replacing alternator - V70 T5

**jdavis** · Thursday 15th January 2009, 23:57

anyone done this? is it an easy job?
think i might have a go at doing mine, fairly competent when it comes to mechanics.
Thanks

**Baj** · Friday 16th January 2009, 00:10

What year is the car?

I ask as to whether it is a phase 1 or 2. I assume there may be a difference

**1996 850 T5** · Tuesday 3rd February 2009, 18:20

just did mine on the 850 the other week, shouldnt think there will be too much difference?

drop the water, and be prepared to catch any oil dropped from the cooler,

disconnect/drop out the rad/intercooler/fan assembly (youll prob have to raise the front of the car to get clearance)

then once these are out of the way you can get stuck in!

next youll need to relax the serpent belt, the tensioner has a 3/4" square hole in the centre that you insert a special tool into, take of the tension, and slide a pin into it to hold it in the relaxed position....

as i had no special tool, what i did was grind down an old 1/2" drive to 3/4" drive adapter down so it fitted between the inner wing and into the tensioner, and then used a 3/4" spanner on the remainer of the flank to relieve the tension, and used a 3mm allen key to pin it in position

youll have to take the power steering reservoir front plate off, the alternator is held on by 3 bolts, one is a little tricky to get to as the head is under the back of the power steering pulley, but a small extension on a socket carefully manhandled into place should sort it

***remember to disconnect the battery as the heavy duty wire to the alt will be live***

you should then be able to wrestle it through the hoses still remaining in the engine bay

most importantly practice swearing for at least a week before hand, and make sure you fully clip the oil hoses securely back onto the rad before starting up (make sure the retention clip is fully seated home) otherwise youll hear a loud gurgle, and find an oil slick under you car!!

have fun!

**jdavis** · Thursday 5th February 2009, 16:05

thanks for the tips.
all done now, local garage quoted me £125 fitted. 12 month guarantee etc. i bit his hand off, lol.

**1996 850 T5** · Thursday 5th February 2009, 18:10

Bargain! make sure he put antifreeze in!

**jdavis** · Tuesday 10th February 2009, 10:16

Originally Posted by 1996 850 T5

Bargain! make sure he put antifreeze in!

anitfreeze in the alternator? lol

**siamblue** · Tuesday 10th February 2009, 17:29

Wow, that seems a lot of work for replacing the alt, on my ME7, all i did was disconnect battery, use a spanner to release the aux belt tensioner, slip aux belt off, the undo the 4 bolts on the AC pump, take the top 2 bolts fully out, take off alt wiring then take off the 1 remaingin bolt holding the alt on,

Gary

**1996 850 T5** · Tuesday 10th February 2009, 18:13

ha, trust me to do it the hard way!!

whats me7 mean?

**Dangerous Dave** · Tuesday 10th February 2009, 18:26

Originally Posted by 1996 850 T5

whats me7 mean?

ME7 is the ecu model used in later V70s

The 850 uses the Motronic 4.3 (M4.3) and possibly the Motronic 4.4 (M4.4) in the very last 850s (my 850 AWD has the 4.4).