Well........ I had bought the new alternator and the A/C clutch, and today, I rented the A/C clutch puller. (Rent it, and upon return, you get your money back.) I drove the tuck to my father-in-law's house where he has a 13,000 pound capacity forklift. I figured that I would put it on the forklift to get better access to the A/C clutch. Anyway, I replaced the alternator in about 15 minutes. The cost of a new alternator was $159.00 with a core charge of $35.00..... total cost....... $124.00. The Ford garage wanted $450.00 for the alternator and labor!!!! I started the truck and all of the previous warning lights went out, and everything went back to normal. I let it idle for a few minutes to let the computer re-learn the idle control, then decided to try the air conditioner. It ran like a champ!!!! Didn't need a new clutch!!! The alternator wasn't putting out any power, so the clutch wasn't working. How do these garages get away with this sort of rip-off? If I hadn't decided to do the work myself, I would have needlessly shelled out over $900.00, instead of the $124.00 and a few minutes of my time.

Paul