1.3 4E-FE Alternator Pivot Pin

[Tompo81]

Hello everyone, 

First time poster!  Sadly my 1999 Toyota Corolla alternator has given up the ghost.  I've bought a replacement, but I have no idea how to remove the pivot bolt at the bottom of the alternator.  The adjustment bolt came out like a dream despite the fact it's probably been there for 18 years.  The bottom pivot bolt appears to be round on the outside (facing away from the engine) and there's nothing on the other side of the bolt (facing inwards towards the engine).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  I hope everyone has had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Best wishes,
Tom. 

[hubrad]

Hi Tom, Sorry i can't comment on your model, but if you don't have a Haynes book (getting less useful on specific bits by the year!) check out YouTube.. one of the great things with Toyota being such a common worldwide brand is that there are so many helpful vids from all round the world on fixing and maintaining our cars.

Remember that pivot bolt won't have been out in 19 years, most likely; the adjuster bolt has probably been used a few times at least.

Good luck!

[DeTomato]

Put some penetrating fluid on it and leave to soak in the joint for 24 hours. Then try again. See if that works.

[hubrad]

Update on mine, which is 1.4 petrol 2006, 4ZZ-FE, so probably different, but mine appears to be 2 x fixed bolts, both hex looking like 13mm.

The adjustment is done by tensioning the drive belt, which drives a few things.

If yours is a similar arrangement, someone before you may have rounded the hex, so it's a thrutch with vice grips or similar.

[VosperD]

i'm afraid the Hayne's manual isn't  a lot of use as far as removing the alternator is concerned.

I had a quick look at our car which has the same engine, with the alternator on the rear and I can see the adjusting bolt at the top and at the bottom there is the pivot bracket , from the driver's side I can see a nut, rather than a bolt head and it's certainly not rounded. From what I can see it looks like the bracket  is bolted to the engine. So if you have a rounded nut or bolt head perhaps you can remove the bracket itself and sort it out on a bench.

Don

[mickburkesnr]

I had this with my Corolla, if you look for the "Paddy the Corolla" thread you'll see my battle!

It's a hateful fiddly job, but basically the pivot bolt is corroded in place. So it's difficult to extract. Spend a week or spraying it with PlusGas and working it forward and back. I then had to take a centre punch and a hammer to get the pivot bolt out. It can be done though, it's just very tight for space.

[Tompo81]

On 1/15/2019 at 2:47 PM, mickburkesnr said:

I had this with my Corolla, if you look for the "Paddy the Corolla" thread you'll see my battle!

It's a hateful fiddly job, but basically the pivot bolt is corroded in place. So it's difficult to extract. Spend a week or spraying it with PlusGas and working it forward and back. I then had to take a centre punch and a hammer to get the pivot bolt out. It can be done though, it's just very tight for space.

Thanks a lot, Mick.  Everywhere I looked online showed a bolt.  It looked like no other bugger had the pivot pins which we have.  Luckily for me my pivot pin can be moved.  I'd bought some centre punches and some penetrating oil and it's done the trick.  I'm just in the process of ordering a new alternator and I'll be well on my way. 

Again, thank you for the sage advise and all the best with the Paddy project! 

Best wishes,
Tom. 

[mickburkesnr]

21 hours ago, Tompo81 said:

Thanks a lot, Mick.  Everywhere I looked online showed a bolt.  It looked like no other bugger had the pivot pins which we have.  Luckily for me my pivot pin can be moved.  I'd bought some centre punches and some penetrating oil and it's done the trick.  I'm just in the process of ordering a new alternator and I'll be well on my way. 

Again, thank you for the sage advise and all the best with the Paddy project! 

Best wishes,
Tom. 

Yeah I had the same issue when I got to it. The Haynes manual was useless, as you were expecting it to be on the front of the engine when it was behind, and like you I had no idea.

Glad you got it sorted, in my efforts I had to buy a new pivot bolt because from all the hammering I blunted the threaded end.

Good luck with the rest of it