Help
 

Alright, I came across my alternator problem a week ago, and after talking with a few people on this site, I figure it would be an easy task to complete. I went out to my car this morning to try and work on it, and to my discovery, it isn't as easy as I was hoping for. I can't get the bottom bolt loose enough to do any work, I can't reach the top bolt, (from below the car), I can't even see the top bolt from looking down into the engine area. So far, I am not able to get help from anyone in this area that I know. At this point, I don't think I will be able to complete this task on my own, and am feeling discouraged about it. I dont know what to think about this project at this point. Can anyone help, or give me any ideas? I have considered going to a mechanic, but I can not afford to do so.....help??:(

The easiest way to get to the top bolt is to remove the plastic air inlet "u-tube" between the air cleaner and the turbo inlet. This is held in place with two clamps and just "pops" off with a little effort. With that removed you can reach the top bolt from the top. Getting these loose can be a pain if the are tight. You need a box wrench and some leverage.

Have you done car repair before?
 

This is kind of a tough job to do if it is one of your first tries at repairing your own car. Accesability is difficult for the alternator on W123 cars. Look in the Factory Service Manual first. There are many links just do a search.

On the flip side, on many occasions just the brushes for the alternator have gone bad. You can solder in new brushes or you can buy a complete regulator that the brushes get soldered into and it will have the brushes already included. It is simple enough to pull the regulator out of the back of the alternator. There are two screws holding it in. Then you can look at the condition of the brushes to determine if they need to be replaced. However if your alternator belt is squealing it may mean that the bearings in the alternator are bad and you have to replace the bearings or the alternator. If you just do the brushes it should be less than $10, if you do the regulator it should be less than $30 and the alternator should be less than $150 for a rebuilt.

Good luck

On a non-technical note, in general you get more help if you are more specific about your question in the subject line. Personally, I usually skip over threads that only say things like, "Help me" --