Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Duratec Maintenance Alternator *Fast Response Needed*

Hey guys. So my alternator at s**t, and I have it out and I need a new one. Autozone has a reman Duralast Alternator in stock with lifetime warranty. Has anyone had any experience with these, if so are they any good?

I would get a good alternator, but I need the car for work monday so I need to put a new one in ASAP. Thanks for your help.

As long as you are up for replacing it again in 60K or so.. go for it

ill sell you a brand new one for 135.00 plus shipping warranty included, no rebuilt "Brand New"

i bought the duralast remanufactured one when mine went out about 6 months ago. Running strong and not even a hint of problems with it yet!


The lifetime warranty really sold me.

I almost have 100K on my Autozone lifetime alternator. From my experience, the lifetime alternator from Autozone is better than the original alternator since the Autozone has lasted much longer and it has a lifetime warrantee. I would go with the Autozone lifetime alternator.

I just purchased an autozone alternator and it went in without a hitch.

And if I can give you some unsolicited advice for swapping it out (This is for V6 car):

I read some of the how-to's on this site and found that neither those nor the Haynes manual recommendation was very good. Some of the things that others suggested caused me to waste a significant amount of time. Here's how I did it:

1: Jack up car, remove positive cable from battery. 10mm nut here.

2: Remove right wheel and splash guards. 19mm wheel nuts, 10mm splash guards

3: Remove serpentine belt

4: Disconnect right tie-rod. 13mm or 15mm, can't remember

5: Drop Y-Pipe. 15mm bolts here

6: Remove the two alternator bracket bolts. This is accomplished by guiding a 12" extension and 13mm deep socket onto the top bolt. The extension and socket should rest immediately on top of the rear exhaust manifold and should thread behind the EGR tube.

7: Use the same socket/extension combo to get the lower bracket bolt. It should also thread in behind the exhaust manifold (very tight fit.)

8: Remove the two 10mm bracket bolts. One can be removed with a deep socket, the other will need a 3-6" extension plus the deep socket.

9: Using a pry bar, pry out the alternator. It should come right out. Wiggle the alternator until you can lay the face of the alternator down so you can access the rear of the alternator. Remove the 10mm main bolt and main power cable (did you disconnect the battery??), bosch wire connector, and B+ wire. The B+ wire can be removed with a small flathead screwdriver.

10. Installation is the reverse of the removal. Expect to spend an afternoon on this project.

11. Drink beer

AppleNerd.

That is the recommended method via Ford Factory CD, but the HOW-TO's written (namely mine) suggest the other method for the sole reason that most people will experience some rusting or problems removing the Ypipe or the bolts themselves..


Either way, anyway you can get it out, good for you!


Ray

Ray:

I realize that after re-reading my post, that I was a little harsh. Let me be the first to thank you for taking time to write out those how-to's. They certainly gave me a direction to follow in what is certainly a difficult project. Your how to is very detailed and the pictured certainly help out a lot.

I found that by taking your advice and using the breaker bar from the bottom of the car worked out well for me. After taking that route, I found that the top side disassembly was unnecessary for me. Also, I don't know how I would have accomplished this surgery without removing the Y-pipe. For me, it would have been significantly more difficult.

At any rate, your how-to is excellent, I just wanted put in my .02

I installed the altenator not too long ago in my Duratec, and it outlasted the motor...