I have a 2005 Ford Escape 3.0 V6, today I was driving down the highway and the abs light would come on for 2 seconds then go out then all the dash instruments dropped dead, the radio turned off and the wipers went half speed. It lasted for about 3 seconds then came back. This happened several times. When I parked the car and turned it off I was listening to the radio for 10 seconds and everything turned off. The car would not start. About 5 mins later there was this weird ticking noise coming from the fuse panel in the car and that lasted for a couple mins off and on. Was wondering if it sounds like the alternator went on it? The battery light did not come on until after the radio went off. I don't think it is the battery because I just put a new one in last week. A couple of weeks ago I would go for a short drive and shut the engine down then it would take a couple cranks to get it going. If I went for a long drive it would start no problem. Eventually I did too many short drives and the battery went flat.

 

My charging light never came on when the alt died. Get a jump start and take it to Autozone, O'Reilly's, etc and they can check it for you- obviously don't turn it off when you get there, they can check it on the vehicle.

I am about to do mine for the 2nd time on 2 weeks. Make sure to buy a Ford unit. They are about $20 more but worth the extra since it is a 2+ hour job.

Here is my version of the write up:

DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE BATTERY CABLE


1. Block the tires, set the emergency/parking brake, and put the truck up on jack stands and remove the front wheel.

2. Remove the black plastic splash shield from underneath the right side of the engine. It's held on by about 5 M8 bolts, and one Phillips head screw.

3. Remove the serpentine belt. With the cover off, from underneath you can put a 3/8" drive socket into the tensioner pulley.

3. Next you need to remove the front axle. Do it in one piece. Loosen the 32mm nut that assembles the shaft to the spindle. Back the nut off so about half the threads can be seen- you will hit the head of the nut to get it to go back through the spindle. Remove the front (15mm) and rear (I used a 3/4" but it was slightly too large) bolts holding the lower control arm to the frame. I pulled the assembly away from the truck at this time and braced it. Use a socket on the nut. This will start the process. After it started to go through I used the jack handle until the axle went back through the spindle. Now remove the 2 nuts (10mm) holding the half-shaft bearing and slide the front axle out of the trans-axle case in one piece. PLACE A CATCH CAN UNDER THE AXLE, YOU WILL LOSE FLUID!! I think it was about 1/2 quart.

4. (YOU DID DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE BATTERY CABLE, right?) There are 2 plastic snap clips holding the back splash guard for the alternator. A flat head screwdriver will pry these out and and if you're carefull you can reuse them. There are (3) M13's holding the alternator, two on bottom, one on top (do the top one first, it's easier to hold the alternator up to get the last bolt out. Remove these bolts and slide the alternator out of the way. (Try using different extensions and a u-joint on the ratchet, they can help in different combinations. This will also help when you are removing the alternator bracket.

5. Now, that the alternator is unbolted, you need to take off the alternator bracket. There are 3 (10mm) bolts that go from the rear into the engine block. The top can be seen from under the truck. The next one is below and the third is easily remove from the side of the car near the wheel.

6. Once the bracket is out, you can you have a little more room to get to the electrical connections. Be careful with the regulator connector, you need to push inn the tab that holds it in. I used a flat screw drive on the tab to release the lock. If you look at the new alternator and you will see a square hole in the connector where the lock engages the connector). The positive wire is held on by a 10mm nut.

Put is all back together. You will lose a little over a quart of tranny fluid so you may want to pick that up when you get the alternator.

The hardest part for me was literally unplugging the alternator. There is no extra wire so getting in there to push the tab and pull the plug was rough.

Total time from start to finish was 2hours 15minutes from the time I broke the first lugnut until I started the truck, this included a run to the auto store to empty my oil container so I could catch the tranny fluid and a 10 minute break for some water. It was about 90 degrees and very humid. I used all hand tools, no air. I'd be happy to go another 6 years and 180,000 miles before I had to replace this thing again, especially in the summer when my other truck is broken down and taking up the space in my air conditioned shop.

Well the 180,000 miles and 6 years didn't happen. Two weeks later and I am changing it again. I used an AutoZone alternator instead of a ford unit. I knew better than to do that! The ford unit was only about $20 more so now I am paying the price in time and cussing.

