A quick walkthough on replacing the alternator on a 2001 Ford Focus With a Zetec engine 1) Tools needed Floor Jack, battery charger, misc wrenches & sockets 2) Disconnect battery from electrical system and put it on charge 3) Remove coolant tank and move out of way 4) Remove power steering tank and move out of way 5,6) remove passenger engine mount and support engine with floor jack under oil pan with block of wood on jack 7) Raise engine with floor jack ad much as possible and remove serp belt. The way I do it is I put a wrench on the tensioner bolt, and pull tensioner to right with right hand while moving belt off alternator pully with left hand. Make sure to draw a picture of the serp belt routing as it is somewhat odd. 8) Remove the fuel line and regulator it makes it a lot easier to get in there and work on it. There is a special tool used for disconnecting the line on the tank side, and on the injector side, unlock clip, squeeze to push it out partway then pull off the tube. 9, 10) Remove the large positive wire from the alternator. This is how this is supposed to work. Your supposed to reach down there with a small #10 socket and unscrew the nut and remove the wire. But in reality that may not happen. Instead it may be frozen and when you turn it the plastic shaft cracks. Then you have to work it back and forth until you break the conductor in the shaft. Then you can pull it up and hold it with vise grips while you use a wrench to remove the nut. 11, 12, 13) Remove alternator bolts. This is the way this is supposed to work. You unscrew the bolts about 5-6 turns. Then you tap on the head of both bolts to pound them back into the mount. This loosens the keepers and then you finish by unscrewing the bolts and removing them. But in reality the keepers may be corroded into the mount and you cannot get a hammer down there with enough swing to tap the bolts in. If that happens you have to pull the bolts out then use a series of prybars to pry the alternator out of the mount. Be careful not to crack the plastic timing belt cover. 14) This is the alternator out of the car with the bolts inserted. I have circled the keepers, notice they are drawn out of the alternator a few mm. They should be flush. If your putting a new alternator in then if the keepers are not flush then thread in the bolts and tap on them with a hammer until the keepers are flush. 15) Now that the alternator is out of the holder you can turn it so that you can unplug the 3 wire plug going into it. This pic shows the plug being pushed on to the new plug after the new alternator is mounted. Do not try unplugging this connector until the alternator is free and you can turn it and get at the plug. 16, 17) Now we got to get the old alternator out and the new one in. The easiest way to do this is raise the car and use a floor jack to push the engine in the engine bay up and forward so that it makes a big enough space between the engine and the power steering rack to get the alternator out. 18) disconnect the flex exhaust pipe to get enough space available to get the alternator out. 19, 20, 21) While pushing up on the engine with the jack remove the old alternator and push the new one up in it's place above the power steering cylinder and engine block. Be careful not to push the car off the jacks. 22) Once the new alternator is up above the power steering then reconnect the power steering vent tube, and the exhaust pipe, and lower the engine then lower the car down off the jacks. 23) Here is a pic from the top showing where the keepers clamp down on to the alternator mount. When the bolts are tightened the keepers are drawn out of the alternator bracket and against the mount. When inserting the bolts on the new alternator note that there may be a wire loom bracket that mounts on to one of the alternator bolts. There was in mind but the bracket fell out and went missing and the wireties on the wire it was holding had broken a long time previously. Do not crank down on the bolts too tight! and make sure the keepers are drawn out all the way, and the alternator does not move when you try wiggling it. 24, 25, 26) Pull the new alternator up, remove plastic bag and put it into position 27) Reconnect 3 wire plug to alternator and push in until you hear it click as the catch engages. Also reconnect main positive wire to alternator 28) Reconnect fuel line. 29) Put serpentine belt back on the same way you took it off. Replace engine mount and coolant and power steering bottles, put away all tools, and disconnect the battery charger and reconnect the battery. Start the car the voltage at the battery terminals should be around 14 volts.