hi guys , my alternator just packed in today , are they straight forward to remove & fit? what tools are needed?

is there only one kind of fitting or more?

my pick up is a 1998 1.9 diesel vw caddy (on paper)

is anyone selling a second hand one , as things are tightr just now , i would pay via paypal and also extra for postage ,

if anyone can help that would be great ,

thanks for reading this

steven.

Ohhhh you will love that.

rad out to remove the alt mate , the altenator is the same fitting as almost any VAG stuff that has 2 bolt mounting, octavia, golf tdi etc the only differences are the small plug on the rear (chop one off the scrapper) and the pulley as the felly have a 5 rib belt where the later vag stuff runs a 6 rib, also the diesels have a freewheeling clutch built into the pulley which needs a special tool to remove.

disconnect the battery first as you WILL short the spanner to something lol

I think you can get them out by dropping the water pump and power steering pump jim, but it is a tight fit.

tis true Tom you can just but then you need another gasket etc, from experience its rad out to do it the easy(ish) way, pain in the arse either way lol.

you can drop the engine mount off and jack the motor back as far as it will go too but its still a major pain.

ah excellent, i was certain I'd done one of those without removing the rad before, I think I did it that way because the bottom of the radiator was rotten and I didn't want to risk busting it and having to source a new one.. Can't remember now it was ages ago.

thanks guys for the info!!

think i will try dropping the rad and going from there , i only fitted the rad 2 weeks ago so i know that its a rust free and straight forward to remove, (done this when making a new crossmember )

at the moment i am just charging battery over night to see me through the day

untill i fit a clutch tomorrow on my wee 106 diesel,(so i have still got transport )

then i will drop alternator ,see what kind it is then start searching the scrappys,

once its out i will check on here to see if anyone is selling one ,

cheers steven

You can get them on ebay http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=330846011088

cheers mongbow84 , i need to strip mine out first to see what one it is before i order one

i should be doing it just now but its fecking freezing outside lol