I got the alternator swapped out this morning, and decided to go ahead and replaced the battery at the same time. Everything appears to be working like normal again, and I have not noticed the battery light flashing anymore while the RPMS are extremely high when down shifting. I'd highly recommend anyone trying to swap out their serpentine belts to swing by AutoZone and rent one of those serpentine belt removal tools like TexforD was talking about (that is also available at Sears.) Makes the job incredibly easy (especially if you are doing it alone.) I sincerely appreciate everyone's help.. You guys easily helped me save $300.

 

Great. Good to know you got it fixed. Looks like I will be doing the same thing in the future. How many miles did you go with the battery light blinking before the alt went on you?

 

It's been flashing for probably the last 6 months which probably represents 10 to 15 thousand miles. I revved it up pretty good getting on the highway yesterday and can definately confirm this corrected my problem with the flashing battery light (and I'm still useing the old belt that has 126k miles on it.) I went ahead and installed my old belt since I was stuck in a parking lot, and decided I would install the new Goodyear Gatorback I picked up from Mike Troyer about a year ago once I made it back home. The old belt went back on with almost now effort at all. I tried to install the Goodyear Gatorback this morning, and useing the serpentine belt removal tool with the most extension the tensioner will allow, I STILL can't get the belt over the last pulley. I'm pretty sure I have the right belt since I got it from Mike, it's just not nearly as stetched out as the old one. I've tried stretching the belt itself (with little success) aswell as having someone else hold the serpentine belt removal tool, and with all my strenth I still can't pull the belt over the last pully. (I've tried useing both the alternator and the crank shaft as the last pulley.) I'm about to start searching on here for ideas. The two #'s on the belt are 4080990 and 8pk2515. I sure wish I had an extra half of an inch!

 

Checked on Goodyear's website, and that is without a doubt the right belt for 4.6's with an AC. Is it necessary to try to stretch the belt itself out some before installing? The old belt is so loose I can slip it over the alternator and hold the belt removal tool at the same time without even useing all of the available slack in the tensioner. With the new belt, useing all of the slack in the tension available, I still can't quite get it slipped over the alternator.... Oh well... Now that I atleast know for sure I've got the right belt, I'm off to try again....

 

Got it... damn that was tight.

 

Ford doesn't sell any new alternators. they are all re-man'd. might want to check into a powermaster.

make sure it isn't the belt slipping before you spend $$$. also check the bat. if it is the original.

 

Thanks STX on the follow up. I think I'm next on the alt replacement. Mine has been flashing for the past 15k miles and I bought it used so who knows how long before that. I almost never rev it that high anyway so I forget about it. My luck it will finally go right in the middle of winter

 

Once your battery light stays on without turning off after you start your engine up is when you officially have a fairly immediate problem. I assume this is when the alternator completely quits giving any output, and at that point it's strictly a matter of how long it takes to drain your battery before you start to expierence problems. For me it was about 2 days. If I ever see the light stay on again, I'll head to a comfortable place to swap the alternator!