Post by
far raf »
https://forums.nicoclub.com/far-raf-u272099.html
Wed Nov 29, 2017 2:13 pm
This process should be very similar for the model years around 2005.
1. Remove the air intake hood (plastic rivets along the top of radiator)
2. Remove the battery and its tray. Held by several 10mm bolts to the frame.
3. Remove the radiator fans. Two 10mm screws on top of the rad, then pull up and release it from the brackets down at the bottom. Pull up the driver side first, then wiggle up the whole thing, turn upside down and rest on the passenger side fender. There may be a couple of wire plugs in the way - disconnect them.
4. Jack up the front on both sides and rest on the stands.
5. Remove the plastic cover in the passenger wheel arch and under the bumper.
6. Drain antifreeze from the rad through the plug on the passenger side of the rad bottom. Drains slowly, open up the cap first.
7. While antifreeze drains, remove the overflow tank and the fuzebox near it. You do not have to disconnect either of them, just move them out of the way.
8. Now the tough part: loosen the tensioner pulley bolt from under the car with a 14mm or 15mm socket, can't remember exactly which.
9. Loosen the tensioner nut from the top, you are going to need a long extension and the same 14 or 15mm socket.
10. Remove the belt from the pulleys, you don't need to pull it out unless you are changing it at the same time. I did not and left it right there.
11. Drop the AC compressor onto the frame. There are 4 bolts there, pretty hard to reach some of them. Once it rests on the subframe with the hoses still attached, you can start removing the alternator.
12. Remove the rad hoses using large step pliers. Remove the ATF hoses from the transmission cooler outlets and immediately plug each hose. I used chemical tube rubber stoppers which fit and held perfect.
13. Remove the radiator. It just slides up and towards the driver side.
Disconnect the alternator main using a 14mm socket and disconnect the power plug.
14. From under the car remove the 14mm nut from the main bolt the alternator is pivoting on. Push the bolt as far towards the driver side as you can. Use a wrench rather than a ratchet for lack of space.
15. From the top remove the 12mm bolt which holds the alternator to the engine. Now you can drop the alternator on top of the AC compressor and reach over the top of the alternator to remove the main bolt it is pivoting on.
16. Wiggle out the alternator. You are done removing it. Re-assemble everything in the reverse order.
Note: the ATF line clamps and the lower rad hose clamp were completely rusted through on mine, and I replaced them with the SS hose clamps from the hardware store. Buy one 2 1/2" clamp and two 3/4" clamps before you start to avoid wasting time later.
Note 2: Many plastic push rivets that hold plastic covers along the bottom of the bumper, under the wheel arch and the intake hood will be broken during removal. I had a couple of bags of them which I used on my Honda, but they did not work well for the Quest. Get the longer 9mm rivets, two types: push-in and screw-in. There are places where each type works better.
Note 3: I am in the process of verifying the information I was given by someone, that Nissan Quest uses the same model of alternator as Honda Accord, and therefore the Pilot and other 6 cyl Hondas. If that is true, then a remanufactured Denso from Amazon would be way cheaper than the same from NAPA which I used.
If I had only known that the AC compressor had to be dropped, I would not have wasted about 3 hours trying to wiggle out the alternator pivot bolt. Took me over 7 hours, could be less than 4.