Replacing alternator

Tiny
SPENCER57
  • MEMBER
  • 2007 MERCURY MARINER
  • 6 CYL
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 193,000 MILES
I need to have the alternator replaced on my car Can you tell me how much I can expect to pay and what the breakdown would be for parts and labor? Thanks. SEB
Saturday, June 11th, 2011 AT 4:36 PM

4 Replies

Tiny
WRENCHTECH
  • MECHANIC
  • 20,761 POSTS
There are numerous different brands and quality on the parts but the labor on a 2WD is .5 hours so multiply the by the shop's lab or rate.

So $180.00 to $230.00 for parts and about $50.00 labor here is a guide to show what you are in for when doing the job

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-replace-an-alternator

Here are diagrams to help you see what it will be like on your car. Check out the diagrams (below). Please let us know if you need anything else to get the problem fixed.

Cheers
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Saturday, June 11th, 2011 AT 5:00 PM
Tiny
TACALINER
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
  • 2005 MERCURY MARINER
  • 6 CYL
  • 4WD
  • MANUAL
  • 126,000 MILES
3L, replacing alternator have. Any tips?
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Friday, May 11th, 2018 AT 12:42 PM (Merged)
Tiny
FIXITMR
  • MECHANIC
  • 9,990 POSTS
Disconnect 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 star 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!

4. (You did disconnect the negative battery cable, right?) There are two plastic snap clips holding the back splash guard for the alternator. A flat head screwdriver will pry these out and and if you are careful you can reuse them. There are (three) M13's holding the alternator, two on bottom, one on top (do the top one first, it is 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 three (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 transmission 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 two hours fifteen minutes from the time I broke the first lug nut until I started the truck.
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Friday, May 11th, 2018 AT 12:42 PM (Merged)
Tiny
FIXITMR
  • MECHANIC
  • 9,990 POSTS
Here is a diagram.
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Friday, May 11th, 2018 AT 12:42 PM (Merged)

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