Folks:
My first post ?? here goes?
First of all, keep in mind I am definitely an amateur when it comes to doing anything more complicated than an oil change.
Here is my problem. I have a 99 Contour SE (6 cylinder). The other day, the car died while I was driving on the Interstate. Not absolutely sure it is the alternator, but replacing the alternator seems like a reasonable first step I??m willing to take.
I have read the many posts available on this and other sites about the difficulties of replacing an alternator on a 6 cylinder Contour. My Haynes book says to remove the right-hand drive axle, but fortunately, the Ford Service CD I have on my 99 Contour says that you can get adequate access by simply separating the tie rod end from the wheel knuckle and pushing it aside.
I have spent two frustrating (!) days trying to figure out how to remove this tie rod end, without any success at all. Both the Haynes book and the Ford CD tell me there is some kind cotter pin I have to remove from a castellated nut. I don??t see a cotter pin and I don??t see a castellated nut. All I see is a retaining nut on the underside of the ball joint. When I try to remove this nut with a wrench, the nut and the threaded bolt to which it is attached turn freely. Turning it accomplishes nothing. (One post suggested the ball joint is broken. Another said to apply pressure with a ??pickle fork?. Saw a posted reference to a ??cotter-pin-less" design where the nut has to be replaced after being removed. Is this the problem? Still, how do I remove it?)
Every description I have ever read about tie rod end removal (including Ford??s) says you must use a special tie rod end puller/separator (and not a ??pickle fork?) if you want to remove the tie rod end non-destructively and reuse it. I have been unable to find locally the particular separator Ford recommends, so I got the next best thing ?? a Pitman arm tie rod separator, which looks quite a bit different but (I believe) does the same job.
Even if I were somehow able to get this retaining nut off, I cannot for the life of me picture how the Ford separator or the Pitman arm tool are used. Descriptions of the tool imply that you attach it in some way around the ball joint and turn its bolt, which forces the ball joint bolt upwards in such a way that it releases the tie rod arm without damaging the boot or the tie rod. I see no place either above or below the protective boot where this tool could be attached. To me, as I look down on the top of the tie rod/ball joint unit, it looks like one whole unit. I don??t see how the tie rod separates from anything.
Here??s what I??d like to know:
1) Why doesn??t my Contour have a castellated nut and cotter pin?
2) How do I remove the retaining nut I *can* see underneath the ball joint?
3) How do I use my Pitman arm tie rod separator to release the tie rod so I don??t damage the boot? (Or can I do it without this bizarre tool?)
(All this and I haven't even addressed the removal of the alternator itself. I have to shake my head and wonder my last 4 vehicles have all been Fords.)
Can anyone straighten me out on this tie rod removal business? Am I just a stonehead, or is all this really as confusing as it seems.
