2004 Explorer 4.6 alternator CHAOS (long post)

[diskreet]

alright so here's the story.. its retarded, so bear with me.

i was on my way up north, headed to the rig for work. my alternator **** the bed on me about 20km from the closest town. i limp (somehow) into town and take it to canadian tire, hoping for a quick (and cheaper than a dealership) fix. they assure me it'll be quick, and that they've got my part. buddy comes out with one looks somethin like this, but with 8 splines, instead of 6 (like the rest of my belt system):

Immediately, their mechanic says it's the wrong part. They look, and can't find the right part. They call all over town, nobody has it. No wreckers had it either. So they order it in overnight, while i wait it out in a hotel. I go back the next morning, and they have the part installed, truck running. They tell me the alternator is charging and holding a steady charge (I cant remember what he said the voltage was - this was like two months ago). However, the tell me that they can't seem to get the check charging system message disappear, or the light to go off. They assure me it's fine. I decided to carry on up north to head to work, and over the course of the next month and some, I put on 6000km with no problem (aside from the annoying message centre beeping at me), before coming home. I let the vehicle sit for maybe 4 days in my driveway, and went to start it. My gauges dropped below zero, and began to flutter. Five or so seconds after, they return to normal and everything seems fine. Just to be sure, I shut it off and waited ten seconds before starting it again - to the same result.

Now, this has happened to me before, and it turned out to be a dying battery. The current battery is fairly new (within six months), and I've never killed it or even left my lights on. I don't have a multimeter, so I can't provide voltages.

So backtrack a bit.. after I got home from work, I took it to the Ford dealership to have it checked out and see if they could get the light to turn off. Later, the service manager (a friend of my Dad's) tells me that they installed the wrong alternator. The one they installed is the Dixie a-269 (shown below), which has an internal voltage regulator, and the one I need is a Dixie a-261, which has an external voltage regulator.

So I call Canadian Tire closest to me, and they tell me they've got the part, and can exchange it for me. I drive to the city and buddy pulls out the same part as the very first one (with 8 splines and a different mount). I explain the issue to him, and get told they can't exchange what I have for what I need, because it was a special order from the store up north. So now, before I drive 8 hours out of my way, I want to make sure I'll be getting the right part.

My friend at the dealership had told me that my model needed an external regulator, but on personal inspection, I don't see any free wire that would lead to an external regulator. I'm so pissed by this point, I just wanna burn it to the ground. Somebody help me, please. Pictured below, is my mount (which not shown, is the U-shaped top mounting plate which secures it to the block), the wiring, and my VIN.

I leave for work in a couple days, and I really need to figure this out. please help. thanks.

 

[Number4]

The A-261 is the one that they keep trying to give you, in your first inset image you posted and is clearly wrong. The one you have now is correct, the A-269.

Edit: need to see what it's putting out as far as voltage is concerned. Have a shop bench test it, or drive it with a scan gauge attached. You want to be able to put a load on it.

Also, both units are internally regulated.

 

[diskreet]

I've had the a269 in. I had it installed in a shop, they told me it held 14.3, but couldnt get the battery light or message center to clear. I experienced no issues with it for 6000km.

I took it into my local Ford dealer for a diagnostic, and was told that the a269 is the wrong part, and that I needed the a261, and that's why the censor was tweaking out. This morning, I was in to see my friend at Ford, and he showed me the schematic for the Dixie A-261, which showed an external regulator. I asked him, if it's external, then why is there no wire on my harness. He said that the regulator is external, the circuity inside the alternator is different, but the wiring harness is the same.

Regardless, if what you said is true, and the a-269 that I have is the correct part, then why would the check charging system warning fail to clear? It didn't do this before my old one died (and I have no idea what I had before.. I can't remember). And why would my gauges begin to flutter? I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions.

 

[Number4]

From what others say, the gauges flutter with a bad (or going bad) alternator. Battery can cause the issue too. Alternators don't have to be all or nothing. They can Peter out while functioning enough to get you by.

For example, they can work at driving speed, or high RPM, but not work at idle. The light is supposed to be tied to the alternator and not the battery, though I can't confirm it.

You've seen the A261, it simply won't mount.
If you have the 'U' shaped bracket as the alternator top mount, then you have an A-269 alternator.

An externally regulated alternator hasn't been on a Ford since the late 80's or so. An external regulator is a remote mounted box. Modern alternators have internal regulators, though they may be physically located on the alternators back (such as ours.)

Look at the back of an 'A-261' series, there's only one top mount and it's at the rear instead of the sides.

 

[diskreet]

this is ####in retarded. your answers are consistent with what I've been told by half the people I've asked, and Ford's answer is consistent with what I've been told by the other half.

im gonna end up getting ford to order me the right part, and just get a refund on the one i have now. smh.

thanks so much for the answers man, i really appreciate it.

 

[Number4]

Post back with what you get from Ford. Their cross reference for the A-261 may just be 'wrong.' Anyway, your findings may help others who come across this thread.