Alternator Brush Assembly Guidance?

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by Elle, Feb 22, 2006.

  1. Elle

    Elle Guest

    I don't know. At the time, I hadn't even figured out where the two screws
    were for the brush assembly. I didn't take anything from the center area
    off. I don't see this gasket listed at Majestic's site, so I suppose it
    comes with the brush holder insulator. Maybe mine was too grimy to be
    obvious. All the photos at the site were taken after I cleaned the parts up
    a little.

    I added some comments from the newsgroup to the site. Thanks for the input,
    bob, alex, and tegger, as well as the several others of you who have
    commented on this job in the past year.
     
    Elle, Feb 23, 2006
    #21
  2. Sure.
     
    Alex Rodriguez, Feb 23, 2006
    #22
  3. Sure.
     
    Alex Rodriguez, Feb 23, 2006
    #23
  4. Elle

    TeGGeR® Guest



    The two screws are under that gasket, as I recall. My brush holder was
    original, and from 1991. Maybe replacement gaskets (or aftermarket ones)
    are a different color.




    You'd hope so. They're pretty fragile.
     
    TeGGeR®, Feb 23, 2006
    #24
  5. Elle

    TeGGeR® Guest



    The two screws are under that gasket, as I recall. My brush holder was
    original, and from 1991. Maybe replacement gaskets (or aftermarket ones)
    are a different color.




    You'd hope so. They're pretty fragile.
     
    TeGGeR®, Feb 23, 2006
    #25
  6. Elle

    Elle Guest

    You must be right. Because of the Majestic or manual drawing of the
    alternator, I was looking for two horizontally oriented screws, but all I
    came up with were the ones for what turned out to be the voltage regulator,
    near the circumference, not the center.
     
    Elle, Feb 23, 2006
    #26
  7. Elle

    Elle Guest

    You must be right. Because of the Majestic or manual drawing of the
    alternator, I was looking for two horizontally oriented screws, but all I
    came up with were the ones for what turned out to be the voltage regulator,
    near the circumference, not the center.
     
    Elle, Feb 23, 2006
    #27
  8. Elle

    TeGGeR® Guest


    They are on either side of the alternator's shaft. This is good, really,
    because being covered by the gasket means most corrosion is kept away from
    them.

    I cannot stress how important it is that your *stubby* Phillips screwdriver
    be a *perfect* fit in the screws. You need to make sure that you hold the
    driver straight in line with the screws, and push really hard while
    turning, to make sure the head doesn't ride up out of the Phillips cross.
    If it rides out, you may round off the cross enough that removal of the
    alternator may be the only way to remove the screws.

    If the only Phillips driver you have is one size too small, DON'T USE IT!
    Go buy the proper one.
     
    TeGGeR®, Feb 24, 2006
    #28
  9. Elle

    TeGGeR® Guest


    They are on either side of the alternator's shaft. This is good, really,
    because being covered by the gasket means most corrosion is kept away from
    them.

    I cannot stress how important it is that your *stubby* Phillips screwdriver
    be a *perfect* fit in the screws. You need to make sure that you hold the
    driver straight in line with the screws, and push really hard while
    turning, to make sure the head doesn't ride up out of the Phillips cross.
    If it rides out, you may round off the cross enough that removal of the
    alternator may be the only way to remove the screws.

    If the only Phillips driver you have is one size too small, DON'T USE IT!
    Go buy the proper one.
     
    TeGGeR®, Feb 24, 2006
    #29
  10. Elle

    Elle Guest

    I have found that slot-end screwdrivers often work better for freeing
    Phillips head screws. Do you object to such an approach? If so, why?
     
    Elle, Feb 24, 2006
    #30
  11. Elle

    Elle Guest

    I have found that slot-end screwdrivers often work better for freeing
    Phillips head screws. Do you object to such an approach? If so, why?
     
