The alternator on my car went kaput. Nowhere in my area would do the job for less than $800-something, and most places were quoting $900-$1k.
So I looked up how-tos on YouTube and it looked like something I, a woman with zero experience or knowledge of working on cars, could do.
I got a remanufactured alternator for $180 and got to work following the tutorials I’d found.
It certainly did not go smoothly, but I managed it. It took me 6 hours to get the alternator out, mainly because every goddamn bolt holding the parts in place were basically cemented in. I had to use my foot to stomp one loose because I didn’t have the strength in my arms.
Today I spent another 4 hours trying to put in the new one and all the parts back in place. And I did it!!
Except for the power steering belt. That fucker would not go into place, and trying to force the belt tensioner back took every ounce of strength I could muster.
All that work. All that time and effort and THE VERY LAST STEP to get my car up and running defeated me today. I had to get a task rabbit guy. He’s coming tomorrow to get my belt back on.
On one hand I feel proud that I made it this far. On the other I feel like a complete failure because it turns out I couldn’t complete the task myself.
Anyway, how was your weekend?
In some cars you really just need an extra set of hands to get a belt back on. One person on the tensioner and another actually moving the belt into place. Don’t feel bad, feel good. You did great.
Exactly what ^ said. Be proud.
A longer wrench helps too. Leverage baby!
Listen, I took autoship in highschool, my dad talked me into doing an engine swap on his 1969 Volvo and got me to do all kinds of maintenance on his 1955 Chevy pickup truck, all before I turned 18. Out of highschool I got a job in a shop that specialized in Mazda rotary engines. I have worked on so many cars for money and as a favor for friends and I can tell you I have been similarly defeated so many times by similar simple things. It happens to everybody sooner or later, even guys with giant toolboxes and years of experience. Sometimes you just need help, and that’s ok.
I’m proud of you, cuz I know how these kinds of jobs can be, and how exhausting it is just getting hard to reach bolts undone. You’re not a failure, you are great. Bongo Stryker says so.
Props on getting so much done!
trying to force the belt tensioner back took every ounce of strength I could muster.
You need a breaker bar. Already have one? You need a breaker bar and a pipe 😀
+1 for the “Breaker Extender” lead pipe.
Congrats on saving $800! Sure you had to bust your ass and in the end pay whatever task rabbit is - what, a 1-hour minimum for under a further $100. Take that $700 you didn’t need to spend on car repairs, and and if you have it, save it. If you don’t have it, think of all that credit interest you don’t have to pay. And go order yourself a pizza.
Replacing the alternator can be either the easiest or most difficult task ever, depending on the car. But if it’s a Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge, it’ll always be difficult because they hate their customers.
In theory, it should always be easy. Loosen the tensioner, pop off the belt, unscrew a few things, remove a couple wires, pop it out, and perform the steps in reverse. But sometimes it gets stuck or the manufacturer requires you to practically take half the car apart to get to it.
What might help is getting a second set of hands. Sometimes it just takes one person putting the belt on while the other is holding the tensioner back.
Step 1 for any car repair I want to do on my own is to look at how accessible the part is. If it’s easy to reach, I’ll do it. That’s why I like working on my old V8 F-150. Last year, I replaced the intermediate steering shaft, which I assumed would be difficult, but the entire thing is easily reachable beside the engine thanks to the huge engine bay.
It’s also one reason why I don’t touch my mid-engine Porsche despite very high labor rates at the shop. Besides being mid-engined, German engineering requires simple things to be weirdly complex. For example, replacing the battery can cause a control unit to forget that the car is equipped with heated seats, so they stop working.
Yeah, that’s not a surprise. German and Italian imports love to have some odd complication.
They’re not alone, though. GM also loves their boneheaded decisions. My parents old LeSabre had the battery go out. For some odd reason, they decided it should be placed under the back seat.
