ALTERNATOR, VOLTAGE REGULATOR, ALT BUSHING REPLACEMENT 81-93 900, 94 Convertible

Disconnect the battery negative cable and the wiring to the alternator. Remove the alt. belts(you don't have to take all the belts off, just remove the alt adjusting bolt and pull the alternator closer to the engine and slip the belts off it, leave the belts on the car). Now let the alternator fall back away from the engine as far as it will. Removing the a/c belt and loosening the two 6 mm Allen's holding the top of the a/c compressor bracket to the head now will ease later stages.

Remove the nut from the bottom bolt holding the alternator to its lower bracket. Do this by getting a wrench on the nut to hold it and turn the 17 mm bolt from the front. The bolt is too long to come out of the bracket as it will hit the firewall, but pull it out until it just misses the firewall, you use it for a lever in a sec. Now remove the 6 mm Allen at the rear of the alt lower bracket, holding it to the block, a long extension, a swivel and a 6 mm Allen socket make this easy, but you can do it with a regular Allen wrench. This bolt would have been blocked by the oil filter. Now remove the 12 mm bolt holding the bottom of the a/c compressor bracket. It is long and you can just get it past the alternator with the long 17 mm (lever) bolt pulled back. A long extension and a swivel 12 mm socket make this easy, but you can do it with a wrench.

Now use the long 17 mm bolt in the bottom of the alt to turn the bracket up, swiveling it on the remaining 'hidden' 6 mm Allen in its lower point, until the bracket turns enough to allow you to remove the 17 mm bolt past the firewall and out of the alt and bracket. The alternator will now come out, though you will have to maneuver it past the heater hoses and wiring and brake master cylinder.

ALTERNATOR BUSHINGS

Once it is out, now is the time to change the rubber bushings in the bracket for the alternator as well as the bushings in the upper adjusting arm for the alt where it meets the block/timing cover. These wear and get hard and allow excessive vibration and cocking of the alternator, increasing wear on the belts and water pump. They push in and out. A little shot of WD-40 will aid in the installation of the new bushings. If you have access to a bench grinder, removing the inner metal part of the new bushings until they are flush with the rubber or a little below will tighten up the mount.

VOLTAGE REGULATOR/BRUSHES

Before you go through this though, check the brushes on the voltage regulator. You can remove them from the alternator with it still on the car by the means of two screws holding the regulator to the alt. If they are less than 8-10 mm long, they are probably the reason the alternator quit working. You can also buy just the voltage regulator that comes with new brushes already installed.