**Alternator - Removal How-To PICS **

[BLK_03]

Ok, so my alternator just went south. I am at 37K , so Ford told my to stick it. Lower pulley has been on with stock alt. pulley for about 6K. Upon my search for a good replacement alternator, I found many people asking how to remove the alternator. So here it is... BTW, I'm replacing with a PA performance unit...

First remove the belt.

I next placed the car on jackstands, to have good access to the bottom of the car.

Next, remove the 8mm, battery retaining bolt.

Lift and remove the battery, leaving you access to the tray. Remove the other 8mm bolts and remove the tray. This will leave you with plenty of access to the top of the alt.

Now unbolt the 15mm alt. retaining bolt.

From the bottom locate the two wiring harnesses. One unclips, one unbolts after removing the protective rubber boot.

Next you will have to create room for the alternator to move. This is accomplished by removing one bolt, and loosening one bolt from the alternator bracket.

Loosen the one on top: (this is tricky as there is not much room)

And remove the one on the bottom (don't lose the Metco spacer)

Now the alt. can be set free. Using a long object and a hammer, tap the alternator DOWN, and toward the PASSENGER side of the car.

Should look like this...

Now from the bottom, wiggle/dance the alternator out of the car. I found the easiest way was to walk the alt. toward the oil filter. I messed with it for a while and once I moved the alt. toward the back of the car, it came right out by the oil filter...

One last shot showing the new Metco compensating pulley, against the stock alt. pulley.

 

[Wings65288]

nice pictures man, even better write-up :thumbsup:

 

[SVT4ME]

Great write up! Thanks

 

[Wings65288]

may i ask what kind of camera you used and what pixel it is?

 

[traktrbeam]

Awesome! Added to my How to Do files

 

[BLK_03]

may i ask what kind of camera you used and what pixel it is?

Kodak DX7590. 5.0 megapixel. I think it's a great camera for being off the shelf and non-SLR.

 

[alanw6]

Another great writeup Tony! Look me up at WFC 8 this weekend if you are going to be there.

Alan

 

[LTHL VNM]

can you rehost the pics please, i'm gonna need to do this
thanks
-tony

 

[Crowley]

So what size altenator pulley did you go with and if you would have had one from the begining do you think that would have saved your stock unit?

thanks,
Crowley

 

[BLK_03]

It's a 3 3/8" pulley.

Would it have prevented the stock one from going bad? Who knows... They have been known to fail on stock cars. The stock alternator from Ford has been problematic for years.

If I knew what I know now, the alternator pulley would have been done at the same time I changed the lower crank pulley. It's not fun to be stranded, or leave your car somewhere you don't feel comfortable leaving it.

* pics should be working now *

 

[Cobra Nate]

nice pictures man, even better write-up :thumbsup:

.

 

[CobraVertWV]

Great writeup, thanks! :beer:

 

[Slow04Cobra]

I'm doing this right now.......it's not as easy as he makes it look

 

[badboy]

I'm doing this right now.......it's not as easy as he makes it look

I found it to be more of a PITA than installing the 6# lower kit. Couldn't get the stock pulley off.

Question: I'm replacing my 6# lower with a 2# (KB install). Do I need to go back to the stock alternator pulley or is the 3.2 OK to leave on?

 

[BADBOYSPACK]

now you understand why us Ford techs tend to make a few $$$, the designs of some of these cars is so f**cked up, make things that will need to be changed more accessible

 

[AllVenom]

now you understand why us Ford techs tend to make a few $$$, the designs of some of these cars is so f**cked up, make things that will need to be changed more accessible

Yep, you go and try to make a design that will both be practical and easy to do maintenance on. Go ahead, I challenge you. This problem transcends every engineering marvel we have. If space was an endless commodity, then you and I would have room to do just about anything. But, since the front of the car is what it is, it would be impossible to design an engine where every component could be accessed easily. I used to be an electronics tech in the marines and would say the same things about the equipment being a f'd up design. Its not easy from their point either.

In any case, you make good money, so quit your whining!

 

[WOMACK03]

I ordered a PA today. I have 26XXX miles and if I turn on the A/C my cars voltage takes a poop. The Alt. is only making 13 volts max. I still have a warranty but I dont want to have to do this again, so 269.00 shipped for the PA 70/130 is worth it.

 

[RookieVenom]

thx

thx dude. Hopefully i dont have any problems.

 

[silvercoffin]

MINE WENT BAD...at 14,500

Thanks for this write up.
MY QUESTIONS ARE:

How do you get the stock pulley off? and if you get an OEM replacement alternator does it come with the stock pulley?


Mine just went bad last night leaving me stranded on the side of a highway at 1am. My girl friend wanted me to pick her up from a Bridal Party in the Mustang instead of my VOlvo! So I actually took the stang out for a drive..usually just race it.. Figures it would wait to go bad on the way home from Seaside Heights. AAA took about an hour to get to us.

My girl friend was cool about it lol.... I reminded her that if I had taken the 89 Volvo with 260,000 miles on it we would have made it home just fine!

I was thinking mine probably went bad because I just race the car and I run the pump for the intercooler a lot. I figured the alternator is working extra hard because of that. I have 14, 500 miles on my car.

 

[silvercoffin]

info

ok i tried it and failed! lol well I was running low on day light and I couldnt get the electrical connecting off..

Its easy to get the alternator loose but I wasnt sure how to get the one electrical connector off. The one that clips on. How does it come off?

I didnt bother unbolting the other one maybe then it will be more obvious how its possible to get it out? There didnt seem to be anyway to get it out even ocne those connections were removed. The side of the car, the sway bar? and some sort of bracket was in the way. Im hoping that once the electrical connections are removed there will be more freedom of movement.

How do you unclip the other connector?

Im hoping I can still do this myself. Its really ffed up how ford designed this. Im not paying someone hundreds of dollars in labor to do something that should be so simple