It's SO SIMPLE!

[subzali]

Stupid Autozone alternator has been giving me trouble since last summer! Belt squeals all the time (well not all the time, but a lot of the time) and especially at high loads! I had to get one though because my old one died on the way back from a 14er on a Sunday and NAPA was closed (Woodland Park in the afternoon). So I've put in about 4 since then (and BTW whoever decided it was a good idea to make an alternator change like a 3 hour job because you have to remove the distributor and the power steering pump should be kicked in the nuts), and EVERY ONE has been squealing the belt!

So last night I go out to retighten the belt a little (maybe it was loose somehow I figured) and the threads on the alternator housing stripped!

So I'm like - forget it! I'm going to NAPA! 3 hours later with a lifetime warranty alternator installed, I figured out why the others were making the belt squeal. The Autozone pulleys were plastic or something else with a smooth surface. The NAPA pulley is a cast aluminum one, so it has some roughness on it to hold the belt and keep it from slipping! Who at Autozone thought that THAT was a good idea!

Oy, hopefully this fixes that problem which I've been nursing for over a year because that stupid thing is so hard to remove!

Okay rant off...never buy Autozone electricals if you can avoid it, unfortunately Autozone has better store hours than NAPA... sigh

I know, some of you are going to tell me I should have gone with OEM Toyota - whatever I know leave me alone.

 

[Hulk]

Cool. Nice fix.

OEM is nice, but so is Mean Green:
http://www.mean-green.com/products/alternator.html

 

[DaveInDenver]

Should have bought an OEM alternator.

 

[Romer]

Hmm, I changed the alt several times on my 77FJ40 (Auro zone as well) and it was a quick 10 minute job, two wires and two bolts. Why is your 77 different?

 

[rover67]

i hate auto moan stuff. every alternator i have gotten from them i have had to replace on almost a yearly basis.

 

[subzali]

This is on the red truck BTW...

And also BTW I don't think there's a Toyota dealership in Woodland Park...

 

[DaveInDenver]

Not familiar with the 2WD, but I don't have to remove the distributor or PS pump to get the alternator off. Although, there is more space under a 4WD truck to work and half the operations are done sorta blind from below (sounds a lot like a honeymoon, oh never mind).

BTW, nothing wrong with NAPA IMO. The Toyota alternator is a remanufactured unit (at least the one I put on during the engine build was) and said the reman was done in Mexico, so the NAPA might be an improvement or at least essentially equivalent.

 

[wesintl]

diesel runs without an alt-nator

 

[DaveInDenver]

diesel runs without an alt-nator

So will a 22R-E for a while, at least until the battery gets to about 9V. Can you pop start a diesel?

 

[wesintl]

sure.. just takes a little more pop at 400+ psi.

 

[DaveInDenver]

sure.. just takes a little more pop at 400+ psi.

Gotcha, so a tug start from the mighty Hilux you're surely traveling with. The lightweight Hilux is the safe backup, they can be pulled uphill with a totally electronics-free all terrain donkey for a pop start.

 

[Red_Chili]

NAPA lifetime is a fine alternator. I coulda directed you to a site explaining how to rebuild it yourself for a whole lot less, but it would have been a whole lot more trouble.

There is quite a bit of variance in the difficulty in swapping 22RE alternators. Depends on the radiator hose routing.

 

[DaveInDenver]

True on the variation. The FSM tells the mechanic to remove the radiator half of the lower coolant hose. Yeah, that's gonna happen.

 

[subzali]

I've push-started Wes' diesel before...

I can ALMOST remove it from below but the motor mounts and suspension stuff gets in the way. It sits below the dizzy and p/s pump in either case...

 

[Rzeppa]

I HATE replacing alternators on 22REs. They are in a super-impossible place to get at (okay, not as bad a a chevy V6). And they are right under the P/S pump, which, if leaking, makes the alternators go out quick. Don't ask me how I know

I can replace the alternator in any of my 40 series in under a half hour. Never tried it in a 60, but from the work I've done on 60s I'd guess double that. On my daughter's 85 runner it was about an hour. That's after you already figured out all the stuff you needed to get out of the way, and what you didn't.

I have had good luck with NAPA alternators for my Land Cruisers with F series engines, and also good luck with OEM. I have been pleasantly surprised to find that NAPA reman are built with OEM Nippon Denso cores.I have had VERY poor expereinces with both Autozone and with Checker alternators. Just my personal experience, YMMV.