alternator problems

i think my alternator is bad so i disconnected it, however i cant get it out of the car. how is it supposed to come out? the a/c is in the way from the top and the sway bar is in the way from the bottom. if its the a/c how do i take that out? any pics would help. thanks in advance guys.

 

I just replaced mine.
Disconnect the battery.
There should be a curved metal bar under the alternator with a slot running through it. A bolt from the BACK holds the lower portion of the alternator in place, you gotta remove that bolt and the belt should become easy to get off and out of the way. It's a curved bracket and is used to tighten the alternator belt up when re-installing so dont bend it.
There is a super long bolt with a 9/16 head on the front, under the belt. Loosen it untill it breaks free and pull it out(watch out for the aluminum spacer!). Remover the unit and disconnect the wires if you haven't already.
Repeat in reverse to reinstall it except you use a crowbar or something to keep the belt tight as you re tighten the bolt on the bottom.

 

i have it disconnected, i cant get it out of the car. the a/c pump or whatever is in the way from the top and the sway bar is in the way from the bottom. it's just sitting in the engine bay not connected to anything but i cant get it out from any angle.

 

Weird. Mine came right out. I have a 302.
My compressor(which I hate) is on the drivers side and the alternator is on the left.
My bastard long bolt was slightly too corroded to come out and I had to hack the head off and beat it out with a lot of liquid wrench. After the long bolt was out the unit slid right out. (didn't solve my ALT light problem though!)

 

my alt. is on the pass. side at the bottom. under the a/c compressor. it's really a rediculous spot for a part that is commonly replaced.

 

That is super lame.
When I took the A/C compressor out of my Ranchero it ws sitting on a huge shelf bracket that was secured to the block at a few locations. It was a 78 and your Ford is a 76 so maybe they were similar?

I want to say my 77 Comet had the A/C on the passenger side like yours. It was a six though with plenty of room to work.

 

yep that's exaclty what im looking at. so you took it off the shelf then the shelf off the block?

 

Yes. That shelf bracket is retarded huge. If your A/C works be careful.

 

i think im going to have the a/c drained. that way i dont have to worry about anything.

 

Good idea. So, have you done it? Successfully removed? When I had my Alternator Canada replaced last week, I was able to take it out just easy. Well, I hope you’d find the way and post us how.

 

did yours have the a/c in the way?

 

As far as I could remember, the A/C haven't been a hindrance with the removal, though in some cases they are.