Has anyone done a alternator replacement on a GS400? If not that at least a 1uzfe engine? Would you be able to point me to a diy? I've done a search but it just seems like people are asking or having problems. I've seen pdfs of it but I'm not confident enough just based off that to do it myself as people said they have had problems when following it. If someone could point me in the right direction it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Here is a description which seems worthy for your r/r of alternator.

http://www.lextreme.com/alternator.html

 

I just did it on my GS400 last weekend. Taking the belt off is super easy. Its not a very hard replacement, the only hard part was taking off the power steering pulley. Took a lot of force to get it off (rent or buy a pulley holding tool). The rest is just unbolting everything attached to the alternator and it literately drops out the bottom. The one thing I did that another member said helped was to remove the 4 bolts holding the sway bar on the bottom of the car. It allowed more room to drop out the alternator.

Sorry dont have a DYI, but I just read all the threads I could find on this site to get a general idea.

Removed belt
Remove power steering pulley
Remove under engine drip tray
undo 4 sway bar bolts
remove bracket (2 bolts) that holds power steering line to car
Top of alternator - remove clip holding power line (kind of hard to get to, but do-able)
remove ground wire on front of alternator (1 bolt)
Remove 2 alternator bolts on front of car
Alternator will slide off
Drop it a little to get to the back to removed the power clip (pinches off, but might be greasy and hard to squeeze)
Move power steering line a little to allow the alternator to drop out.



Different view of the hood logo. lol

 

My goodness thank you very much, really appreciate the link and advice.
​​​​​​​ Akafixture, do you think take off the bumper will help as well? I've done it multiple times on my white car so I can do it quickly now haha. Thanks for the pulley holder tip.

 

No need for the bumper to come off. Oh you do have to remove the intake vent that is over the coolant hose ( 1 bolt on top and it slides to the right out of its connector.) There is plenty of room to get ratchets and such in there with the bumper on.

 

Sounds good! I'll be installing a new high output alternator when I get money for it lol. They are not cheap

 

took my tech 1 hr , he went from below and above.

btw were you camping out in your car when you took that pic

 

Just under the radiator a little. I looked up and saw that shot and had to grab my phone. lol

 

Hey Samsonlow, where are you getting your high output alternator and what amp? I need to get one since after upgrading multiple things it seems like my car dies more often so my friend says since I am deployed. I have done the swap before twice its pretty easy after the first time. If I had access to my phone I could post photos of the alt replacement.

GL OP with your swap.

 

Either power bastards or mechman for the high output. For amps I'll be running 2, kicker DX1000.1 and DX400.4 both are tested to run above their advertised wattage although be it on 14volts.
If your car is dying faster or ore often when off it would likely be your battery as well. That is currently happening with my white gs. The battery just won't hold a charge as long anymore.
If you're able to get your phone within a few months I'd love to see the pictures!

 

very nice shot. I like it allot!!!!!

 

I was just looking at the 240am mechman one when I stumbled across this post, I will upgrade my battery first and see how that goes and if it doesn't work I will buy a mechman highoutput alt. I might start a build thread soon, I am really excited to get home as I just ordered stuff from Japan and my buddy picked up my wheels for me.

 

Unless you will be running a mild setup under 700 watts you should upgrade both. Do not spend too much on a battery, get a good battery and a high output alt. If you just get a big high discharge battery then you will be able to run the system for only a big and not on full load. Your stock alternator will need more time to recharge the big battery. If your lights dim when under load and you upgrade the battery they will still dim. I just got a XS Power D3400 and have to replace the alt as well which is why I made this thread

 

The mechman alt comes with a smaller pulley, do you plan on getting a smaller belt or swapping out the pulley? I prob will have to upgrade both due to air suspension, hids, stereo upgrades, etc.

 

When I'm ready yo buy it I'll just call and ask which belt they recommend. They should have at least a recommend size or even part number. If not then I guess I'll have to try which ever belt looks best haha.
I used to have a 1000watt rms system and AirLift suspension the headlights used to dim while idling and blasting the subs haha. Never dimmed while driving and rpms were up though. But upgrading would be good. The power bastard alt is about $50 cheaper and might have the same stock size pully. Good thing about there alt is you can have it powder coated but not without a price.
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