And people wonder why I need 4 vehicles...(Lincoln woes)

UTfball68

UTfball68

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2008
Location
Granite Quarry
...it's because I can only keep one on the road. My 2008 Lincoln MKZ had an alternator go out. On the rest of my rigs, I'm used to picking up a replacement at the parts store (or JY) and being back in business in 5 minutes. Not the case with the MKZ. Motorcraft replacement...$420 with core charge and tax (alt=360, core=40). I had a service buddy read me the service procedures...and the AC system needs to be evacuated and compressor/lines removed and then recharge the system. I thought this was rather ridiculous for an alternator. I got to looking and sure enough, a web of A/C components from the top side a cross member on the bottom side and there are other important looking things on the side preventing me from pulling it through the wheel well.

I fancy myself relatively mechanically competent, but I don't believe I have the means or capability to mess with the A/C stuff. Does anyone know of a work around I'm not seeing? Anyone know a mechanic (not named Ford/Lincoln) that is competent enough and has the resources to do the job...and won't want a minimum $400 in labor like the dealership??? I just can't believe replacing an alternator is an $800 job.

Thanks for any tips or referrals.
 
Well did a little digging and part research...still looks like I'll have to farm the job out, but I did find some price breaks. I ordered the same motorcraft alternator from RockAuto that the dealership would use, RA was $255 plus a $75 core and only $10 to ship, as opposed to $363 and a $40 core plus tax from the dealership. And the dealership in town said they charge $97/hr and book time is 3 hours...the dealership I bought it from said $400 minimum. So potentially less than $600 is better than a minimum $800+. I'd still like shop suggestions if anyone has any.
 
Caver Dave said:
Fawked... but you've scared me away from the MKZ's :D
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As much as I'd like to say it's just the MKZ's I'm not so sure it's not everything (or will be everything out there). That alternator is the same for everything from 07-10 with the 3.5 (ie fusion, edge, MKX, etc etc), and schematics aren't much better for the other engines in the same cars. It's an established fact that parts are engineered to fail these days, so why not engineer the lay out to keep the service centers in business.
 
shawn said:
Just write a check. That's what I would do.
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That's what it's looking like. Looks like the best I'm gonna do is the RockAuto motorcraft alt and the Cloninger Ford service bay. After 13 years of doing all my own work, it's just irritating having to go to the dealership for a flipping alternator, and there are far more uses I woulda rather used that cash for. Oh well.
 
72Rockcruiser said:
http://car-part.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?userSearch=int&userPID=1000&userLocation=All States&userIMS=&userInterchange=?=C&userSide=&userDate=2008&userDate2=2008&dbModel=44.11.1.1&userModel=Lincoln MKZ&dbPart=601.1&userPart=Alternator&sessionID=200000000000000000623779461&userPreference=price&userIntSelect=818239&userUID=0&userBroker=&iKey=&userPage=26

$20 offf a 2009..its probably a factory one.
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If youre gonna be shelling out $300 for the stealership to put it on, I would rather have a new one. I would probably let the dealer supply the part too in case it goes out the next week. Maybe they will warranty it and the labor.

You would think that an expendable part like an alt would be located somewhere where it is easy to swap.
 
sgtbriangreen said:
If youre gonna be shelling out $300 for the stealership to put it on, I would rather have a new one. I would probably let the dealer supply the part too in case it goes out the next week. Maybe they will warranty it and the labor.

You would think that an expendable part like an alt would be located somewhere where it is easy to swap.
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I see your point...

This is for the sake of argument, purely... It may differ in the American car world..but as a former Toyota tech, i would personally 10x rather put a low milage factory original part on the car rather than something from Rock-Auto. Who actually Makes the altenator..I wonder anyway/also? I thought motorcraft was aftermarket?
 
72Rockcruiser said:
http://car-part.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?userSearch=int&userPID=1000&userLocation=All States&userIMS=&userInterchange=?=C&userSide=&userDate=2008&userDate2=2008&dbModel=44.11.1.1&userModel=Lincoln MKZ&dbPart=601.1&userPart=Alternator&sessionID=200000000000000000623779461&userPreference=price&userIntSelect=818239&userUID=0&userBroker=&iKey=&userPage=26

$20 offf a 2009..its probably a factory one.
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Thanks man...I was actually leaning that way until I realized that A/C removal and evacuation was involved. I'd burn through $20 alternators all day if I could do the work and not run the risk of being at the dealership again in a week because the JY alt went out too.

sgtbriangreen said:
If youre gonna be shelling out $300 for the stealership to put it on, I would rather have a new one. I would probably let the dealer supply the part too in case it goes out the next week. Maybe they will warranty it and the labor.

You would think that an expendable part like an alt would be located somewhere where it is easy to swap.
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Rockauto is the same part as the dealership for $100 less...and it does come with a 12mo/12,000mi warranty. But good call on the labor warranty, I really don't want to shell out the cash for an A/C fix because the tech was trying to get as close to book time as possible. The service desk already told me book time was 3 hours, but actual fix time was 5 hours...that didn't instill much confidence.
 
72Rockcruiser said:
I see your point...

This is for the sake of argument, purely... It may differ in the American car world..but as a former Toyota tech, i would personally 10x rather put a low milage factory original part on the car rather than something from Rock-Auto. Who actually Makes the altenator..I wonder anyway/also? I thought motorcraft was aftermarket?
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Motorcraft and Autolite are Ford service brands.
 
Why not just get it from Rock Auto, change it yourself, and then take it to an AC place to get the AC recharged for $100 or whatever they charge?
 
That's still an option I haven't ruled out. I tentatively scheduled the dealership. I was actually going to call around tomorrow to the AC shops. If its within $100 or so, it would be worth my time to have the dealership do it.
 
Why not find an alternator shop and have it rebuilt for $25-50 bucks?

As far as the A/c cant you pull the belt and the compressor and move the compressor out of the way, or is it hard lined all the way in?
 
Ron said:
Why not find an alternator shop and have it rebuilt for $25-50 bucks?

As far as the A/c cant you pull the belt and the compressor and move the compressor out of the way, or is it hard lined all the way in?
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The quotes I got from 2 different shops to rebuild were $150 and $200. It's hard lined in and it spider webs across the front passenger side of the engine bay. Keep in mind this engine is set between the rails 90* from typical orientation.
 
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