liquiddi

hate to tell you guys this but there is a much easier way to get it out. Lift up the car a little bit on the passenger side and take out the 2 sway bar screws. You can then move the sway bar enough that the alternator comes right out. You do have to take out 3 screws for little brackets holding lines down there. Took me 2 hours to replace my wife's. Next time will take 1. Super easy.

TheDeep

some helpful tips here. I was really surprised that a local shop wanted only 150 to replace the alternator and serpentine belt. Sadly, I had it made up in my mind that I'll do the job myself so that's what I am doing.

I am struggling with getting to the two bolts on the steering wheel pump. Anyone know how to get these suckers out? I already took out the air intake hose. Anything else I should remove to make this job easier?

EDIT: Figured it out. Inserted the wrench extension through the holes in the steering wheel pump pulley. That did it.

chexmix64

I was able to get all the electrical wires off, the long alternator bolt, and the big nut on the up/inside. I am having an issue with the smaller bolt/nut at the top. I was able to unscrew it to a certain point but it doesnt look like it comes completely out. I am unable to get a wrench on the nut behind the alternator support bracket in order to get the front nut off. Any suggestions? FYI the serpentine belt is off

deeken

Hey all, just got done replacing the alternator on my 06 GX470. It took a bit over 3 hours to complete. I removed it from the bottom of the car. I tried to remove it from the side but there was no way this thing was coming out from that end. I removed the two bolts from the sway bar to give me extra clearance and had to remove the power steering pulley. As people mentioned before the whining noise is now gone and so is the battery indicator light is gone. It's nice having my car back and rewarding to get it done myself .

I still can't get what possessed the SOB's at Toyota to put this damn thing in such a difficult spot. I've replaced several alternators over the years and none of them took me over 30 minutes. I hope the refurb alternator lasts me a few years as I don't want to do this job again any time soon. Anyways, this is a challenging project but it will save you several hundred dollars if you do it yourself.

MADUFF3

Hoestly, I have had my 2009 GX 470 23 days and the ALT went out (Diode whine); it was super easy to change considering you have a V8 in a midsize SUV. I recommend one YOU TUBE video, it was super helpful.

LINK:
Took me about 3.5 hours start to finish and the most challenging part was probably a tossup between taking off the PS pulley or reinstalling the serp belt... The fact that the ALT sits on two studs and one has one bolt makes alignment a snap. I bought a rebuilt 250 amp alt off of Ebay for $195.00 the facotry is only a 125 amp I think. The added amperage will come in handy as mods happen as they always do!!

I did it just as listed in the video and it was too easy.
all I needed was:
10,12,14, and 17 MM sockets and wrenches
a 6in extension to jam the PS pulley
small screw driver to get the clips out (for the cowl above the ALT and the pass. side

I used nothing else... one bit of truth in lending in a past life I was a technician...