Recently replaced the alternator in my 2004 excursion. Performed a lot of research into a good/affordable replacement. Finally decided on the NAPA new alternator, got the part number and bought it after work. Pulled out the alternator from the ex, set it down next to the new one and they do not match. Took the old one back to NAPA with the new one, explained everything, they looked up the part numbers, said that's strange, we don't know. After some fiddling around on the computer, he brought up an alternator for a 2000-2001 excursion, and it was a perfect match, except for the pulley. So, we swapped the pulleys and the alternator installed without a hitch.


However, now I am concerned that I have an older engine with who knows how many miles in my 2004 excursion that I thought only had 150,000 miles. We bought this one just a few years ago, Carfax said nothing about a wreck or new engine, etc. And, in the future if I need parts, how can I know which parts I really need without first taking it off?


Lastly, the dash BRAKE light has been on since we bought it. I've always just thought it was probably a switch issue or something...now I'm wondering if it's because the older engine didn't have something the 2004 does, thus there's no way to fix this light?


Is there any code on the engine that will tell me what year it is...or is it possible that this really is a 2004 and for some reason it just had this "old" style alternator?

 

Diesel or Gas?

 

Gas, V-10.

 

Unless someone has swapped it out with an older engine, their computer was probably wrong.

 

if you can get a picture of your altinator i can confirm the year since i got a 01 v10 excursion

 

It's more likely the ALTERNATOR was previously replaced than the engine.
A common "upgrade" is to install the 140 AMP alternator vs. standard 110 AMP.

 

I ripped a couple pictures off the O'Reilly website for comparison, these are not the actual parts.

Here is what I was given (which also matches what is installed in my 2002):





Here is what was installed in my 2004 (there were no part numbers anywhere on the alternator that was removed) that NAPA has listed as a '00-'01 part:


Incidentally, I just saw that the O'Reilly website shows the "installed" alternator as the Motorcraft option for a 2004 Excursion V-10 (and also the "given" alternator as an option), so hopefully it's just a matter of parts places not really knowing which is which. Both are 110 A. As you can see these two are not interchangeable without some modification to the mounting location. I would have thought that my 2002 and 2004 would have used the same alternator...but maybe not. Thanks.

 

Incidentally, I also contacted my local Ford dealer to inquire about cost/availability. The part number he gave me looks like the first one NAPA gave me, that didn't fit.

 

My 2002 has a black top bracket over the alternator with 2 bottom mount openings like the O'Reilly one in your photo.

 

Ford catalog shows all alternators for the V10 in the Excursion are the same regardless of year.

 

To follow up for any future visitors to this thread, I pulled my 2002 and 2004 beside each other and did some looking for comparison. It appears that the manifold contains the appropriate bolt mounting locations for either alternator, and which one you use depends on which alternator bracket you have/use. One bracket holds the alternator via a single bolt, another bracket holds the alternator via two bolts, so it would seem to be interchangeable. The two bolt bracket would seem to be a more stable mount, and I would have thought the 2004 would be the same as the 2002...but it would appear that just because a later model excursion has installed a "00/01" alternator, does not necessarily mean that the engine is from 2000/2001. The 00/01 alternator is cheaper...so it can just mean that someone in the past had access to the right bracket, and wanted to put on a cheaper alternator.


Thanks to all who weighed in on my question.

 

The excursion was used by Ford to get rid of "obsolete" / "discontinued" and no longer needed parts. The '05 Excursion w/6L PSD ran nearly it's whole life using up the '04 PSD engines, only the last 30-60 days of production resulted in Ford having to use '05 PSD engine, and then to remain compatible with the older Dash electronics, Ford used a different PCM/PCM strategy to deal with this.

If you have a 2005 Excursion, it's usually easier to just look for 2004 parts (except for front grille/headlights, which IS different).