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I just finished replacing the alternator brushes in the voltage regulator of my 1992 SAAB 9000. This turned out to take quite a lot of my time, but only cost $3.69. I purchased the replacement brushes from W. W. Britton in Beverly, MA. They were very helpful.
This is actually the second time this car has died because of alternator brush failure. The first time was preceded with a lot of warning, alternator light coming on intermittently, but for reasons unknown, I waited until we had to take a long trip, which we completed with the aid of a rental Ford F-150 (nice!), procured in Vermont late on a Sunday night. We had the car towed to Hoosick Falls, where a nice mechanic correctly diagnosed the problem a few days later and got it back on the road by replacing the voltage regulator/brush assembly with a used one that he had lying around. He said we should replace the brushes when convenience. Unfortunately I was never able to convince my regular mechanic to replace the brushes, so the car ended up stranding my son in town.
Here is how I did it and what I learned. Hopefully it will save someone some time. I jacked the car and crawled underneath and attempted to remove the voltage regulator screws by sticking my hand up between the frame and the exhaust pipe. The screw on the right came out without too much difficulty, but the screw on the left is nearly inaccessible, with an intake bracket and the oil dipstick tube blocking the way. Ultimately I removed the left screw using needle nose vise grip pliers (my favorite tool). This took a lot of time and patience which was really wasted since the same method was impractical for reinstallation (see below).
Once I removed the regulator, there was a bit of confusion as to which regulator I was supposed to have. Apparently the '92 9000s come with two different capacity alternators. Mine is 115 W. The Bosch part number of the voltage regulator that the mechanic removed when he replaced it the first time was 1 197 311 022. The part number of the voltage regulator that was in the car, that he said he installed was 1 197 311 028. I had the choice of re-using either VR, and since the 028 part was the last part in use, and came up as the correct VR for my application I went with that. Plus one brush clearly had worn out. The 022 VR looked like the brushes should still have been serviceable.
In removing the brushes, I drove a small brad through the rear of the brush holder to loosen it up, and used a desoldering suction device. In retrospect I don't think there was any solder, so I needn't have bothered. I also used torch since I was having difficulty getting enough heat on the contact in the rear of the holder. Bad idea. All that accomplished was burning the brush holder plastic case. In the end, the only way I was able to remove the old brushes was by using the brad, loaded in the end of the needle nose vise grip pliers and a hammer to loosen up the connection until I could pull the brush out from the front of the holder. Then I used a drill bit just slightly larger than the diameter of the wires on the new brushes and drilled out the brush holder contacts from the front (brush side). Then I cut a section of the supplied insulation to match what I found inside, threaded the wire through the string and twisted it around until it fed through the hold I had drilled out. Then I measured how much brush I felt I could extend by pulling the wire through the rear of the holder. When I had it where I wanted it, I folded it over the rear of the holder, recrimped the hole around the wire and soldered it. This seems to have worked fine. I also sanded both sides of the metal contacts per someone else's post.
Trying to install the VR from underneath the car, as I had removed it, was futile and I wasted way too much time trying to figure out how to do it that way. So I lowered the car and began disassembling the intake system so I could gain access from above. I removed the four bolts holding the upper half, and a few connectors, including the throttle cable and the cruise control cable. Then I was able to lift the upper half of the intake out of the way. That turned out to give me just enough room to both see and touch the VR. So I was able to insert the screws and tighten them. After that it was just a matter of putting the intake system back together. I should have done the removal the same way.
I had charged the battery for a couple of days while I was getting the brushes and it started right away and ran fine with 13.9-14.2 V on the in-dash voltmeter.
posted by 66.30.45...
, Sun, 20 Jan 2008 14:14:46, Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:01:51
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