Took the KJ out for a run last week, a couple of minutes into the drive the charging system warning light came on. Drove it straight back home for testing. While it was stopped in the driveway I gave the regulator a light tap with a hammer and sure enough, the charging light went out temporarily with each tap.

I'd ideally like to have the alternator reconditioned instead of just throwing another regulator and brushes in with worn slip rings. The hard part is actually removing the alternator from the car.

I've removed the bracket that supports the alternator, removed the bolt holding it to the engine, loosened the tensioner and managed to free the alternator completely, but the difficult part is removing it from the engine bay. It doesn't seem to clear one of the AC lines and the oil dipstick tube. I can't remove it from under the car because the air conditioning compressor is in the way.

I've been told that removing the electric thermofan on the radiator closest to the alternator gives more room to move, but that doesn't look to be simple either, at least not without disconnecting the top radiator hose.

Just wondering what tricks or procedures others here have used to remove the alternator from a 3G Magna / Verada with the 6G74 engine?


(I searched the forums but perhaps the search terms I'm using aren't what vBulletin expects because it seems to throw back more irrelevant results than actual useful ones.)

New alt is often cheaper

Remove drivers side fan to get it out

Odd, I'm fairly sure that when I replaced mine on my TF all I had to do was rotate it and pull it out pulley side up. I couldn't get it out any other way.

On a 3ltr yes, can do that, on a 3.5 with the higher deck height it foules

On a 3ltr yes, can do that, on a 3.5 with the higher deck height it foules

Good to know, thanks Mal

Think I've only changed my brushes on my current 3.5 and not actually done a swap.

Sent the alternator in for reconditioning. Getting a new regulator, new rectifier bank, new front and rear bearings, polished slip rings and the entire thing cleaned and painted for $215. New unit was quoted at $290.

Will swap it all over with the 200,000km service since it all has to come apart anyway.

Was the new unit OEM?

I bought a brand new Bosch one from Mistsfix for my daughters car for not much more coin than you paid.

Was the new unit OEM?

Not a clue. Didn't enquire into it any further.


I bought a brand new Bosch one from Mistsfix for my daughters car for not much more coin than you paid.

Which is fine. I was able to take the old alternator off and wanted to try out a local place between here and work, had it done within two days. Worked out better for me from a cost and convenience factor in this case.

My TL did the alternator light flicker (so my daughter tells me - I don't get to drive it much). At 195,000 km probably just worn brushes.
Thought I'd better swap it out before the flickering light takes out the regulator and/or diode pack with voltage spikes.
S/H one sourced off eBay. Brushes on this checked out reasonable, so took the gamble to put it in.

Battery disconnected.
As Mal said, pull the driver side fan out, bit of a wriggle to get that past the radiator hose.
Top mounting bracket for alternator has to come off.
Undo wiring to alternator.
From underneath, remove splash guard, back off belt tension, remove belt.
Remove big bolt though bottom of alternator.
Remove alternator upwards, still not much clearance, need to nudge the dipstick tube sideways a bit.
Reverse above with "new" alternator.
Couldn't get a torque wrench in anywhere, so all bolts done up by feel.
Tested at 14.4 volts at cold start, old one was on 13.2 volts on a hot engine.

To be honest, with the time and effort involved, a new alternator would have been better value for effort.

Alternator that came out had one brush worn right down, I have some new ones but the slip rings show a lot of wear, so probably not worth the effort. Getting it reworked is not much cheaper than buying a new one, so next time, new it is.

. . . . headliner renew is in progress. So today was officially a "dirty hands" day. Does the fun never stop? lol

Can't find a price from Mits-fix.

Reman jobbie: $174
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Mitsubishi-Magna-Bosch-TE-TF-TJ-TL-TS-TW-Verada-KE-KF-KH-KJ-KL-V6-Alternator-/131713783926?hash=item1eaac0d876:m:ml5yjMJdorO1LKU G2EvuS7A

Last remanufactured job I got for my TS didn't last, had to send it back for repairs. When returned, it was assembled wrong. Lugs for main mount were misaligned. So may be sub standard, but you may get a good one too.

New:
$229 + $29 pp
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Mitsubishi-Magna-Bosch-TE-TF-TJ-TL-TS-TW-Verada-KE-KF-KH-KJ-KL-V6-Alternator-/131383023700?hash=item1e9709d854:m:msbUrjgtMTpWKCs lFgqFvIA

I just replaced my alternator on my 3.5L TH Magna. I didn't have to remove the fan.

