5 Things That Can Go Majorly Wrong with DIY 1989 Honda CRX Alternator Replacement
1. Alternator bearing ceases every 30 – 40,000 miles or after long periods of not driving:
- Use lots of PB Blaster and if you are lucky it may start turning again
- Do not bring a torch under there – it will catch everything on fire
- Do not beat with a hammer. There’s no beating it out of place.
- And now that you are in this boat, do not get an auto store “new” alternator that will go bad in less than 50,000 miles again
2. In some cases (like mine) the bottom nut and/or alternator bolt ceases and cannot be undone for the life of it:
- Your local repair shop will charge you $55-77 to remove it
- If you look under there, you will see the nut could be reached properly only after taking the front driver side tire off
- In my case no power wrench (electric or compressor) worked – did not even budge it
- Use a longer extension to reach from outside the fender where you can attach a longer ratchet and push with your body forward
- If you are lucky the nut will come off. But even if it breaks proceed to step 3
3. Reach with a thinner size 14 wrench and unscrew one of the two nuts that hold the massive alternator bracket. The other one you can reach with a power or regular wrench
4. If your long bolt that goes through the alternator housing and holds it to bracket has ceased like mine did, there’s no taking / beating / torching it out. Drill it out very carefully and release from the bracket
5. Once again, the store “new” alternators at $70 are rebuilt and refurbished. So, just go to your local alternator repair shop and get your original Honda CRX alternator rebuilt there for $30-40 preferably with American made bearing, magnets and brushes inside
After you have done all of the above:
(1) installing the bracket first
(2) then run the long bolt and
(3) the newly rebuilt alternator should take less than half an hour
(4) fasten the adjuster bolt on the top of the alternator
(5) connect the (6) ground and then (7) the electric connector
(8) only after properly fastened, grounded and connected re-connect the battery and you are good to go
In some rare cases (like it was mine) the check engine light may come on. Check and replace any blown fuses. Disconnecting the battery for 20-30min. recycles the computer and removes the check engine light too.
