Alternator Brush Assembly Guidance?

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!

 

I want to double check: This "orange gasket" is not the same as the "brush
holder insulator" that the servive manual shows, is it? (I used drawings
from the UK Honda site service manuals.)

I am asking because the "brush holder insulator" (with the hole such that it
goes around the shaft) is orange in the photo from the MaximumAutoParts site
that notbob linked earlier. (Then again that site says the photo shows only
the brushes, holder, and springs.) I copied the photo to my site at
http://home.earthlink.net/~honda.lioness/id14.html, with a link to Maximum's
site.

 

I want to double check: This "orange gasket" is not the same as the "brush
holder insulator" that the servive manual shows, is it? (I used drawings
from the UK Honda site service manuals.)

I am asking because the "brush holder insulator" (with the hole such that it
goes around the shaft) is orange in the photo from the MaximumAutoParts site
that notbob linked earlier. (Then again that site says the photo shows only
the brushes, holder, and springs.) I copied the photo to my site at
http://home.earthlink.net/~honda.lioness/id14.html, with a link to Maximum's
site.

 

Going from 4 year-old memory here again, so watch out...

When I got the screws out, I simply pulled the holder, thinking it was
going to pop off. I didn't know at the time that the bottom ring was
unbraced by any sort of metal support. When I pulled the top half free, the
bottom half stuck in its recess. It stretched, then tore as it came free. I
thought I was in trouble, until I realized all I had to do once I got the
new brushes on was to stuff the piece back into its recess, which I did,
just fine. Once it was back in, it didn't try to fall off again, and the
torn ends lined up well.

Since you plan on replacing the entire holder, this should not be an issue
for you.

That was the fragile rubber ring I broke.

So was mine.

 

Going from 4 year-old memory here again, so watch out...

When I got the screws out, I simply pulled the holder, thinking it was
going to pop off. I didn't know at the time that the bottom ring was
unbraced by any sort of metal support. When I pulled the top half free, the
bottom half stuck in its recess. It stretched, then tore as it came free. I
thought I was in trouble, until I realized all I had to do once I got the
new brushes on was to stuff the piece back into its recess, which I did,
just fine. Once it was back in, it didn't try to fall off again, and the
torn ends lined up well.

Since you plan on replacing the entire holder, this should not be an issue
for you.

That was the fragile rubber ring I broke.

So was mine.

 

Yes. It is.

The orange insulator/gasket/seal, whatever you want to call it, is 3
dimensional and all one piece. It seals on three planes: (1) the
large keyhole shaped surface insulates the brush assy from the end
plate cover (2) the two parallel strips, which are perpendicular to
the keyhole, lie along the edges of the opening in the cast metal tube
that surrounds the slip rings (3) the other end of those two strips is
just another semi-circular seal, on a plane parallel to the keyhole
plane, that fits the opening in the tube between the brush assy and
the rear housing. Besides insulation, all three areas of the
insulator/seal keeps grit and other crap from getting into the slip
ring cavity.

While I appreciate your efforts to provide an informative website, I
think you're getting ahead of yourself. Why don't you put this
portion of your site aside until you've actually gone in and done the
job and can see exactly how all these parts fit together and get some
real pictures. All this guessing and speculation and 3rd party
descriptions are counterproductive and inherently inaccurate. If you
just can't wait, change your brushes now. You don't have to wait till
next year. If you have over 150K miles on the car, it needs new
brushes. And, I promise, the next time I do some repair on my car,
I'll take pics and send them to you.


nb

 

Yes. It is.

The orange insulator/gasket/seal, whatever you want to call it, is 3
dimensional and all one piece. It seals on three planes: (1) the
large keyhole shaped surface insulates the brush assy from the end
plate cover (2) the two parallel strips, which are perpendicular to
the keyhole, lie along the edges of the opening in the cast metal tube
that surrounds the slip rings (3) the other end of those two strips is
just another semi-circular seal, on a plane parallel to the keyhole
plane, that fits the opening in the tube between the brush assy and
the rear housing. Besides insulation, all three areas of the
insulator/seal keeps grit and other crap from getting into the slip
ring cavity.

While I appreciate your efforts to provide an informative website, I
think you're getting ahead of yourself. Why don't you put this
portion of your site aside until you've actually gone in and done the
job and can see exactly how all these parts fit together and get some
real pictures. All this guessing and speculation and 3rd party
descriptions are counterproductive and inherently inaccurate. If you
just can't wait, change your brushes now. You don't have to wait till
next year. If you have over 150K miles on the car, it needs new
brushes. And, I promise, the next time I do some repair on my car,
I'll take pics and send them to you.


nb

 

Tegger and notbob, okay got it.

Notbob, I think there was just a minor misunderstanding between what Tegger
saw, what the manuals say, and my interpretation. No big deal, AFAIC.

My alternator's brushes are about 68k miles old. I had the alternator
replaced at the dealer at about 106k miles.

I spend a lot of time preparing for important repair jobs, so as to do them
right and not have to depend on a shop for iffy work. I also like to learn.
Hence this effort. Plus, problems with the alternator do come up a lot here.

Again, thanks folks for the input.

 

Tegger and notbob, okay got it.

Notbob, I think there was just a minor misunderstanding between what Tegger
saw, what the manuals say, and my interpretation. No big deal, AFAIC.

My alternator's brushes are about 68k miles old. I had the alternator
replaced at the dealer at about 106k miles.

I spend a lot of time preparing for important repair jobs, so as to do them
right and not have to depend on a shop for iffy work. I also like to learn.
Hence this effort. Plus, problems with the alternator do come up a lot here.

Again, thanks folks for the input.

 

What I REMEMBERED seeing. Four years ago. The photos from notbob cleared
that confusion up.

You can leave the brushes until the charge light starts flickering. Mine
went quite a lot longer than 68K.

Me too. I did a similar investigation before tackling my timing belt for
the first time years ago. I'm doing the same on-again/off-again
investigation in preparation for doing the timing belt on our Tercel this
summer, and the front bushings and shocks all-around on the Integra.

BTW, I discovered I can easily hacksaw through a 10.9 bolt in ten minutes
with one hand and a partially-worn blade. If the damper fork bolts won't
come loose for me, I'll allow a couple of hours per side and two premium
hacksaw blades each side to cut through the old bolts and bushings. A
complete front bushing set is $350Cdn including all the taxes. The rears
were much more than that.

 

What I REMEMBERED seeing. Four years ago. The photos from notbob cleared
that confusion up.

You can leave the brushes until the charge light starts flickering. Mine
went quite a lot longer than 68K.

Me too. I did a similar investigation before tackling my timing belt for
the first time years ago. I'm doing the same on-again/off-again
investigation in preparation for doing the timing belt on our Tercel this
summer, and the front bushings and shocks all-around on the Integra.

BTW, I discovered I can easily hacksaw through a 10.9 bolt in ten minutes
with one hand and a partially-worn blade. If the damper fork bolts won't
come loose for me, I'll allow a couple of hours per side and two premium
hacksaw blades each side to cut through the old bolts and bushings. A
complete front bushing set is $350Cdn including all the taxes. The rears
were much more than that.