3.0 HDi Alternator Pulley Replacement

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lorddevereux
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3.0 HDi Alternator Pulley Replacement

Post by lorddevereux »

The car is a Citroen 2010 C5 X7 3.0HDi V6 Tourer.

The problem is the alternator pulley, which has seized solid. The chirping alerted me to it, and I had the car to bits to try and get it off. When I flicked the dust cap off the outer edge of the pulley there was a strong smell of burning, and it became apparent that not only has it seized, the internal plastic/damper mechanism has totally melted/disintegrated. This means the alternator removal tool won't go into the alternator spline far enough to get a grip (it will grip the pulley spline, but not the torx receptacle on the alternator shaft).

Access wasn't great, although I didn't actually remove the wheel arch liner, only the undertray. Would that make it easier? Anyway, short of removing the alternator, picking out the gunk and sticking an impact driver on the thing, I'm not sure what else to try. The prospect sounds sufficiently miserable I might give up and let a garage do it.

The Citroen documentation for removing the alternator says to take off the A/C and drain the coolant in the process, which seems extreme. So firstly, has anyone else had the pulley go this bad and secondly has anyone managed to remove the alternator on this engine without disassembling half the car?

Thanks!
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Re: 3.0 HDi Alternator Pulley Replacement

Post by myglaren »

I don't know how bad it had got but mine was chirping for over a year and the mechanic I used then had no idea what it was.
I took it to my current garage and as soon as I drove it into the yard the boss there (Polish place) knew exactly what it was before I had stopped to get out.
He replaced the clutch/freewheel mech, the belt, a tensioner and the crankshaft pulley, al buggered as it had gone on for so long.
I suspect the alternator may have been harmed too although it lasted a couple of years.
Voltage always seemed to be OK until suddenly it wasn't but I had intermittent problems where all the dash lights would flash, the displays blank, the CD player went haywire then stopped, there were no wipers or indicators but the car carried on OK. This would last for a few minutes to about half an hour.
Since replacing the alternator last December this has not happened at all. Coincidence maybe, only time will tell.
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Re: 3.0 HDi Alternator Pulley Replacement

Post by Xantippa »

I had same problem on mine and that freewheel was changed same time as cambelt was changed. Garage took spare part from 2,7HDi engine, and with little "tuning" it fits on 3,0. I remember AC had to be drained and refilled when doing this.
lorddevereux
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Re: 3.0 HDi Alternator Pulley Replacement

Post by lorddevereux »

For future people's reference, it can be removed quite easily and without draining AC, but you'll need flexible hands.
  • Remove undertray and aux belt (using a good spanner on the tensioner)
  • Unbolt the AC compressor and its electric plugs, but NOT the hoses!!! Rest it on the subframe, there's enough play in the hoses for that
  • DON'T IGNORE the guidance that says knock on the bolts for the AC & alternator with a hammer. You can't get a hammer in, but knock on them the best you can, to push the nuts out of their mounting a bit or you'll never get the damn units back in again.
  • Unbolt the alternator and its cables.
  • Scratch your knuckles all to hell squeezing the alternator past the compressor. It looks like it won't go, but in the right orientation, with the AC stuffed into the right place, it WILL. Beware the alternator is heavy, so don't let it crush your fingers when it finally comes out!
  • Take the alternator to a friendly garage along with a packet of biscuits, who'll stick it on a vice and hammer it all to hell to get the old pulley off (and put the new one on if you don't have a suitable tool, plus once on it will self-tighten)
  • If you remembered to knock out the bolts enough, wangle the alternator back in, attach the cables and mount it.
  • Mount AC compressor back again and reattach belt, start engine and pray.
Hey presto, squeak is gone. Although there's a separate pulley whining noise come back since (14000 miles later) so I suspect the dead alternator pulley did indeed damage the tensioner or freewheel pulley bearing. Not had a chance to investigate this yet.
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