Dont know which bolt loosens the belt for alternator changeing. please help 1998 ford expedition. 4.6 liter.

The alternator has a bolt that is adjustable to keep tension on the belt. There should be a single bolt that is fixed, and probably another that sits in a slot in the bracket that allows adjustment. You'll loosen the bolt in the bracket slot and give the belt some slack, and it should come off the pulley. When replacing, you may have to have someone help pull the alternator so it puts tension on the belt, and then you can tighten it down. I have seen some vehicles that have a bolt that will turn in or out to either tighten the alternator or loosen it.

take a wrench to the drive belt tensor which is a spring loaded pulley off center from the belt path. this is what provides the tension on the belt.

First take off the negative battery cable, facing the back of the car reach UNDER the alternator and loosen the bolt on the bottom right side, now loosen the bolt on the adjuster block on top, you can now turn the adjuster bolt and move the alternator to change the belt. If you need to change the steering pump belt on the front of the motor, you need to loosen the nut on the back side of the pulley it holds the adjuster pulley in place . Then you can use the adjuster belt to move the pulley to adjust the belt.

always take the negative battery terminal off to avoid shorting the charge wire. Next, remove the serpentine belt by twisting the tensioner loose. Then you can remove the alternator bolts. Let me know if you have more questions.

heres a diagram to help you, loosen the bottom bolt a few turns then loosen the top bolt then loosen adjusting bolt to loosen belt, use the adjuster to tighten the new belt then tighten top and bottom bolts, hope this helps,

( BEFORE ADJUSTING THE ALTERNATOR BELT DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE BATTERY CABLE OR YOU MIGHT BLOW AN EXPENSIVE HIDDEN FUSE)to change the alternator belt, you have to loosen the lower mount bolt on the alternator, loosen block shaped bolt that the long adjuster bolt goes through, and loosen the belt by turning the long adjuster bolt, take off the belt. to adjust the power steering belt, there is a long adjuster bolt that moves a tensioner pulley, first you have to loosen the nut that holds the pulley in place , now the pulley can be moved with the adjuster bolt.

You have too remove the alternator, tensioner pulley, and probably would help to disconnect the power steering hose too give you a little more room too work. Now getting the pulley off the water pump is always the pain, see if you can loosen those bolts before removing the tension on the serpentine belt. If not try using a rubber oil filter remover to hold while you loosen the bolts.

Please confirm to me but I believe the alternator is driven with the serpintine belt. If this is the case there is an idler/tension pulley that would need to be first loosened (I believe it is a 14MM) then at the top of the bracket where this pulley is mounted there is a bolt that you rotate to either loosen or tighten the belt (by turning this bolt you either raise or lower the pulley.
I hope this may have helped,
Tom

under the hood find the alternator, then on the alternator there a bolt on the side that is long you have to loosen it last after u loosen the bolts that are holding the alt then the long bold last it loosens the belts ,take the belts of then but new one one and but the bolts that hold the alt on first dont tighten them then the big bolt make it tight how u need not to tight and then tighten the bolts that hold the alt tigher,if my info was of any help to you please leave a comment,thank you.

this may help you 98 Contour 2 0 timing belt replacement alternative method