Anyone have any tips on changing an alternator on a P5?

[mnkyboy]

I need to change my alternator on my P5. I took a look at the Service manual, and it looks fairly simple on how the alternator is bolted on. What is a bit confusing is how do I get to this area of the engine. The top has no room to get to the alternator, and the bottom has the cross brace in the way.

Any suggestions/tips?

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123674247

 

[MP5_rookie]

Thanks and a little contribution

Thanks guys, After reading this thread I felt confident that I would be able to swap my seized alternator. I followed Rogue's 9 step plan. In addition to the steps I also had to move some extra hoses and clamps. Below are my steps through photographs.

I'll load them in 3 postings but you can see all the pictures at 2003 P5 Alternator Removal

 

[MP5_rookie]

Thanks and a little contribution_2

pictures 6-10

 

[MP5_rookie]

Thanks and a little contribution_3

Pictures 11 and 12..

Again, use these pictures with Rouge's 9 steps.

Here are some added notes:
1) The hoses suck
2) use ramps if you got them
3) A u-joint is an import's best friend
4) Oh and I stripped the mounting bolt on either the AC or power steering pump (where the tension screw for the other belt is), so I cut it to get the Alt on. Figured i could change that too. Not looking forward to dealing with that..

Total time 5 hrs. from set up to clean up (not including 2nd belt)

Thanks again everyone

 

[midskier]

2003 Protege 5 replace alternator

2003 Protege 5 2.0 auto 128,000 miles

Holy S#!t B@!!s batman what a pain in the @$$

My broke daughters alternator needed to be replaced. A few jumps due to a low battery prompted me to have her go to the zone and get the battery load tested which she did and they let her know the battery was fine however the alternator had a bad regulator (?) causing the battery to run down over a day or 2, my voltmeter showed it was only putting out 13.7 volts @ idle and had the mazda chirp as well. We had recently replaced the belts so I knew what a 12 letter job this was going to be. Found the alternator locally @ the other national AA chain with an online discount coming to $162 out the door w/ $27 core charge so net $135. How to get the farging thing out??????? Not out the bottom, but as mentioned several times above the alternator is somewhat easily removed OUT THE TOP!
Mazdas247 Thank you very much ! we got it done in about 2.5 hours. And yes she can handle an air ratchet and impact but couldnt tell you which ratchet is , 3/8, or drive.good thing the sockets have the size on them.
Thanks again

Midskier

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

FWIW, there was a sticker on my new alternator warning me that the alternator shouldn't or couldn't be tested out of the car. 13.7 volts doesn't sound like low output when you tested it but if the regulator was actually bad then it might not have been getting that much all the time. The chirp is never a good sign tho. How is it now? Is the battery holding charge? IIRC, the price is high because it has internal regulator but I also seem to recall some mention of the ecu handling voltage regulation. I say this hoping it isn't the case because replacing an ecu because of no proper voltage regulation would really suck big ones. Hoping all is well with it now......