Alternator Replacement Procedure???

[XRzer04]

I need to change out the alternator in my 1989 Honda Prelude.
The P.S. unit sits right on top of the alternator, Its belt directly on the outside of the alt. belt, complicating matters.
What I can't figure out from looking is:
How to get the power steering pump out of the way without having to disconnect hoses and deal with PS fluid.
How the belt tensioning mechanism works, specifically which bolt to remove first in order to do this without wercking anything.
Has anyone out there done this? And (hopefully) taken pictures?
Any help or advice on how to do this would be greatly appreciated.

[spiffyguido]

Loosening the tension on the power steering pump is easy, but the tensioner bolt is hard to see. You just have to loosen the lock bolt on the power steering pump, and then loosen the tensioner bolt. The tensioner bolt is located in a very hard to see location underneath the alternator.

There are pictures and directions on how to loosen the tension on the PS pump here:

http://www.harleyc.com/prelude/writeUps ... fault.html

The tension bolt is usually golden in color and quite long. I believe you can also get a wrench on it from the bottom if you remove the splash guard, but I'm not sure.

[Neongreen]

Hoping you can help me mate, my alternator has gone and I managed to procure one from the local scrapyard, but that was just a matter of cutting the belts off and undoing every bolt in sight.

Now obviously I don't have the luxury of cutting through the belts, so I'm trying to do it the proper way, which has me currently stumped. I've located and loosened the adjustment bolt sitting next to one of the power steering pulleys, and I've loosened the bolt under the alternator which has the thread sticking out. Neither belt has got any slack. I've got a carby'd 1989 prelude.

Can someone tell me what bolt I'm missing? I believe there's a lock bolt somewhere but have no idea where to find it. A picture with an arrow to the bolt I'm missing would help me immeasurably.

Is it possible to move the power steering unit out of the way, with the tubes and such still connected?

Thanks!

[spiffyguido]

You may just need to loosen the bolt that goes through the body of the alternator if you've already loosened the adjust bolt.

There is a handy schematic on page 16-71 of the service manual available in our manuals section. I've attached the relevant page below.

[Neongreen]

Yeah I understand that part and that's not the issue - I'm trying to loosen the tension on the PS belt so I can get that out of the way to get the alternator out. Is it possible to get the alternator out without removing the power steering stuff above the alternator?

[Neongreen]

I've been using the manual to get this far but I'm just having no success on the belts. I appreciate your help immeasurably though.

[spiffyguido]

The power steering belt is the most outer belt, is it not? If this is the case, you will have to take it off in order to get the alternator belt out safely. No matter though. Loosening the power steering belt isn't terribly hard once you manage to get a wrench on the adjuster. This is detailed in the link on the second post of this thread.