Should this be loose?

[naim22]

I'm pretty sure its the alternator mount and should be all the way in (circled in red). I recently had the alternator belt changed and it looks like its not been tightened up although the bolt doesn't feel loose. the other bolt (circled in blue) going into the alternator was also working loose so I have tightened. Is it worth applying some thread locker or is that going to cause problems?

The washer rattles around when running.


Should I screw this in somehow? I dont have any manual at the moment and have little experience with these engines.
It's a ZX 1.9D

Thanks

[jimmymarsbar]

It certainly doesn't look right.

For the red circle - is there a mounting bracket between the head of the bolt and the alternator?

The top bolt (uncircled) looks dodgy too......

I'd be temtped to take it back to the garage and get them to sort it. If you're able to, try tightening the bolts and see if they wind in. If they don't, whoever has had the alternator off has banged any old bolts in (although the heads do look as expected), or they're cross-threaded or corroded.

Compare the depths - if you've got a 1" deep hole and a bolt thats 1 3/4" long, you'll be best replacing them, as they're not meant to fit

[jgra1]

Looks like the alternator may not be perfectly straight and the red bolt isnt home. The belt tension will need to be released to fit it correctly.. that is just an idea though john

[naim22]

The garage is way down in Leamington and the car is in York. I wanted to do the work myself originally tbh but it was inconvenient for me to get down to the car at the time. I know a good Citroen Peugeot specialist in York I can ask for clarification also

Belt tension could be the cause
There is no mounting bracket that bolt goes straight into the alternator

What workshop manual is best for these? Are there any online? I have an XUD Haynes manual but it's more for Visa and BX

Cheers

[white exec]

The top bolt looks like the alternator belt tensioning bolt.
Relax it, so it is not pulling the alternator forward against the belt.

The bottom bolt (red) appears to be the pivot bolt for the alternator, on which it can swing fore and aft.
This bolt should be slackened slightly (NOT as in the photo!) to allow the alternator to swing.
When tightened, the (red) bolt head should close up on to the alternator casing, and lock it into position.
It is possible some clod has either used a wrong (red) bolt here, or not screwed it home far enough.

Sort the red bolt first.
Then use the top bolt to apply tension to the belt.
Finally, tighten the red bolt.

Unsure what the blue bolt is. May be nothing to do with alternator belt setting.

ZX 1.9D not too much different from BX 1.9D, so if you have the Haynes manual for that, it should help.
Hope helpful and accurate.

[naim22]

I completely removed the pivot bolt and put it back in. This time it tightened all the way up to the alternator. It either must have worked loose (unlikely) or just wasn't tightened up in the first place. I think the bolt is correct although It does protrude somewhat out the other side now.

That makes sense. I'll slacken off the bolt and retension to be sure.
The manual i have is specifically for the citroen diesel engine. However inside it says it mostly applies to Visa and BX. The alternator instructions were extremely brief! This explanation was much better as I now understand what each bolt does.

I dont think the bottom one affects tension. It holds the alternator bracket on I think.

Thanks very much

[white exec]

Glad you've sussed it. Haynes can be annoyingly vague at times.
You now know which garage not to revisit!

[Peter.N.]

I would agree that the alternator is not bolted up square, if you slacken the belt tension with the bolt throug the bracket at the top of the alternator you should be able to screw the bottom bolt in - provided it hasn't been cross threaded but I think that unlikely.

Peter