95 E250 alternator

[dan fitz]

just took out the alternator on my 95 van with a 4.9L straight 6, man was it a b****! my haynes manual said to loosen the fan shroud but it probably should just come all the way off. i ended up cutting the corner out for clearance and yes, i poked a hole in the radiator. even with the plastic out of the way i had to pry it out. needed a new radiator anyway, the old brass one had a number of weep holes up top that i've soldered over the years. i got new brushes and a new regulator over the counter from my local auto electric shop for about $13 instead of $65 at autozone. brushes were worn down to their ends, i think this was the original which if so went over 200K, hard to believe but... i'm going to open it up, clean up the slip rings and try to lube the bearings while i'm at it, since the $180 i would have put into the alternator is going to the radiator instead. and i'll put it back in while the radiator is out!