I bought the reconditioned unit from Ebay as mentioned by Madmax.

Working well so far.

I just replaced my alternator on my 3.5L TH Magna. I didn't have to remove the fan.

I bought the reconditioned unit from Ebay as mentioned by Madmax.

Working well so far.

I'm in favour of minimal parts removal to get to the bit you want to get to (*), but on the TL the fan definitely needs to come out. Even then, it's tight on wriggle room. Perhaps the TH is different in the body work at the front?

Good to hear you have had a good experience with a rebuilt alternator, I must just have been unlucky on the only time I tried one.

(*) It's a front wheel drive with a big engine. It's normal to spend ages to get to the bit you want:
Lifting the alternator out - 10 minutes. Getting to that point, 1 hour. It's a Magna, you get used to that.

I'm in favour of minimal parts removal to get to the bit you want to get to (*), but on the TL the fan definitely needs to come out. Even then, it's tight on wriggle room. Perhaps the TH is different in the body work at the front?

Good to hear you have had a good experience with a rebuilt alternator, I must just have been unlucky on the only time I tried one.

(*) It's a front wheel drive with a big engine. It's normal to spend ages to get to the bit you want:
Lifting the alternator out - 10 minutes. Getting to that point, 1 hour. It's a Magna, you get used to that.

I think the TL/W has the radiator assembly moved back a tad. Even the passenger side lights are hard to get to on the L/W. Proper steps involve removing the wheel and splash guard etc until someone on here pointed out that you just have to move the battery and the fuse box out of the way to access the bulbs. Believe it or not, dealers still do it by the book and have seen it done this way personally until I mentioned it to the service manager.

I'm in favour of minimal parts removal to get to the bit you want to get to (*), but on the TL the fan definitely needs to come out. Even then, it's tight on wriggle room. Perhaps the TH is different in the body work at the front?

Good to hear you have had a good experience with a rebuilt alternator, I must just have been unlucky on the only time I tried one.

(*) It's a front wheel drive with a big engine. It's normal to spend ages to get to the bit you want:
Lifting the alternator out - 10 minutes. Getting to that point, 1 hour. It's a Magna, you get used to that.

I dunno... you should try working on just about any AWD. WRX, Legnum/Galant, or even my XC90. Having said that, the headlight removal on the XC90 is a 10 second job. Hmmm, crazy swedes.

I'm in favour of minimal parts removal to get to the bit you want to get to (*), but on the TL the fan definitely needs to come out. Even then, it's tight on wriggle room. Perhaps the TH is different in the body work at the front?

Good to hear you have had a good experience with a rebuilt alternator, I must just have been unlucky on the only time I tried one.

(*) It's a front wheel drive with a big engine. It's normal to spend ages to get to the bit you want:
Lifting the alternator out - 10 minutes. Getting to that point, 1 hour. It's a Magna, you get used to that.

The most difficult part was loosening the upper mount, once I had cracked those bolts the old alternator came out.

I didn't read the manual and after putting in the new unit I wondered where the belt adjustment was!

Once I worked that out, squeaks gone.

People forget how space efficient a front wheel drive is - for interior room. I remember standing inside the engine bay, feet on the ground, in my HX Holden eons ago to work on something or other (*). Lots of space in the engine bay, but with the gearbox bulge and transmission tunnel, interior space wasn't the best.

At least the Magna doesn't need working on every weekend, unlike some other makes from the same era.

Yeah remembered why - I was wrapping a rope around the engine to support it from the carport roof while I slid a bent front subframe out and a straight one in. Fun times!

Could be worse.... have a look at the engine bay of a 300zx
There's miles of room in these cars by comparison

Need to start a tightest engine bay and a widest engine bay thread. No puns intended.

Need to start a tightest engine bay and a widest engine bay thread. No puns intended.

That would be so open to innuendo, we had better not . . .

Back on topic, sort of:
Checked the brushes on the alternator that came off the TL, actually compared to the length of new brushes, they show minimal wear. One brush though, was stuck in its holder, possibly the cause of the poor contact and alternator light flashing at times. First time I've seen a Bosch alternator do that.
Stuck some new brushes in anyway, seeing I had them lying about, and made sure they were free to move.
Chucked the alternator in the shed for future reference.