Hey guys, I am helping my mom out and replacing the alternator on her 2006 3.0l escape(what a gi-normous pos design) but here's my question, I have it all apart, the 2 alt bolts on the bottom are out but I can't get the top part of the alternator past the stud, it's hitting the rack. I feel I am only a 1/2 or so from being able to clear the stud and finally get the alt off. Any help/ suggestions are appreciated, as I hoped to have this done tomorrow for them. Thanks

 

Is this of any use?
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.

 

Invest yourself in a set of female Torx sockets and use the proper size to remove the stud with the alternator out as an assembly. When re-installing the new alternator, install it with the stud in the alternator and once properly positioned, start the stud in a few threads by hand, this will help hold the new alternator in place while you align the bottom two bolts.

 

TCESNI posted my post of how I did mine. The second time I did it I did not use any extensions on my ratchets and it made it easier to get to the bolts on the alternator and alternator bracket. Just take your time when removing it from the vehicle. The more you try to force it the harder it will seem.

 

Thanks guys, walked away for a few hours, and went back and finally got it, the install was a breeze, hopefully I won't have to do it again, but if I do, it'll be a lot quicker. I think I'll stick with my old chevy truck, waaaaaayyyyyy easier to work on!

 

Front drive vehicles can be tough to work on. Glad it worked out.

 

My first time was 2h10m with a trip to the store. Second time (2 weeks later) was 1h45m. 3rd time (2 days later) I took it to a shop because the 100*+ temps were more than I wanted to work in again.

 

I do have one other issue that has arisen, there seems to be fluid leaking from the driveshaft where it enters the xfer case, I didn't see any gaskets and it drives fine with no noises, will this eventually seal itself?? Thanks again guys, ur help is very appreciated

 

I am pretty sure you will see a seal when you pull the driveshaft (spline) out of the transfer case. I have not had the problem myself on my Escape put cannot imagine there not being one there or sealing itself for that matter.