[Maximus]

I have a 2004 2.0 tdci c-max ghia. The car has covered 29,000 from new. I have had no signs that the alternator was about to fritz, ie: no loss of battery power,dimming lights etc, but the other week after the car had stood for a day or two, as I drove to work on the monday, i noticed the generator light had stayed on

. I pulled into a lay-by expecting to find a broken fan belt but all was in order

. I had no choice but to carry on to work, and that evening a collegue followed me home in case of problems. I arranged with my local Ford garage for the car to go in for a diagnostic check, I should point out at this stage that the distance covered so far on battery alone( I pressume), was around 24 miles. Of course the check showed the alternator to be faulty

. £242 latter, and with instruments re-configured all is well. But surely 29.000 is a little soon for a alternator to go.

 

[Richard G]

I'm not certain. We do seem to keep getting faulty / failed alternator problems pop up. Perhaps there were a batch of faulty ones supplied to Ford assembly

 

[gmwilkinson]

Mine broke at 52,000 miles, and was built in Oct 2003.

 

[Maximus]

Funny thing was, the parts guy asked if I wanted a genuine Ford replacement part or a substitute brand. My answer was, that if the genuine Ford part fitted from new had only lasted 29000ms, I'd have the substitute and take a chance the Ford part beung so much more expensive.

 

[stevey]

I have a 2004 2.0 tdci zetec, same problem as yours with the the alternator, quit wihout warning, mine managed 63K, although as I bought the car with 29K on theres no guarantee it was the original