White_500SL

I've changed many alternators, but this one has me in a bit of a bind.
Basically, the water pump pulley is blocking half of the lower bolt to remove the alternator. I took of the fan shroud, the fan, and the belt (to gain access). The fan is connected to the water pump pulley (something I've never seen), which is pretty much up against the back of the radiator. I tried to take the bolt off at the fan to expose the bolts on the WP pulley, but the bolt wont budge... the free spinning action gives me zero leverage to put good strength into taking that bolt out.
I was really hoping that I don't have to take out the radiator to get to that bolt, to get to the pulley bolts, to get to the lower mounting bolt on the alternator...
Does anybody have any advice on how to make this job any easier? Am I missing something?
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White_500SL

I took a couple of pics, so I hope I can give a better idea of what I said earlier

nycphotography

clawfoot line wrench socket such as one of the following. openend will likelly work best as a box end will get trapped/pinned by the bolt as it backs out.

White_500SL

I tried the oenend on the lower bolt, but still couldn't get enough purchase on it. Even if I got a few turns on it; it would back out into the pulley.
I really can't see any other way around getting to that bolt, except for getting that pulley off.
How about, what's the bolt torque when I put it back? The Alternator, and pulley bolts...
Or how can I get that pulley to stay put, so I can crack that bolt out of there, then the 4 other bolts on the pulley?

Thanks!

nycphotography

If the pulley is free wheeling, put the belt back on to hold it, and hit it with an air impact to back the bolts out.

cliffyk

For years I have used a plumber's strap wrench, with the nylon strap removed and replaced with a length of old poly-V belt--I've yet to find a pulley, including crank pulleys, that this will not hold:



It needs to be a forged steel or aluminum wrench handle, not one of those rinky-dink plastic things.

Now most FLAPS have similar tools specifically designed for automotive work...

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BTW that is not the water pump, it's just a hanger/driven shaft for the cooling fan; the water pump is to the right of this (with the grooved pulley) in your first photo.