3.9L Alternator Replace HELP!

G-RELL said:
in my 66 plymouth FuryIII.. i would SIT in the engine bay to work on it.... AHHH the days
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LOL I had a 74 Pontiac Ventura with a staight 6. Half the bay was empty. I could look at the starter from the top. Then climb in the bay and take the starter out.
 
jdmans101 said:
ohh I hated this job! almost 4-5 hours for me to figure out how to drop it out lol but with a lot of patience I got it. First alternator I have ever changed, greattttt car to learn on
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Any alternator from now on that you change should be easier. Have confidence on any future alternator jobs.
 
this reminds me of yet another reason i need to get another mark! :shifty:
 
I had similar problems. I had to use a prybar to pry the alternator front and back to move those pesky top bushings. You will get real good at changing it if you didn't buy a Motorcraft..... I am alternator #4. After 3 NAPA alternators I got a Motorcraft reman. No problems yet.
 
I know this is an old post but, I done this job tonight. If you remove the lower control arm...sounds like a lot of extra work but, you can slide the old one out and the new one in really easy. This will shave about 2 hours and save you from the frustration of fighting it and trying to wiggle it out. . Remove sway bar stabilizer link pin from the lower control arm then remove the two through bolts that hold your control arm to the subframe also remove the bolt that holds shock to the control arm. Trust me if you don't do this you will spend countless hours trying to figure out how to turn it to get it to slide out. Not to mention the the time it will take to put the other alternator in. I hope this little bit of info help somebody who has a 2000 Lincoln LS with a 3.9 liter that needs a guiding hand
 
Scott LS said:
Making progress, have the alternator loose from the top mount.

Now onto the hard part figuring out how to remove the old alternator and slip the new one in.
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Old I know this post is old butt if you ever have to do this job again remove your lower control arms that will shave about 3 to 4 hours off the complete job plenty of room without that in the way.
 
jdmans101 said:
ohh I hated this job! almost 4-5 hours for me to figure out how to drop it out lol but with a lot of patience I got it. First alternator I have ever changed, greattttt car to learn on
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Yea not a fun job but I learned that the job can be done in an hour or less. Remove lower control arm and bingo enough room to do it in less than an hour
 
Thanks for the tip. Just as an FYI, you can copy each the text from each Reply With Quote and paste it into another box, so you can reply to all 3 in one post. And you can type between posts and edit their text

just

Htown said:
Yea not a fun job but I learned that the job can be done in an hour or less. Remove lower control arm and bingo enough room to do it in less than an hour
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like

Htown said:
butt
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this
 
One big caveat: the two inner bolts on the lower control arm set the alignment (caster and camber). So if you remove those, you HAVE to get the front end aligned. There is a significant amount of adjustment room in the slots on the subframe for those bolts, and getting them to clamp down in precisely the correct location to maintain the alignment would be very difficult.

Removing the alternator is NOT hard. It has to be in the correct orientation, and the control arm must be either up or down (forget which).
 
oddball said:
...Removing the alternator is NOT hard. It has to be in the correct orientation, and the control arm must be either up or down (forget which).
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I replaced mine with the front up on ramps, so the control arm would have been up. It was very difficult compared to most alternator replacements, but I don't recall any trouble getting the alternator out of the area it was in, once it was unbolted. (This is the long way of saying that I think the arm needs to be up.)
 
I'm on my fourth and never have done it except on a one-side jackstand. You DO have to fight to get it past all the @#$#@ in the way.

KS
 
It needs to be twisted and turned but if you've ever played Tetris it's not hard to do. Pull, twist, turn, slip, twist, turn, rotate, drop, and it's out. Install is exactly the reverse, so pay attention to how it comes out. The only part I found difficult was having to jack the engine up a bit to get the long bolt out, but after mentioning it in front of Joe we determined that I likely need a new engine mount because the passenger side likely lost all its fluid. But removing a control arm to get it out vs the 90 seconds to rotate it though the lower A arm, seems like a lot of work for nothing to me.
 
oddball said:
One big caveat: the two inner bolts on the lower control arm set the alignment (caster and camber). So if you remove those, you HAVE to get the front end aligned. There is a significant amount of adjustment room in the slots on the subframe for those bolts, and getting them to clamp down in precisely the correct location to maintain the alignment would be very difficult.

Removing the alternator is NOT hard. It has to be in the correct orientation, and the control arm must be either up or down (forget which)

There was no wheel alignment needed car drives perfectly straight I remove the control arm to replace it I fought for hours to get it out of there I wasn't going to fight for hours to get it back in. I believe you're wrong About The control arm. Came off and it went back on just as easy. But thanks If I have any problems I'll know that I have to have a wheel alignment. But for people doing this on their own... Remove your control arm it will Save you a lot of Trouble and time thank you
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Believe what you want, but you are wrong. A warning to anyone else reading this. If you remove a control arm for any reason, you do have to get an alignment. Htown will realize this in a few months when he can see the premature wear on his tires.
 
Why can't you just mark them like you do when replacing upper A-frame bushings on other types of cars,Joe? Just asking. don-ohio :)^)
 
With the stock setup there's not much to mark. The bushing is hidden within the subframe. All you could really mark is the bolt head.
You can get it close, but it'd be very hard to get it correct.
 
Oh,okay.Thanks for that warning. don-ohio :)^)

oddball said:
With the stock setup there's not much to mark. The bushing is hidden within the subframe. All you could really mark is the bolt head.
You can get it close, but it'd be very hard to get it correct.
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Telco said:
It needs to be twisted and turned but if you've ever played Tetris it's not hard to do. Pull, twist, turn, slip, twist, turn, rotate, drop, and it's out. Install is exactly the reverse, so pay attention to how it comes out. The only part I found difficult was having to jack the engine up a bit to get the long bolt out, but after mentioning it in front of Joe we determined that I likely need a new engine mount because the passenger side likely lost all its fluid. But removing a control arm to get it out vs the 90 seconds to rotate it though the lower A arm, seems like a lot of work for nothing to me.
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You didn't mention that it's necessary to position your face directly below the loose alternator so as to be able to drop it on your nose when it finally comes free.

KS
 
linc_ls_alt_removal-100_1081.jpg

You're welcome.
Although, to be fair, someone else took this picture and posted it years ago. I completely forget who did it though.

linc_ls_alt_removal-100_1081.jpg
 
man, makes me miss my mark even more... dont think it took even a half an hour to change the alt and drink a few beers.
 
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