By oldfartzuk
Published by permission of oldfartzukPictures by shizuka (graphic overlays with text by oldfartzuk)
(edited for clarity by Jim "Ack" Cambron)Tool list: Dremel (tm)-type grinder with lots of cut-off wheels Parts: 2 large thick washers cut to fit. Pulley from a Samurai alternator -- Sidekick/Geo Tracker alternators use a different style belt.
I Installed a rebuilt Sidekick alternator (Advance Auto Parts) in my Zuk today. It was a straight forward switch. This really was a simple project except for the time and patience it takes to make it work... I reccomend this fix to anyone.
I didn't want to mess with other brackets and electronics as I have read some horror stories on the BBS by others using Chevy/Delco alternators. Also, I am trying to keep my Zuk a Zuk as much as possible. The Advance Auto people said what I was doing was impossible. I plan to go by there tomorrow and show them that it ain't so.
The hardest part was grinding down two metric washers to a outside diameter that would set the proper spacing so the alternator pully would line up with the fanbelt pulley. I also had to use my Dremel grinder to open up the washer hole just a tad. It took two washers to get the proper spacing. This was after using my Dremel to grind down the lip on the Sidekick/Tracker alternator that surrounds the shaft where the pulley mounts.
It's not really a hard job -- it just takes patience because you have to work so slow and keep checking the roundness of the outside of the washers used to space the pulley so it doesn't hit the alternator housing when you tighten it down with a impact wrench. I used the large thick washer and lock washer off my original alternator with the nut off the Sidekick/Tracker alternator to secure the pulley to the new alternator.
(Editor's note: In order to keep metal grinding particles out of the alternator's guts, you might consider using a wide roll of painters' masking tape to cover all the alternator's vent holes.)
I wound up removing the radiator and all its supports so I could do 99% of the switch from top rather than below. I'm a 64 year old-fat-fart that has a lot of trouble working on my back.
I now can play my 200 amp CD player and turn on my Hi-intensity landing lights simultaneously.
The first picture shows how the sidekick/tracker alt does not line up with the other pulleys.
The second pic shows the lip on the sidekick/tracker alternator that must be ground down to get the about 1/4 - 3/8 inch needed to get the sammy pulley back far enough on the shaft to line up. I used up about a dozen Dremel cut off wheels to grind mine down and a couple of Dremel grindstones as well. the cut-off wheel was the same one I used to cut my door hinges so I could take my doors off. This took about 2-3 hours.
The third pic shows the case lip ground down to get the clearence needed.
The fourth pic shows where after grinding down the case lip where I installed two washers after grinding them down to fit the opening. I'm sure that if someone looked hard enough in a large town with a good fatener distributer you could find a washer that would fit without having to grind down like I had to do mine.
The fifth pic shows the alternator installed in the Zuk. The picture was taken slightly off the centerline of the belt path so it appears that the pulley does not line up. It really does!
Its been there about 2 weeks now and everything is working fine. On a cool raining morning I ran the heater fan on high, my windsheild wipers on high, headlights on high beam and my 200 watt CD was blasting some Fleetwood Mac". I've had the Zuk 6 years and have never been able to have all those on at the same time before with the wimpy original alt.
All the pics are from the 2002 post by shizuka. I added the text explanations and arrows.