Just did probably the most complicated accessory repalcement on a 5.7

I do preemptive auto repair because I hate being stranded. This truck has enough miles that the alternator is a wear item now. It's charging fine, but at almost 250,000 miles, you know it's getting close to failure. Same with the water pump. For the life of me, I can't understand why Toyota puts all of it's accessories at the bottom of the engine where it's impossible to access without hours of disassembly.

Changing out the water pump was bad enough but the alternator was a beast. Even with the front of the engine and radiator removed, access to the alternator mounting bolts had to be done through the wheel well. Hard lines, wiring harnesses and the frame still blocked most access and then the power steering pump blocked entirely the upper mounting bolts. Obstacles upon obstacles......

Why did I do it rather than paying someone? Mrs Azimuth doesn't trust anyone else and she has to drive it to Tennessee by herself. Plus I like to see if I can still do this stuff. As a reformed gearhead, I know how, but don't do it as much as I used to. Feels good now that it's over....and Mrs Azimuth made me BBQ pulled pork sammiches for dinner.

 

I’ve heard it quite the undertaking. Great job. I’m not one to replace a perfectly good alternator (my 2000 has 270k on the original still). I’ve never had an alternator fail on any vehicle I’ve owned, and I keep ‘em for a long time.

 

Understood. My 4.7 alternator gave out at 320,000-ish miles. Literally zero warning. Light came on and the needle started dropping. Had to change it in 35 degree weather. I prefer to choose my conditions. Today was super nice weather and I had no urgency. The alternator did start chirping in the cold last winter but quieted down when warm.

 

I'm going to add that I completed the job today. It got late on me last night and when I found a pin hole in the radiator, it was too late to go buy another. so I picked one up today. After starting the truck, I saw that the charging needle went up to the mid hash line. The old alternator was charging below the hash line. I also decided to replace the tensioner pulley. I had one I bought from Rock auto but upon inspection, noticed it was made in China. A quick inspection revealed that the bearing was loose enough that I could move it laterally. This is a brand new bearing made of Chineseium. lol. So I chucked it and bought one from Toyota today. Night and day difference.

Bear with me on this tangent. I'm old enough to remember when a guy could go to a parts store and it wasn't part of a corporate chain. The parts he bought were quality from OEM sources or better. They lasted as long as factory parts did. Not so today. Not many years ago a coil pack on my 1sr gen Tundra gave out. No biggie, It lasted around 300,000 miles. But I need a replacement right away so I bought one from O' Really. Paid about what the Toyota dealer charged but O' Really was open on Sunday soooo.........big mistake. That coil pack lasted only 20,000 miles. It puked and I removed it to install a Denso pack. Turned it over and what did I find printed? CHINESEIUM!!! It seems our parts store chains have become Walmart equivalents. Too bad. Now I buy from the dealer as much as I can. Here endeth the lesson.

 

I have found the QC to be pretty terrible across the board for those Chinese parts. I have so many hours of labor lost to parts store parts that I just won’t install them anymore. Factory parts or I’m not doing the work for anything time consuming, or critical.

 

Change the starter
I changed the WP on mine a few years ago, twice. The new replacement pump had a hairline fracture that did not extend the the flange and only opened up enough to leak when it got warmed up. When I took it back to the parts counter, they had never heard of that happening. They said they'd usually blame installation, but since it did not extend to the flange and there was no damage they knew it wasn't my fault.

 

Came here to say this exact same thing.... Change the starter. Starter will leave you stranded, just ask me how I know. Now this was a B, even lost an extension with a 12mm in the frame rail.... Took me about 3 days half on the street once I got the truck started the other half on the driveway. So many parts in hidden places.

 

Did she put slaw on them their sammiches? The good vinegar based red slaw, not the green yankee type

 

Agree about not replacing alternator till it fails. I had one shell out a bearing about 25 years ago and I had to replace the brushes on my old Surf when I lived in Japan

 

Came back to say that my water pump had a crack in it too. Started leaking the next day during the heat cycle. Had to buy one from the dealer. Once again, a brand that used to be top shelf has gone to China for manufacture and re-boxed it in their packaging. I'll never buy critical parts from anyone but the dealer ever again. Sheesh.