Glad to hear its not that difficult to replace. Sucks that it happened though in the first place.

 

I was going to take off the belt and spin the pulley by hand to see if I could isolate the squeak, but when I went for a drive, I couldn't reproduce the squeak anymore. Even if I turned on the a/c, I couldn't hear it. It seems as though it went away. Kind of a bummer too, because I set the entire day aside to work on the car. I guess I'll just have to keep my ears open to hear if it returns.

But when the time comes that I do have to replace the alternator, are there any tips or pointers you have that will make the install easier? Or is it pretty straight forward and easy to figure out? Can you also confirm which way to turn the tensioner pulley to release the belt? I read a post that said you had to turn your ratchet left instead of right.

 

If anyone's done this before I think a DIY would be greatly appreciated. I don't think one exists on CL and it seems there's at least a handful of people suffering from it (with more likely in the future).

 

The bearing is $16.42 retail, cheaper if you get it from a bearing house. Alternators are super simple to fix. The likelihood you need a completely new one is pretty close to zero. Just replace the bearings, and your golden for another 75k. If you want to be lazy you can replace the whole front piece including a new bearing for $23.97 retail. The rear bearing (unlikely it is the problem one) comes with the rotor, so it would not be cheap from Lexus, but if you take it to a bearing specialty house, they can read the number off it and sell you a replacement usually pretty cheaply.

I surely would not spend $400 or even $178 when all I need is a bearing replacement.

 

As you are facing the engine, put the ratchet on the tensioner and pull up and left. It will swing back. It has a pretty decent amount of kick back so don't be scared to pull it up/left.

 

Ultimax, I have not replaced the alternator. I did it on my previous car it was pretty simple. I am still waiting on the alternator from UPS. You just have to make sure the battery is disconnected. Anyway, Lobuxracer is suggesting to replace the bearing or front case w/ new bearing included. Probably I would check it out and return the alternator.

Lobuxracer, I know that a bearing assembly is very cheap. But I just chose not to deal with installing a new bearing. I did not aware that the front case with bearing is sold in retail. I tried to look for it online but couldn't find it. Probably, I didn't use the right term. Where can you find one?

Thanks!

 

After doing further research online and lexus repair manual. It seems that I will need a special tool in order to remove the pulley (SST A and B). Or I can build a custom tool (If I have a welder) like this guy did (link).

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f11/r...1822aa-835511/

Unfortunately, I don't have a welder.

I think Lexus uses Denso alternator (I need to confirm this tomorrow) and that guy did the same thing as the repair manual shows. If I don't have the right tool, I might damage the pulley. If that happens, Autozone might not accept the core back. This is why I chose to buy a replacement from AZ.

Lobuxracer, do you have any input?

 

i think this is the part number that lobuxracer is referring to: 27310-31220 FRAME ASSEMBLY, DRIVE END, ALTERNATOR. Sewell has it for $17.58 w/ CL discount.

 

Interesting - they put a clutch on this thing...looks like you'll need the tool, or you'll need to fab something to get that clutch off. All the old school stuff just had a big nut on it and you could whiz it off with an air tool. You might still be able to use an air tool instead of the SST, but you'd need to figure something out for the install. It wouldn't be too terribly hard to fab something with some hex bar stock, and you could use a regular wrench on the bar stock piece, but this isn't something you'd want to have to do in a hurry for sure.

I'm surprised they sell this with the pulley installed. It definitely didn't used to be that way.

 

Here is what I concluded. This is not be the only solution to chirping alternator bearing as Lobuxracer mentioned (replace the bearing or the front case). However, I chose to install a rebuilt-alternator from AZ. Again, this is NOT the only solution as I have personal reason why I chose this path. From my past experience, replacing alternators were pretty straight forward. Disconnect negative terminal, remove the old one and install the new one.

But for IS250 (and IS350), this is not true. I just finished installing a new alternator and it took me 4.5 hours total. I used two hours just to figure out how to maneuver the old alternator in SUPER tight space. Somehow, I was able to pull it out with the expense of breaking unimportant part of the cooling fan. Another two hours to figure out how to insert the new alternator. Out of my frustration, I cut one of the studs that holds front engine cover to gain more access room. I did this because I didn't drain the coolant and remove the upper hose. Image below illustrates my frustration.




If you ask me which the most frustrating part was, I would say the part where I had to remove a hidden bracket attached to the old alternator. It was impossible to pull out the old alternator with that bracket still attached. Bear in mind that the space is SUPER tight.



So, no matter which route (replace or rebuild) you take, you might still end up in the same situation. Also, I have no idea why the bearing went bad at 65k miles. Several people experienced the same thing. :Finished ranting:

Good luck! It is DOABLE. Patience and 6-pack of beers are your best friends in this case. Let me know if y'all have questions. I will try my best to answer them.

Notes:
According to Lexus repair manual, remove drive belt (of course); the coolant needs to be drained in order to remove the upper hose (for clearance); remove several wiring harnesses; remove idler pulley; remove a hidden bracket; then proceed with the alternator removal. Sounds pretty straight forward, except the coolant-draining part.

 

thanks for the info: that probably explans why the dealer charges $1K+ to replace an alternator!

 

I'm currently in the middle of removing my alternator... I've got all 3 bolts and a bunch of other stuff removed but the darn thing will just only swing down a bit... I can't get it out. I'm positive all the bolts/nuts I needed to remove are out.

How hard is it to actually take the thing out once everything necessary is removed?

 

I've had mine replaced by the dealership -

 

I figured it out. Turns out the nut on the bracket I removed was actually one of the header nuts or something else. The one for the alternator was right below it. It came out relatively easy after that.

 

Not sure if you guys succeded in removing the alternator but i cannot, looks like the Aircon unit is restricting it from moving down far enough to pull out forward, any suggestions???