Ford Ka 2003. Alternator Removal?

[James West Mids]

Hi,

*New member to the forums*

Firstly, I've had my focus stolen 3 weeks ago :(. The Ka is an interim car until my insurance pays out.

I bought a 'run around' 2 weeks ago, a Ford Ka with the 1.3 Duratec engine. A few days ago, it would not start. Cutting a long story short, I have diagnosed that the alternator is faulty. I've decided to replace it myself as the car is only worth £300-500 and I don't want to spend the car's value to repair it.

What a horrid task to get that alternator out!

I've removed the front bumper, driver side headlight, cam belt and power steering pump. i have also unscrewed the the alternator and it is now loose. it just won't fit through any gap at all.

I'm grateful for any suggestions / help that I can get. I'll post some photos shortly.

Thanks

James.

[stef123]

You say cam belt, I'm hoping you mean auxiliary belt?

I can't help you but I know what you mean about tight for space to work! Horrible to do anything on lol

[James West Mids]

You say cam belt, I'm hoping you mean auxiliary belt?

I can't help you but I know what you mean about tight for space to work! Horrible to do anything on lol

Yes auxiliary belt, thank you for the correction. I'm a newbie when it comes to this.

Well, today I've managed to remove it after hours of patience. Haven't fitted the replacement one yet as I'm picking it up from the scrap yard tomorrow.

For anyone else who needs to DIY here is a quick summary of what I did...

1. Dis-connect the battery

2. Remove the front bumper

3. Remove the driver's head light casing

4. Remove the auxiliary belt

5. Undo the bolts holding the power steering pump

6. Disconnect the wires that lead to the alternator

7. Undo the bolts holding the alternator (I think there is 3). It should now be loose and you should be able to wobble it around.

8. Using a trolley jack, go underneath the front of the car and gently raise it to support the engine

9. Remove the bolts holding the engine

10. Jack the engine up about 8 inches

11. Now with a bit of twisting and turning, the alternator should come out. Even at this stage it took around 15 minutes to rotate and fiddle with it in different ways in order to get it out.

Hope this helps anyone in the future. I now have the fun in getting the new one in tomorrow <_<

Generally really disappointed in Ford's design and their consideration for parts that may need maintaining / changing post initial production. I'm sure not all Ford's are like this?

[jeebowhite]

did you have to disconnect the hoses or any other electrical connections? if you just raised the engine without doing so you may have damaged some of the wiring or pipes?

[James West Mids]

did you have to disconnect the hoses or any other electrical connections? if you just raised the engine without doing so you may have damaged some of the wiring or pipes?

Hi Jee,

All visible electrical connections were disconnected yes. I didn't need to remove any pipes as they all seemed to raise as one entity when the engine was lifted. Car is running fine now with no weird noises from that area of the car.

Job's a good'n I guess.

[jeebowhite]

excellent result! :D

I had a friend who did something similar but foolishly forgot to disconnect the wires, lifted the engine, thought nothing of it and dropped it wondering why it was going bonkers, damaged several connectors and stretched / frayed many wires!

[Jolyon]

Hi everyone.

I have just removed the alternator from my son's Ford KA.  It was not necessary to jack up the engine to get it out.

Just get the bumper and headlight off and remove the bolts from the power steering pump.  Then remove the alternator bolts and free it.  After that you need to slide out of the way as far as you can and then remove the four bolts that hold in place the u shaped aluminium bracket that holds the alternator and power steering pump.  A 1/2 inch drive socket with a universal joint will do three of them and a 3/8 drive socket will do the last.  

Then the bracket will fall off and the alternator drops out underneath where the bumper was.  

Yrs,

 

Jolly

[Jolyon]

Forgot to say this took me about 3 hours but an hour of that was spent looking for tools.  Last night after I found the key I spent an hour and a half on this.  I got the alternator in and bolted on.  The power steering pump back on and the serpentine belt on and tensioned.  Working outside with my phone as a light source.  Tonight the bumper will go on and the charged battery will be reconnected.  Recon genuine alternator was £67 posted from eBay.

Frankly it was a dreadful job but I just simply couldn't believe that Ford would have designed a car that requires partial engine removal to get an alternator out so I just had to find another way.  I'd have believed it of Peugeot though.  I remember with no fondness at all replacing a cambelt on a 306...

Jolly

[andybadcats]

You don't jack the engine up for Alternator removal. Just all the above but also you need to remove the front black plastic manifold 6 star bolts then it comes out sweet. An extra 5 mins work max, compared to the ball ache of jacking up the engine. 

[Steelyboy]

Is there only 4 bolts holding the alternator and power steering pump casing as. I have taken 4 bolts out and the housing is still stuck.

and if I try to force it out it feels like I will break something 

I have removed bumper.headlight unbolted pump and alternator also unbolted power steering pump reservoir and top engine mount.

just can’t get the casing off.

2004 streetka