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 DF 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 DF made me BBQ pulled pork sammiches for dinner.

Good for you. But for the life of me I have never come out ahead on replacing these kinds of parts in advance of any indications of failure. Recent example. Pulled water pump on my 92yo moms 2007 highlander with the same idea it was end of life and it needed the coolant swapped anyway. Brand new Toyota part lasts 1000 miles. YMMV.

Well done sir! Ya know, if you want something done right…ESPECIALLY when the Mrs is involved!

Putting the alternator down by puddles and standing water is dumb enough on a car, but doing it on things that people are likely to drive through mud and snow and water...

Engineers. The vast majority of them, especially foreign automotive ones, need to be beat to death with a sack of doorknobs. An alternator shouldn't be that hard, especially in a full-size truck. I once swapped the one in my '94 Chevy in 17 minutes over lunch break...had time to drive to the parts store, change the part, and even eat lunch before I had to be back to work.

At least an alternator isn't technically a "maintenance" item. What really pisses me off is when they hide stuff you need to access regularly in impossible-to-get-to places...like a battery or oil filter.

DESSERT?

I still know how to do the knuckle busting repairs,
but my body painfully protests.

Congrats on completing your repairs by yourself... The car engineers of current vehicles are designing vehicles on purpose so as to make things more complicated that the owners will need special specialized tools to complete task... And if not possesing the proper tools then parts will be broken or damaged./....Purposely placing serviceable parts behind/under other parts requireing disassembly... All of which if the owner can not complete the repairs because of damaged parts/improper tools/owner frustration causing the owner to take the dealership/mechanic to get the repairs completed.......... drill sgt.

Unless you are replacing parts with genuine Toyota parts you might be creating more problems than you fix.
"new" after market parts are garbage, even "factory"parts need to be checked to be sure they are actually factory parts, not counterfeit parts (think Ebay).

Sometimes taking your factory alternator to a re-builder will get you a better part, same with changing out the water pump bearings and seals.

Many years ago I dealt with a guy in Chicago(Hydro Bob) that built the Automatic transmissions for Funny Cars and other competition drag cars. He swore by using only used trans housings and pumps. His logic was it worked fine for years, why put something new and untested in a race car.

The only thing worst than replacing an expensive and hard to get to part is having to do it all over again when the Parts store Chinese replacement fails immediately or has a very short life span.

I do not look forward to this job or the starter.
Neither should even be close to the difficulty these are on these trucks.
I’ll upgrade to this in the event of a failure.
https://sdhqoffroad.com/produc...gh-output-alternator

My 2002 Explorer lost the alternator on the highway. Buddy came and got me we grabbed an alternator and I replaced it on the side of the inter state in under 15 minutes.

Various engines have been made with easily accessible altenators and water pumps for decades. There's absolutely no reason to have it any other way, especially on a truck. Some engines look like they were literally designed to be a pain on the ass to repair.

That sounds like it was awful. I've done a fair amount of car work in my life so I'm not new to it but that sounds like a very long project.

I remember V-Tail saying an alternator change in his Ford would've cost $1,000 due to where it was located at.

I helped a friend change the alternator on his Tundra. If mine goes I'll let the dealer do it. The job was way way bigger than it should be.

Last fall I did the knock sensors on my wife's 99 4Runner with the V6 (3.4 Liter DOHC). The next weekend I did the timing belt. Those 2 jobs had about zero parts in common. Knock sensors involved removing the entire top of the engine, while the timing belt involved the entire front of the engine.

Not fun.

However, after doing all that work I was able to get $8,000 for it when I sold it. 220,000 miles.

I recently purchased a 2004 Chevy 2500HD with a LB7 Duramax engine that needed injectors, 204,000 miles. Book time is about 12-15 hours. I did it in about 15-17 hours spread over 4 days. Local shop quoted the prior owner (very close friend of mine) $7,500 for the job, which seemed high to me. I bought all the parts, plus a lift pump for $3,000. Plus, I know it's done right. I paid $6,500 for the truck, plus another $4,500 for parts. I'm into it for $11,000, but it's a pretty great truck.

Reminds me of being stuck in Michigan with an alternator going out of my wife’s 2012 Honda Odyssey van when it was about 35 degrees with a 25 mph wind. It was a Sunday so no repair shops were open. Thankfully I got it to an Oreilley auto parts parking lot and they had one in stock. The workers loaned me tools and I spent about 5 hours replacing that sucker. I’d work a little, get in the van and watch a few minutes of the YouTube video to see next steps and thaw out my hands, then do a few more minutes of work. Freakin awful.

Several reservoirs had to be unbolted and pushed aside then my elbow, wrist, and 2 fingers dislocated and twisted around to get to stuff and other bolts lined up. Makes me shake just thinking about it. Normally it’s done going through the wheel well but I didn’t have a lift, obviously.

quote:

I just completed the most difficult repair on my Tundra.

Year? If a post-2007, you'd better hope it doesn't need a steering rack.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:

I remember V-Tail saying an alternator change in his Ford would've cost $1,000 due to where it was located at.

Not correct. V-Tail said that alternator and new battery, along with cable replacement, was done for around nine hundred dollars. This after the military / veteran discount at the service shop owned by an Army vet, who totes a P229 / .357 SIG.

^ The Edge does have a relatively short hood & tight engine bay.

Comparing the same job (6 spark plugs) between our Flex & my sister's Edge, the Edge easily took an extra half hour & some improvised tools.
Much less room on the back side of the engine due to the shorter hood.