[XLSuruaT]

Has anyone changed an alternator in their gen3 duratec? How hard was it? I have the ford service cd and it looks pretty easy, but the area where it is located on the engine is pretty cramped.

 

[Bob Gervais]

Funny you should ask, I removed the alternator on Brad's car when doing the head swap. What I would do: Jack up the car, and support the floor reinforcements on jackstands. Using your jack under the subrame for support, loosen the 2 passenger's side bolts and lower that part of the subframe. Then take out the bolts holding in the alternator, unplug the wiring, and swap that sucker out. Let me know if you need more detailed instructions, but it's not hard at all.

 

[XLSuruaT]

Got the car back today, lights dont flicker

I also told the ford dealer about my car getting close to over heating in stop and go traffic. They replaced the thermostat. I picked the car up today, and drove it quite a bit to see if anything has improved. Now the car is nearly 3/4 through the normal range with the ac on and 75ish on the freeway. It is about 1/2 on the streets with the windows open. So Cal had 90 degree weather today, dont know if that affects anything, but this seems backwards

Also told them about a startup whine, they said it was the alternator, but it turns out it isn't

The service writter was really cool this time, but this fu#@[email protected] sucks that I have to go back.....

 

[Bob Gervais]

That is a little wierd, the temp gauge should not fluctuate that much. As you know, on the highway, without the AC on, the fans most likely will not come on due to the airflow cooling things. In traffic, it's going to rely on the fans for cooling instead. With the AC on, one fan should be running all the time, to cool the condenser, and ultimately the radiator.

Possible weak/non-operative fan?

I still say my idea would work--loosen fuel rail, drive car. Stop and call 911 when you see smoke.

Good luck going back to the dealer, at least they were a little nicer this time!

 

[XLSuruaT]

I was thinking a weak fan a while ago then I found out my alternator was bad so I figured the alternator was teh culprit. I really dont know, going to drive it a lot today-this time it isn't as hot as it was yesterday. Hopefully something better will come out of this.

 

[Bob Gervais]

Keep us posted!

 

[XLSuruaT]

I guess today since it is 20 degrees cooler than yesterday, the car ran cooler on the freeway than the road. It still ran a bit high when I let my car idle for a while. Really do not know what to do...

 

[biteableniles]

My temperatures are the same as yours, yo. It gets hot on the freeway, somewhat cool in traffic (probably due to the fans running and low engine speeds). It's been this way as long as I've ever known; sometimes, it creaps past 3/4 on the highway for me, but I've never had a problem (I'd pull over and run the fans with engine idling if it hit the H line, though). I'm living in Houston, so I know hot weather, too. I'm hoping a water injection kit will help my horrible throttle response.

I really wouldn't worry about it, but if you're really freaked out and haven't done it yet, you can buy a bottle of radiator flush and clean out your coolant pipes, and if that doesn't help, you could buy an oil cooler kit from summit or something. I really wouldn't freak out about it, though.

 

[Bob Gervais]

Maybe all it needs is a flush and fill, maybe some of that water wetter stuff too. Honestly, I wish I had this problem. Still about 30 degrees here, I hate the friggin cold!

 

[XLSuruaT]

The service guy called today. They said it was a bad coolant temperature sensor. I remember Doc had told me to replace this a while ago, but the thread was in OT and got deleted and I never had time to do it. Its not covered under warranty. I looked at the proceedure and it seems alrite, but I'm not in the mood to drain part of the cooling system so I told ford to go ahead and do it.

 

[XLSuruaT]

Ok, got the car back. The sensor is replaced. I'll see if it starts acting up, haven't had a chance to drive it for a bit. My patience and my time with this car are running short.

 

[Bob Gervais]

Originally posted by XLSuruaT@Apr 3 2004, 09:03 PM
Ok, got the car back. The sensor is replaced. I'll see if it starts acting up, haven't had a chance to drive it for a bit. My patience and my time with this car are running short.

I would have dumped it by now. I know, you don't have much choice really. All I can say is good luck with it, it's almost a new car!