Celicasaur

Hi guys, I wonder if anybody else has struggled with this.

So recently I changed my alternator and had to remove the metal radiator support bar thing which hides the hood catch cable. I'm having trouble getting the thing aligned back up and with the rad too...anybody got any tips and is there a trick to it, or is it a case of fiddling with it for a few hours and getting there...?

shardul

iTrader: (1)

Yes this can be a PITA some times. Just play around with it and it will fall in place. The cable goes under the plastic piece.

Celicasaur

A real PITA bro. I swear, I'm gonna give it another hour. If it doesn't go in, I'm gonna pull out a hammer and go medievil on this ish.

jcjmw

There should be clips under that metal support bat that the hood cable can clip into. The key is making sure that the cable stays clipped to it when you move the support bar to fit it back in place. Good luck.

Celicasaur

Funnily enough it's not even the cable coming out the plastic thing - I'm having trouble aligning the plastic tab things for the radiator, which I'm sure is strongly linked to my problem. I'm able to bolt the metal cover down, but the hood doesn't shut fully from the driver side (your driver side) which is the main problem.

I'll give it a good go once again in the daylight and then see how I get on. Thanks guys.

While I've got you MB World legends here...can somebody kindly answer me the following:
What is the torque figure that I should tighten the idler pulley bolt above the alternator? I've got it pretty tight, but just don't want to take any chances as I know this car likes to give me and every body a hard time.

shardul

iTrader: (1)

35NM and use blue locktite

SavMan

What ever you do dont close the hood/bonnet if they cable and support is not correctly setup. If you jam the bonnet shut its a much bigger PITA trying to open it again trust me I speak from experience it took me 3 hours to work my route from under the car including

Removed lower front tray and wheel arch liner.
Removed Secondary Airpump
Removed horn and bracket that sits above the secondary airpump
Moved secondary airpump hose out of position

Then you have to work out your angle of attack I had my arm stuck twice!

Celicasaur

eeeek! Damn I guess I've been lucky then...it releases the catch every time but I won't push my luck too much...tomorrow...I'm fixing this catch (and crucially torquing up the pulley bolt, thanks Shardul)