 

Man, this sounds like a real PITA. I have a question for you though. I had Autozone check the battery and it checked out fine. When I run my Autoenginuity, the control module voltage varies between 12.7 and 13.11, which matches my readings at the battery. This is running and with and without running the AC on high. I'm guessing that it should be 13.5-14.25, but at what point does the light come on to give a warning? Also, just priced the alt at AZ it was either $179 or $199. Ford was $300.
She has also been having odd things happening with her Ford installed remote starter. i.e. randomly starting for no reason. Could the remote start be draining the battery and or causing the drop in charging voltage?

 

I wish I could help you on whether the remote starter is involved (sounds fishy) but make sure that the alterntor you purchase comes with a lifetime guarantee. I might fail anyway as I went through 2 Bosch alterntors before getting one that would last for more than 1 month. Fortunately I had a private shop do the original work so they had to eat the labor costs - twice.

 

It's spossible the starter is doing it. Any place there is a short could cause it.

As far as what the voltage it should be charging at I'm not sure. I think it should be in the upper 13v range. My charging light NEVER came on to let us know there was an issue and that really ticks me off. Only way we knew there was an issue is because the battery was dead.

As far as the price, I went back and double checked my receipts. It was $100 more for the Ford unit that only has a 12mo warranty vs. the AutoZonw lifetime (which was a ford brand, but who knows what it was rebuilt with)

 

My battery light came on to warn me that the alternator was no longer charging the first two times it failed but after the third replacement alternator it is on most of the time even though the alternator is working fine. I just ignore it.

 

was it the alternator that was wrong or something else cuz mine was doing the samething and it would drain the battery?

 

I have the same question... was it the alternator ?

I change mine 8 months ago and it's starting to do it again.

I've never been able to charge a cell phone with the car, it can't barely keep a cell phone alive when it's connected.

I have a remote startor to and recently it turn on by itself several times. The little blue light can flash even when the truck is running.

Can it be connected with my alternator keeping died ?

Thanks,

 

I just did this job today with a friend on his '03 w/v6. Holy crap, what a huge PITA. Putting the alternator under the engine is rediculous.
Scott91370's 2 hour job has to be a record. I'm not a professional mechanic, but I do think I'm pretty mechanically inclined. It took us over 4 hours to get that thing changed out. Autozone's online repair guide makes no mention of removing the alternator bracket, so there was 20 minutes wasted trying to wrestle the alternator past it. Then getting the connector unplugged took another 15. I just ended up prying it off. Even with the alternator bracket out, it still took many minutes getting the alternator out of there, plus the frustration of getting the new one back in place. It's like a puzzle, offer it up, turn 5º, push a half an inch, rotate, go up, blah blah blah. Both of us were ready to push his car out into the middle of the desert and leave it there, but we would've had to put the front suspension back together first.
The halfshaft bracket was the biggest thing that was in the way. The two studs would catch on the alternator. Getting the halfshaft itself out was honestly the easiest part of the whole repair though.
I feel for anyone who has to do this repair. Be prepared for hours of frustration.

 

The first time I did it it took close to 3 hours, I think. But the second time it was a lot quicker. But remember it had been only a week so the steps were pretty fresh in my head.

 

We got a 09 Escape at work the alt is moved to the front of the engine now.

 

It doesn't sound like a battery problem. It has to be problem related to alternator. You need to take it to a trusted dealer if its so.

 

I would check the main relay and others in the box under the hood. Check the grounds and the battery cable connections.

I would say an alternator would just stop providing charging power to a battery if it failed, not cause lights to blink. The battery provides power for starting, and power to operate all gizmos and stuff when the alternator is failing or unable to provide power to match consumption. Normally, the alternator provides all electrical loads with power, and when it fails, the battery takes on the load until it is discharged.

Look for a loose relay, loose connection, or a failing relay. The ticking noise may be relays clicking as they try to close and don't have enough power to stay closed. Funny things can happen when a battery is close to being discharged.
tom

 

Hi, I am right in the middle of changing my alternator on my05 escape. I have the two bolts off of the bottom and the nut off the top. What remains is a stud bolt at the top. I also have all wires off. I have been trying to slide the unit off the top stud bolt but I run out of room. How do you get the top bolt off after the nut is off? If it was like the bottom two, I'd be done by now.

Thanks for any help here.

 

Have you pulled the right axle shaft?