    Elle, Feb 24, 2006
    #31
  12. Elle

    notbob Guest

    Not so. Look at the brush assy in this part picture:

    http://www.maximumautoparts.com/HO_Alternator~Brush~Assy._mo.html

    You can clearly see the two assy mounting tabs (the little thingies
    with holes in them) sticking out beyond the "brush holder insulator",
    that keyhole shaped orange thingie. The reason you can't easily see
    the screws when the brush assy is mounted on the alternator is because
    they're both sunken down in between cooling fins and other surrounding
    junk like the voltage regulator and diode assy. One sits a little
    further out than the other, but they're both recessed. The screw
    mounting holes are not holes in the plastic assy housing that run the
    full length of the assy and put the screw heads out at the outside
    edge of the brush assy. They are metal tabs, brush contact points,
    that screw into the rear housing assy and are located at the innermost
    edge of the brush assy. How wide is the assy housing? About 1 to
    1-1/4 inches. Well, that's how deep those tabs sit in from the
    outside edges of the brush assy.

    nb
     
    notbob, Feb 24, 2006
    #32
  13. Elle

    notbob Guest

    Not so. Look at the brush assy in this part picture:

    http://www.maximumautoparts.com/HO_Alternator~Brush~Assy._mo.html

    You can clearly see the two assy mounting tabs (the little thingies
    with holes in them) sticking out beyond the "brush holder insulator",
    that keyhole shaped orange thingie. The reason you can't easily see
    the screws when the brush assy is mounted on the alternator is because
    they're both sunken down in between cooling fins and other surrounding
    junk like the voltage regulator and diode assy. One sits a little
    further out than the other, but they're both recessed. The screw
    mounting holes are not holes in the plastic assy housing that run the
    full length of the assy and put the screw heads out at the outside
    edge of the brush assy. They are metal tabs, brush contact points,
    that screw into the rear housing assy and are located at the innermost
    edge of the brush assy. How wide is the assy housing? About 1 to
    1-1/4 inches. Well, that's how deep those tabs sit in from the
    outside edges of the brush assy.

    nb
     
    notbob, Feb 24, 2006
    #33
  14. Elle

    Elle Guest

    Hey, nice site and citation!

    I got to an enlarged view of the actual assembly via

    http://69.0.158.19/live/F402040927OES.JPG

    or

    http://www2.maximumautoparts.com/parts/maximumautoparts/wizard.jsp?year=1991&make=HO&model=CVC-DX4-001&category=F&part=Alternator%20Brush%20Assy.&returnurl=null&dp=false
     
    Elle, Feb 24, 2006
    #34
  15. Elle

    Elle Guest

    Hey, nice site and citation!

    I got to an enlarged view of the actual assembly via

    http://69.0.158.19/live/F402040927OES.JPG

    or

    http://www2.maximumautoparts.com/parts/maximumautoparts/wizard.jsp?year=1991&make=HO&model=CVC-DX4-001&category=F&part=Alternator%20Brush%20Assy.&returnurl=null&dp=false
     
    Elle, Feb 24, 2006
    #35
  16. Elle

    TeGGeR® Guest


    You'll see once you get the screws exposed. They are pretty tight, and will
    release with a snap.
     
    TeGGeR®, Feb 24, 2006
    #36
  17. Elle

    TeGGeR® Guest


    You'll see once you get the screws exposed. They are pretty tight, and will
    release with a snap.
     
    TeGGeR®, Feb 24, 2006
    #37
  18. Elle

    TeGGeR® Guest



    Eh, so my memory of them being *under* the gasket was wrong. Four years
    will do that.
     
    TeGGeR®, Feb 24, 2006
    #38
  19. Elle

    TeGGeR® Guest



    Eh, so my memory of them being *under* the gasket was wrong. Four years
    will do that.
     
    TeGGeR®, Feb 24, 2006
    #39
  20. Elle

    TeGGeR® Guest


    NOW I remember why my orange gasket tore! Once I had the screws out, I
    incautiously pulled the brush holder off its seat, not realizing the bottom
    of the gasket was going to hook on the shaft and hang up. Pop!
     
    TeGGeR®, Feb 24, 2006
    #40
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