Yes, so much this. Every time I have to do something in the engine bay, I get a friend. A six-pack, a dinner, or whatever other small favor they need in return returns gold for pennies in the investment. If only the damn engineers would have the incentive to make working in the engine as easy as changing the oil (though Subaru even fucked that one up), life would be a breeze.
This is how it starts. Soon, you’ll start putting together a small collection of tools, and more knowledge about how the car is put together, and you will be driving a perfectly maintained and operational car that has a ton of miles on it, and it won’t give you any trouble - or at least, it won’t give you trouble you can’t solve.
That’s how I got started. I took the few hundred dollars I saved on my first project and bought a ratchet set, a hydraulic jack, and jack stands. The second repair I bought an air compressor and impact driver set because fuck, working on cars is hard! All that allows me to fix about 95% of my car’s issues and I can borrow tools for free from the parts store for the odd 5%.
The parts store tool rental program is a lifesaver. I don’t need to keep a bunch of obscure and expensive weird special tools around, and I don’t have to do sketchy or dangerous things that risk tearing up another part, or hurting myself.
I maintain that the best way to learn to mechanic is a 20 year old truck (any make) and a Harbor Freight socket set.
You got further than I’ve ever gotten trying to fix anything car-related. Good job! I feel like technology’s in such a complicated place at this point that nobody’s expected to be able to handle every single step of every situation on their own. You did awesome.
There’s a belt tensioner tool that can be rented from the auto parts store. This helps greatly to pull back the belt pulley to get a belt on. Had to do it once and having that tool made a big difference.
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Dude, I’m super proud of you! Tackling something like that with almost zero experience is fucking awesome, and the fact that you almost completely fnished it by yourself–100% solo, no less–is bad ass as hell.
You got pretty damn far. Those tensioners can be a bitch, I usually call a buddy whenever I have to muck with one because it’s easier to manipulate either the tensioner or the belt. Good job!
experience gained is priceless
Good for you for even trying!! I’m a middle-aged man and I am an avid handyman, even though I have an office job as a profession. Like you, it started because I didn’t want to pay someone else (I’m cheap that way). These days I am very adept at woodworking, carpentry, electrical, plumbing, felling trees, some car repair, and more. The way I look at it is “if THAT person can do it, so can I!”.
You didn’t fail today, simply for the reason that you attempted to do it. Don’t stop there! Your confidence and your finances will thank you down the road.
Something I learned as I got a little bit older. It’s worth paying for things to save yourself the pain in the ass. I trade a dude weed to mow my lawn.
It’s worth paying for things to save yourself the pain in the ass
Agreed, but it’s also worth knowing how to do things yourself, so you have the choice. On a car, the cost for some jobs is almost all labor, so having the option to do it yourself is great, plus it’s a skill you can teach your kids.
With a breaker bar, OP could have had the alternator out and the new one bolted in place in an hour. The belt might still be a problem, but spending an hour, then paying someone $100 to do the belt, feels a lot better than spending 10 hours, then paying someone $100 to do the belt.
Yeah, and because I know how to properly change the oil in my car, I’m happy to pay someone else to do it
Grass 4 grass
With car stuff it’s always “easy” in basic steps but it’s the knowledge and expertise how to handle all the exceptions to the process that is why labour costs what it does.
There’s tips and tricks for different car models but stuff like what to deal with a stuck bolt where even if I know what to do I probably don’t have the right tools.
I’m not sure getting the tools is worth the once every few years job.
It’s not too dissimilar from electronics work. Like laptop or cellphone repair. It’s easy… But what’s hard is troubleshooting when it all goes sideways on you.
Fuck 0’ model VW Beetles… that’s all I got to say. Shittiest electrical ever, and the entire car is held together by friggin plastic clips.
That’s really most european shit. Toyota and honda are the best.
That’s impressive stuff. My brothers replaced alternator belt a few days ago and the trick to put the belt on was to put the belt on the engine spool, and crank the engine to let it do the rest of the job. The difference though is that this car did not have a tensioner.
