2010 Mazda CX-9 Alternator removal 3.7 engine

Easy way to remove the alternator

[kevinfowler]

I just did this job on mine. Thanks for video it was a great help! A couple notes for others:
1) Be EXTREMELY careful with the hose nipples on the radiator. The small one is very fragile as the plastic will be brittle from heat and age.
2) A 1-1/4" open end wrench will fit over the belt tensioner from above and allow it to be pulled forward to easily remove the belt.
3) Don't touch the engine mount. Using a 1/2" drive breaker bar and 1/2" drive 14mm socket, I was able to get the correct depth and angle to clear the pulley without hitting the wall to get the lower alternator mounting bolt.

[darrylyoes]

Thanks for the video Luke. After 133K miles and almost no issues (other than window motors and a brake booster) ours has started to come apart. I just changed all six fuel injectors, coil packs and plugs to solve a miss, and today the alternator fails. Funny thing though. Every part that has failed has FOMOCO stamped on it. The Mazda bits are holding up well but the Ford pieces are falling apart... Going to tackle it this week. Wish me luck.

[kingmasonconn]

Great video. You walked through every important step instead of wasting time. Love to see it.

[gameslingaTTV]

Thanks bro! All the info I needed as I’m about to do this very job on my daughters 2010 CX-9. I believe the alternator failure in hers was caused by a leaky valve cover gasket as well.

[MrBanacek]

Thanks for the video. The shop manual has a much more difficult removal procedure. Your way worked just fine.

[mikebrock]

This is the best video I've seen here. These other guys make a lot of extra work for them selves. I have a 2014 and thought being made in japan would make it better than an Explorer but NO. FoMoCo every where under the hood. My alternator is bad at 84k miles. I haven't had an alternator go out on any vehicle in 20 years. The water pump is behind 2 timing chains and when it leaks from the weep hole the fluid goes straight into the oil pan. Clearance is so tight and there is no gasket for the timing cover so its easier the do the job with the engine out.

[loudbmw]

I couldn't find a video for alternator removal on a 2009 Mazda 6 with the 3.7L V-6 so this video was extremely helpful. Some minor differences for the Mazda 6 versus the CX-9, the fan assembly on the Mazda 6 has no bolts, it snaps in place. Hard to get in and out but can be done by removing the air box and unsnapping the lower radiator hose and transmission lines from the fan assembly. Removal of the lower radiator hose was not required (but it would help).

The bolts on the alternator were 1/2" in my case. For clearance, you have to unbolt the A/C compressor and move the refrigerant lines out of the way but the lines stay connected.

On the V-6 Mazda 6, the tensioner can easily be backed off from the top with a 1-1/4 open end wrench.

Lou

[tomnpaula]

Good video. I had the same frozen belt tensioner. I did not lower the engine. I got a bent pry bar in there and pried till it popped. Then used the same tensioner tool you used from the bottom. Yeah half an hour or better to get the belt off. Go figure. Now it makes noise. I'd recommend anyone doing this job get a new tensioner with the alternator

[jonathantoth]

Just did this then watch your vid lol, broke the nipple of one of the returns to the radiator getting the hose off of it, plastic was super brittle on the radiator so use caution when removing the tubes to get the fans out guys

[TheScottiolla]

So, I got mine for free last October from a friend so that I could give it to my son. It’s got 365k miles on it … yes, you read that right. She said it was pretty trouble free for her? Anyways … it’s looking like the alternator is bad so I get to tackle it this weekend. Thank you for this video!!

[gjenkins]

You can also remove/install it from the wheel well. Probably the same amount of work but if you remove the washer fluid tank you'll have a nice size opening.Pull the alternator up and soon as it clears the frame pull it out through the side under the fender

[Philiprain]

Came here for advice after driving a 2008 CX-9 for nearly 14 years and only changing batteries and oil... Didn't know I was driving a piece of junk... 160k miles and this is the first thing I need to fix. 🤷‍♂️

[Celtic-Texan]

I just recently replaced my tensioner pulley, which fortunately for me wasn't seized so it came off easy, unfortunately it didn't fix the problem I had, which was the noise that I assumed was coming from the pulley. Now I'm thinking it's either bearings in either the alternator or the A/C compressor. So when I was looking at the alternator for potential removal I was like WTF, how does one get the bastard out, and your video explains it well. We've had our CX-9 for 11 years, it's been a wonderful vehicle until we hit 136K, and had the catastrophic FoMoCo water pump seal failure 900 miles from home during a road trip. $4, 500 later we had a low mileage engine swapped in and it's back to being a nice vehicle. We of course put a brand new water pump, timing chain, and a few other new parts in while the swap was going on, so we should be good to go for at least the next 75K. That's the mileage point we were told these pumps tend to be susceptible to seal failure, so if you have one of these cars, and you're approaching, or are well past the 75K mark, do yourself a MAJOR favor and get that water pump replaced before what happened to us happens to you. The guy at the shop that swapped my engine for me, he said had I brought it in for just the water pump replacement, he would have charged around $300-$400. Granted I would have spent more because I would have had him do the timing chain as well. I just wish I knew about this problem prior to all of that, hope this post help others.

[kylebrooks]

Use a adjustable crescent wrench on the top of the tention pully works wonders but you need someone to pull it forward makes it so easy sadly removing my alternator the wire harness is so old it just crumbled on me so it's ruined have to splice in a new pig tail and the video I watched previously showed the guy unbolting the entire motor 3 bolts and using a second jack to raise the motor a few inches and he literally just pulling the alternator out through the front putting it back in was a struggle trying to wiggle it around wires but it worked

[adamwelcome]

Definitely a good video ill be doing the same in the next few days

[jakebumbstead]

13 years old and 160k+ miles and the alternator is the only thing that has failed on mine, not hardly what I’d call junk. But I’d never buy anything Honda other than a generator so to each his own. Otherwise I found your video useful.

[willadkins]

How do I replace the radiator on a Mazda CX-9 since I already have the fan out after replacing the alternator?

[ryanr]

Great video man. I appreciate the insight. I'll be tackling this job in a day or two.

[DrPiano]

Do not mess with the engine mount! In attempting to screw with the engine mount I busted it and some liquid gushed out of it and onto the ground. I will most likely need to replace it. Follow Kevin Fowler's added advice in his comment and maybe mine in my reply you will do great.

[bullbutter]

I hear ya LOL, I'm currently doing mine the Third time, Auto zone parts smh 🤬 first one lasted 1 day second one lasted a year, here we are again third times a charm there is no SHORT CUT BTW LOL.. was tempted to cut some webbing on cooling fan mount, but decided against it. I did do Timing chain water pump took a long long time like a month or something, Phasors still rattles LOL.