7.14 b on page 19, and in photo 30.21 on page 34.

[ErikT]

Ray... thanks very much!

This obviously was not connected on my car! This may be why the tack always "bounced". The Previous owner did this, as well as apparently cracking the housing for the fan too.

PPI didnt pick these things up and I didnt know to check for them.

Erik

[ErikT]

Ray...does that ground bolt down on this bolt on the assembly in this picture?

Im assuming so...my car didnt have that bolt and I was wondering what the empty hole was for. ha.