Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Alternator problem

My alternator went out and a friend is changing it at his shop. Well, he's not done yet and he already said he'll never work on another SVT. Has anybody changed one out before? How hard is it really? Any input would be very appreciated.

Worst of any car I've ever owned in 40 years. Instead of 1 hour job for alt at top of motor (normal cars) it's many hours since alt is buried under exhaust manifold next to firewall and has to be removed thru' wheel well. Requires removal of tie rod for access, although Ford states driveshaft should be removed.
If this is a freebie you owe your friend BIG TIME.

My "How-to" on changing an alternator... I have done it twice on my car now. Yes, it is about a 3-4 hour job for the do it yourself'er.

- Take the passanger's side wheel off
- Remove the two splash guards that are around
the driveshaft
- Disconnect the tie rod only
- Disconnect the 3 wires that go to the alternator
- remove bottom two bolts (Unbolt the black
bracket from the alternator, not the block)
- To get to the top bolt, I ran a long extension
from over near the driver's side wheel, with a
swivel type socket on the end of it. It was
VERY tight, so use high quality/strength tools
- Once all 3 bolts are out, the alternator is
still wedged quite hard in the brackets, so you
need to get a good grip on it and pull it out
of the bracket. It took alot of my body weight
on it to get it out, and I am a big guy, so
again, if its not on a lift this could be quite
challenging
- After a few bashed knuckles the alternator
should be out, and with a little finessing, you
should be able to squeeze it out with out
touching the drive shaft.
- As for replacing the brushes and regulator, I
took mine to a shop and had them replace the
brushes (of which 1 brush was off the spring)
They did not have my regulator in stock, so I
risked just changing the brushes (which did NOT
solve my problem ! To change out the
brushes, just unscrew the four screws, and take
them out carefully, so you don't loose a brush
in the alternator.