Just wondering if anyone has been hearing anything about troubles with the alternator on the 5.0L trucks. I farm around some oilfield guys and was talking to one guy in particular who said they have 4 new Fords and that 3 of them have been in the shop with alternator problems due to them being on the bottom of the engine. He says that there is a fair distance between the rads and these alternators and that they are filling up with snow, mud and ice and the its wrecking the alternator. I have not looked at these so i'm just basing this off what he's said but I this doesn't sound good. I was deciding on the 5L or ecoboost and went with the ecoboost, hopefully it's set up a little better. Can't wait to get my ecoboost!!!!

 

I haven't read anything, (nor do I surf the Ford forum as much as I used to), but that certainly can cause issues. The Tundra's is on the bottom as well, and I've read of like 3 failures since it's been released.

Hopefully someone can post up a pic or something?

Here's a pic of where the Tundra's is.



-rockstate

 

The Eco-Boost alternator is at the bottom and right in front as well. My buddy at work just took his Eco-Boost back to the dealer for an alternator replacement, it crapped out after driving through a very hard rain storm and some deep standing water on the road (like say 6-8 inches of water). I guess all the road spray and standing puddles splashed his alternator one to many times.

 

The 2003/2004 ford mustang cobras also have the alternators on the bottom front of the engine. They too also have problems with alternators crapping out frequently.

 

Is this something new or has this been discussed before? I'm a Ford guy through and through but how good is a truck if you can't use them in mud, snow, water and whatever else we put them through. Not sure about you guys, but i don't buy a truck to drive back and forth from the grocery store! Sure hope Ford fixes this!

 

Positioning exterior engine components properly is something that a car maker can for no additional cost. Don't they take the time to remember that water and electricity don't play well? Water always wins.

A possible design change for 2012?

 

My 2007 5.4's right on the top where it should always be for truck use!

 

The fix for the Tundra was to install the optional front skid plate on trucks that didn't have them which provides pretty good protection and coverage for the front underside of the engine. The alternators still crap out, just not as often. Maybe Ford will come up with some type of splash shield or front extended skid plate.

 

It does have a lower front inner air dam that isn't on the 2010's

 

Looks like my 06 5.4L is looking better all the time. Ford also puts the alternator in the same location as the 5.0L trucks on the 3.0L 24 valve and 2.5L 24 valve engines. They don't seem to have as much problem though. It might be because the alternator is between the firewall and engine instead of the engine and radiator. Maybe some front drive engineers were promoted to trucks and don't know any better and probably don't care.

 

Looks like another design flaw, ford engineers just can't seem to get everything right, probably the same engineers that did plug design on 04-07?????

 

Not expecting to get my ecoboost for a couple months and can't wait to get it but this has made me consider getting a left over 2010 model with a 5.4L. I'm on my
5th 5.4L and they have been excellent. Was excited to get the ecoboost but this is kind of scaring me a bit!!!! Someone please reassure me.

 

I've owned vehicles (sedans) with the alternator on the bottom and had no issues. I wouldn't try to forge a waist deep stream with it.

 

A good front skid plate or some sort of homemade or aftermarket covering will take care of this issue I'm sure.

 

The best re-assurance I could give u would be to wait at least a year on these new engines there will be issues....