I received a call from my buddy Hunter again about his ES300. He said his alternator went out which he wasn’t excited about obviously because that means he needs to buy a new one. To me this was exciting because it was another opportunity to learn how to do something. He got it diagnosed at the local auto parts store and they said the solenoid was bad. He ordered one online and it was set to arrive the next day.
Some symptoms he was having include:
- Car won’t start (really inconvenient when leaving for work)
- Car won’t start again (hmmmm this is when you know something isn’t right)
- In the case of the Lexus ES300 the traction control light came on (I am guessing due to lack of voltage from the battery
After having these issues it could either be a tired old battery or an alternator. Getting the the alternator checked at the local store was an easy way to diagnose.
Our video shows the struggles of learning how to take the old alternator out and putting in the new one!
The process goes like so:
- Disconnect the negative terminal of your battery
- Loosen the tensioner on the alternator (This was the lower bolt on the alternator)
- Slip the belt off of the pulley on the alternator
- Loosen and remove the remaining support bolts from the alternator
- Place the new alternator in position of the old
- Place the support bolts into position and tighten just enough to hold the alternator in position (We still want it to be able to pivot with tensioner)
- Tighten the tensioner until the slack in the belt is gone (Do not over tighten or it could cause excess belt wear and puts strain on pulleys)
- Tighten the support bolts to desired torque rating
That is it! You just saved yourself a bit of money by applying yourself instead of paying some other guy to do easy work for you!
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy the video! We never know what we are doing until the job is done.