Honda Repair: 1990 Honda Accord EX Alternator problem, honda alternators, honda accor

Question
Hello. I would be VERY grateful if you can help me. I am a do-it-yourselfer with autos, but I only work on domestics normally. My 1990 honda accor ex is DEAD right now, but here's what happened. I started seeing my idiot light for the battery come on when I turned on the A/C, and thus the A/C wouldn't work. OK, fine. Then I'm driving down the road and I lose ALL electronics in the whole car including A/C, radio, clock, gauges, power windows, etc. After I turned the car off for that time, it hasn't started since. I checked the battery with my multimeter and I got 11.4V DC. I bought an alternator to put in and I got so far as to undo all the electrical connections and all the bolts only to find the "gold" bolt that holds the alternator in on the bottom is BROKEN! I have tons of tools at my disposal, but I can not get to that bolt. It looks like it is the tensioner? On my domestics they have a tensioner pulley that you can undo, but on this 1990 honda I don't know how to remove the belt, let alone get that broken bolt out! I can only see the broken bolt by using a small mirror. The circular end of the bolt is broke so now it looks like a semi-circle. The honda dealership quoted me $485 to fix this cause they only use honda alternators. I have a duralast one in the trunk. All I have insatalled in the honda is a remote start unit and a pioneer radio with 4 speakers. That's it. Now keep in mind the problem has been going on for a while with the idiot light coming on when the A/C is turned on, I just don't need the A/C, so I ignored it (The A/C doesn't work anyway cause of the draw on the already dying alternator I think). Please help me save $$$ by not having to get robbed at the dealership! I didn't even mention the broken bolt to them! They will charge me an arm and a leg now!
P.S. Before the car died for good, the idiot light would ONLY come on if you turned on the A/C.

Answer
Tony,
Sounds like you have a bad alternator, as you seem to know already. I am not too sure what you mean by the "gold bolt" . To loosen the belt, there are 3 bolts you need to loosen. 1st is the top alternator bolt, which I think you did. 2nd is the lower bolt, which I think you are refering to as the "gold bolt" Is that the stripped one? Keep in mind that you loosed this bolt from the right side of the altenator. On the opposite side is the rounded part of the bolt that I think you may be talking about. After you loosen those 2 bolts, you need to loosen the 10mm bolt that faces towards the radiator. That is the bolt that will free the tension on the belt.
As far as the bolt being stripped, that is just the proper tools and expierence needed to get that out. I can not help you too much over the internet with that.
Also a battery that reads 11.4 volts is bad, I hope you know. If it only reads 11.4 volts, than that means when it is loaded, it probally goes down to 8 volts. A car will not run on that. You at least need a battery also.
Good luck and thanks for the question.
Gene