no issues yet with my 5.0 but its has not been offroading or crossing streams yet gimme a few more months for that.

 

Have u looked at yours is it mounted right on the bottom of the engine, and can u look straight through to the ground, if so that will be a major issue, except for the people with the FX-4 it will have a skid plate under the engine at least my 04 does???

 

Everything under the hood gets good and wet when its raining, lets not start a panic over a few bad alternators, and a few stories from some oil workers! Probably jealous Dodge guys.

 

Have you ever been mudding in deep water? I don't care where you put it it gets full of water and mud, hence the snorkel breather mounted up next to the windshield! They more than likely had to much equipment hooked to those trucks and blew them out.

 

Some stuff gets wet, but next time you've driven in a good rain. Stop, open your hood and notice just how dry most everything is.

But your right, there is no need to get all worried about this. There will be some bad one's (whatever part or assembly you want to name) out there. It's just the way manufacturing works.

 

They aren't that new. They've been in the Mustang for a year and severely tested for............?

On Edit:

I just came back from the local dealer. I climbed under a 2011 5.0 XLT 4x4. The truck had skid plates which is why I got under it. The skid plates are not mounted forward enough to provide any engine protection against road spray mudding. But, the front air dam looks like it will be l ow enough to deflect most anything that comes near the engine anyway. It also occurred to me that the engine may be open on the bottom this wide to provide better cooling or air movement.

The engines on the new trucks are not mounted as far forward as they were on the 80's models, at least that's my impression.

 

I have a 2011 F150 EcoBoost, and the entire underneath of the truck where the engine is located is completely (and i mean completely) covered. i am wondering if this is going to cause some temp issues in the future?? i dont have a 4x4, just normal old 2 wheel drive. not saying that the alternator couldnt get wet, i just dont see how. you cant see a damn thing when you get under the front of the truck. i was going to see where the oil filter was located, etc etc and thats when i seen you cant see anything LOL, hope this helps

Happy motoring out there guys!

PS, my truck was built 8 Sept 2001, dunno if that was a revision area or what, cuz i dont seem to have some of the issues others talk about or maybe i am just lucky??

 

I've got a 2011 FX4 5.0L Supercab and I haven't had any issues so to speak yet. I live in West Texas so it generally only rains during the summers months and even so we are in the middle of a drought right now. But since aquiring my truck back in June 2011 Its been threw a few Rainstorms...One here recently actually and so far its been trouble free.

I personally don't like the fact that the alternator is placed so low on the engine, but as long as it doesn't give me any lip I won't complain about its placement.

 

You won't have any overheating issues at all.

 

Maybe a tin shroud to keep debris from flying in there?

There are some positive points to having the alternator down there, like less heat....

 

I have owned a 2011 f150 with the 5.0 for two years and regularly drive in rain, snow and forest service roads. I live in Washington state so rain is very common here. Never had an issue.

 

I have a 2012 5.0. Been in really hard rain storms, mud, sand, deep water and no problems out of mine.

 

Define "deep water",

Because I'm fairly certain an alternator won't grab the belt hard enough in water to actually run...

 

Deep enough to where I was pushing it with the front bumper. Fog lights went under. That's when it was stock. I'm a little higher off the ground now. But I was constantly moving and i wasn't in it for long.

 

Years ago I had a K5 Blazer with a plow that had an alternator failure one night while I was out plowing (of course at 4am when I'm all by myself). It would keep dying and I would have to charge it up with another vehicle I had on the lot.

When I opened up the hood, the alternator looked all corroded and nasty from salt spray, so I figured....what the heck....let me try washing it off with some water and see if that helps. (and that alternator was on the top of the engine too!)

Well, I washed it off, charged up the battery, and the darn thing worked just fine after that! Plowed with it for years!

I'm not an expert on alternators, but after that experience I've come to the conclusion that corrosion and dirt is probably more harmful to alternators and electrical connections than water exposure alone. Same goes for the starter, which is also often mounted on the bottom of car/truck engines.