Bazar - you're just the guy I was looking for.
I got my alternator back together last night, having replaced the bearings, wasn't pretty. It turns out the case halves on the Valeo alternator are not easily separated. The stator is mechanically retained in the front case half and soldered into the rectifier, which is, of course, part of the back case half. The kicker is that the retainers are not accessible until the case is split, which means that you can't open the case until you either unsolder or cut the stator wires at the rectifier.
I ended up cutting the stator leads at the rectifier, drilling out the leftover stub from the rectifier terminal, clipping the rectifier terminal lengthwise to open it, and resoldering the stator leads to the terminals using a wrap or two of #18 wire as a "tourniquet", to mechanically tie the terminal and the stator lead together before soldering. The result is not pretty, but it seems pretty stable. I used a 135 watt soldering gun, as the job requires a fair amount of heat. When I started, I didn't realize that the stator was attached to the front case half, and in prying the two halves, must have pulled enough slack out of the stator wires to still reach the terminals after they were cut.
I've attached some pictures of the case, showing the feature that makes disassembly so difficult, a small "button" which bears on the stator edge. The other edge of the stator rests on a ledge machined into the front case half. There are four of these retainers around the perimeter, don't know if this construction is unique to Valeo. My understanding is that, if the alternator's construction is such that there's a space visible between the two case halves with the alternator assembled, rebuilding will be much easier.
Bazar - would you be so kind as to check what type of alternator you have? Or maybe even post a picture showing the joint between the case halves? I'm thinking that the 318ti was produced with two different alternators. I do remember, early on, a recall where the dealer replaced my alternator, maybe two years after I got the car.
By the way, the cheapest replacement I found was on Rockauto.com - a Remy 13312 at $113.79, w/$90 core charge. It appears to be identical in construction to the Valeo.
Paul |