I had a 2005 Ford Escape in the shop last week, it was a 3.0L Duratec V6 with two-wheel drive. Weirdest thing I’ve ever seen - there was a big hole in the rear for where the rear diff would be, as opposed to most 2WD trucks where the situation is the reverse. So, it needed an alternator. No biggie, I thought. But alas, with all Ford’s so-called improvements, there comes a price. The alternator is mounted on the lower rear of the front of the motor, in its own little cubby hole, hidden away. The placement was so poorly thought out that Ford had to install a two-piece Ram Air contraption to the alternator for cooling. Naturally, this design flaw makes them fail miserably, and removal requires removing the Right driveshaft, and snaking in various special extensions to gain access to pretty much anything in this forbidden zone. Continue Reading…