by 02slera » Wed Sep 08, 2010 3:46 am
i replaced mine a couple weeks ago. my car is a v6, dont know if the 4 cylinder works the same way...
the alternator will pivot, if you look on the alternator, on the side facing the front of the car, you'll see a bolt that you can turn and it will move the alternator thus loosening the belt. if you look you will see that the bolt goes through a small metal block that is itself bolted to the alternator with one bolt. now the third bolt is the one on the other side of alternator and this side of the alternator will stay in place as the other side pivots up and down.
NOW, loosen the bolt that the alternator pivots on, then loosen the bolt that holds the small metal block to the alternator, then you can turn the other bolt to move the alternator up or down.
and just a heads up, when i did mine the adjusting bolt was rusted solid in place and i broke it off when trying to loosen it to get the old belt off! i then unbolted the small metal block and put it in a vice to try and remove what was left of the broken bolt, and i broke it off again, it was in there solid! this is a dealership item and all my local dealerships would have had to order it (about $6), i needed my car back on the road so i took the small metal block to a machine shop and had them fix the threads ($20) and went to a local bolt shop and bought a new bolt ($2.50)
2002 Solara SLE v6