Dieselers,

Thanks for your great advice. I replaced the alternator successfully yesterday, and now I've got 14 volts, idling. I think the car is roadworthy now.

I wound up taking just the alternator out, and not the bracket. The bolt holding the bracket to the engine was super-tight, and inaccessible to the pb blaster can. The other bolts gave in to the blaster, and were easy to remove.

I didn't know that there would be an aluminum bushing/sleeve around the body of the upper (adjustment) bolt, so when I pulled that bolt out and the sleeve fell on the ground, I was like, "Oh *****, where did that come from? I hope that I'm not dismantling the engine."

All told, though, it was an easy, straightforward, and fun job, and thank you all for your helpful advise and generally positive attitudes.

-Ravi

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When I bought the 1983 240D with 250K miles, my father joked: "So, finally, a Mercedes-Benz in the family."