mawby Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 Well it's been telling me for the last couple of weeks that I need to look at it. The squealing in the damp mornings taking longer and longer to stop as each day goes by. Then, this morning, silence! Genna and I had (conveniently for her!) car swapped and I managed to get all of 1/4 mile down the road before it was obvious something wasn't right. The battery voltage gauge was at half way and slowly heading towards the "you're ganna break down soon - hahahaha" mark, so I turned around and managed to get the car home. Suspecting the belt was at fault, I just replaced it. I think it's fair to say the old one had seen better days! I'm surprised it hadn't snapped. But, to my disappointment this hasn't fixed the problem. With the battery having been on charge for a couple of hours whilst I replaced the belt, the voltage gauge is sitting at half way again, but after a minute of the car being started there's a nasty burning smell and smoke coming from the alternator area. Although it didn't register at the time, I'm pretty sure there was smoke this morning before the belt change so I'm confident the problem is the alternator and not the new belt. A quick google reveals two methods of replacing the alternator. 1) Taking the exhaust off and drop it out the bottom. 2) Take the diagnostics port off and pull it out of the top. Has anyone done this themselves and can recommend how to do it? Or should I just admit defeat now and tow it to a garage? At this rate my cheap run-a-rounds are going to have saved me nothing. I might as well have kept the Supra's on the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave17 Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 I dreaded doing any work on my 2, especially cambelt time. I gave up in the end and got toyota to do everything, let them have the stress.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mawby Posted December 15, 2009 Author Share Posted December 15, 2009 I managed to get a new alternator for £130. Damn auto's have a higher output, slightly larger alternator than the common (read cheaper) manuals. I just went to fit it and no chance. I haven't got the space to drop the exhaust off and even then I don't think it will fit. And there's certainly no way it's coming out the top, not in the near freezing rain we have here at the moment. Off to a garage it is then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarky666 Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 Hardest job i ever encountered on my MR2 even more so that getting sheered screws out of front fog lights which i thought was the work of satan untill i encountered the alternator. Good luck, don't envy you ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mawby Posted December 15, 2009 Author Share Posted December 15, 2009 How did you do it? I don't mind hard jobs as long as I am confident I can actually finish it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarky666 Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 (edited) I didn't mawby sorry. Ran the battery to full charge and bombed into my local garage on route to work which fortunately was literally 1.5 miles from my house so it made it comfortably. He did it for £25 and it was ready by lunchtime..............i think from memory there was a good guide on the 'Know Your 2' section on http://www.MR2OC.co.uk but i just admitted defeat in the end. Edited December 15, 2009 by clarky666 (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistonbroke Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 I did my MR2 altenator, although I had a single side exit exhaust (left side ) so I didn't have to worry about that, and mine was a turbocharged manual with the probably smaller altenator. If you remove the O/S exhaust hangar bolts, (4 of them I beleive) I reckon you could push the exhuast down enough to pull the altenator out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarky666 Posted December 15, 2009 Share Posted December 15, 2009 (edited) EDIT: Ignore my bad Edited December 15, 2009 by clarky666 (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mawby Posted December 20, 2009 Author Share Posted December 20, 2009 Well the answer is, bracket off and pull it up through the top, but it needs two people really. Just as well Laz was around this weekend. Cheers Laz, another garage bill saved! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Wilson Posted December 20, 2009 Share Posted December 20, 2009 They really are a pain to do!! Alternator failure is very common on the MR2, usually oil ingress kills them. Check the crank pulley face of the sump carefully, the sump pans corrode and become porous, the crank pulley flings oil everywhere, and especially into the alternator. The bloody alternator on my Matiz went last week, engine mount off to get it out, can't get a rectifier for it, looking at 65 notes for new one off Ebay. What a POS these things are...The starter's been out 4 times, water gets in them if you go through deep puddles, and the Bendix rusts up. Nightmare to get off and on again. I am getting shot of the thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mawby Posted December 21, 2009 Author Share Posted December 21, 2009 It looks like a mixture of oil and water. When the thing was turned a load of water poured out, and the fact it is located right beneath the oil filler means any spillages end up on top of it too. Bloody stupid place to put it really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C_Strike Posted January 18, 2010 Share Posted January 18, 2010 Lol, same old trouble mine had. Actualy sold it before i had the need to replace. Sounds a common problem. The idea of having the alternatror under the oil filler is a bit odd lol I used a charger for the few days mine was problematic. Quite amusing having to plug it in everytime it stopped:p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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