Swapping out the Alternator from a 1982 W123 Mercedes-Benz 240D Diesel

My girlfriend just purchased this classic car to be converted to run on waste vegetable oil. The alternator died a few days ago and we decided to take the opportunity to install the larger 70 Amp unit in anticipation of the dual-tank kit which will require more power. So being the first step on this journey I wanted to document as much as I could and share it with everyone! It was a pain to pull the old alternator out, Mercedes engineers overbuilt the bracket to say the least and we had to resort to brute force measures to ultimately make the swap. But all-in-all it was pretty straight forward and the car is now running great! Feel free to contact me with any questions regarding this fun project. As we progress I plan on filming and keeping this youtube channel updated! Thanks for watching!

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Mercedes-Benz
• 240D
• W123
• Alternator
• WVO
• Waste
• vegetable
• oil
• dual
• tank
• kit
• multi-fuel
• vehicle
• diesel
• bio-diesel

[kabakris]

Hi okay so im ready to kick the door in haha, your like the only video of the problem im having. I got the lshap bolt thing out of the encasing but i cant get to the nut behind on the inner most part of the alternator how did you get to it?

[arkhaus000]

Well, if I recall correctly only the L-Bolt and the thru-bolt at the bottom of the alternator need to be removed. I had struggled with that last bolt towards the top back corner only to find it was not necessary to the removal. Although I should clarify that since I uploaded this video I discovered the alternator might not have been the problem and it was simply the tension on the belt (which should have about a 1/4 inch of play to it). Hope this helps!

[kabakris]

Yeah i still can't get the belt off, haha yeah i bent the l shape bolt thing like you did but when i tryed to turn it to get the bolt losse to get the alternator out it just bend the bolt itself wont move haha, and the back of that wont budge, but im glad i can stopp trying to get the corner bolt out HAHA cause that one was fucking hard to get to! LOL thanks!

[arkhaus000]

So I thought I should mention that recently a friend who has owned mercedes for years pointed out in order to do final necessary adjustments to the tension you have to loosen the outside/top bolt before you can adjust the "L-Bolt". Otherwise you will just bend or damage the "L-Bolt" and exacerbate the problem. However, its nothing a good pry bar, 13MM wrench and a pair of vice grips can't fix.

[Stuart7500]

I think my alternator died as well. The battery is getting weaker and the car won't start.

And how did you get the hood to go so high?

[arkhaus000]

When you pop the hood take note where the hinge hardware is as there is a small flat square shaped piece that you need to press down while also bringing the hood down slightly. Doing those two things should allow you to extend the angle of the hood to its maximum.

[rilogenes]

1985 300TD Wagon...

i did it without damaging the bracket or the tensioner...one must loosen tensioner, remove belts, then remove the bolt that holds the top bracket, then the bottom bolt, then remove everything as a unit...

then it is simple to unscrew the tensioner and get it out the way...

reverse procedure to install...

[aa2398a]

where did u get this alternator from? And what is the most powerful alternator available for 300D 1984 (euro) ??

i have 2000 watt stereo, i could do with more alternator power. currently i have bosche remanufactured..i think also 55 amp

[arkhaus]

@Jazzy1500 Yea it might have only been the voltage regulator but at the time with my inexperience working on cars a total replacement of the alternator seemed the easiest thing to do. In fact it might have only needed to be tightened up as the previous owner had done a number on that infamous "L Bolt" and had I known how to tighten it properly back at the time I made this video, maybe would have saved some trouble. Three years later and we're still driving this benz daily, no problems.

[Jazzy1500]

Could you not have just replaced the voltage regulator?

[beatnic50]

Nicely put together video. Check out some of my 123 videos on my you tube page.  I just subscribed to your page.

[gavinwedell]

Thanks - I'm attempting an alternator replacement on my w123 in a few weeks. This gives me hope that it can be done by a DIYer.

[mytickets]

Good work

If you did this every day you would find the TRICK

to make it with out bending

GO WVO

I just put up a youtube of my DODGE

Jeff