I have a 2002 Ford Escape. I bought it used in 2006, I in 2008 the alternator went out, had it and the battery replaced. 2 weeks later had to have alternator replaced again. all was good until March of 2010 alternator when out again. This one was replaced with a brand new one with lifetime parts warranty, this one lasted til december. No shorts found, everything appears to be operating normally. Any suggestions?

THE ALTERNATOR YOU USE IS IT A NEW OR SECOND HAND.IF IT IS A SECOND HAND TEST IT. BATTERY IS IT GOOD ?

2.0 or 3.0 L engine ? DPFE sensor . What code is stored ?

unhook battery & take belt off,unhook wires on alternator ,take out bolt's that hold it on ,replace in reverse order.

replace the alternator,this is the problem,please rate thank you.

Which bulbs are you refering to?
Headlights? I went with Sylvania SilverStar H4 bulbs. I was really impressed with the brightness. The bad news... I seem to have to replace them more often; like, 1 or 2 per year.

Another alternative is to upgrade to the 2005-2006 headlamp assemblies. Rumor says they will fit. They use a different bulb.

I was just reading on another forum about the Ford Escape Battery lights staying on. They said it was the overflow reservoir being low. My 2003 Ford Escape XLS battery light has been on for 6 months. I went to autozone last Wednesday and they said my battery was bad. I got it replaced yesterday. Battery light still on.
So tonight after I read the other forum, I figured it would be worth checkng. My reservoir was about 1/2 inch below the full line. I filed it about 1/4 inch above the full line.....lo and behold, the battery light went off when I started the car. How freakin stupid. But there is your answer.

The light indicates that the battery is receiving insufficient charge voltage from the alternator. Take the car to an autoparts store and have the alternator output checked. Most parts stores will do the test for free. Sorry for your trouble and I hope this helped. Best wishes.

My 2002 Ford Escape had a similar issue later in 2006. My alternator died and I needed replacement. After replacing, the light would come on and off at times. When everything running (i.e. radio, air conditioner, driving lights) and tocuh electric windows up the power would lower and sometimes battery light on dashboard would come up. Original mechanic could find out what was going on and I lived for 2-3 years with it.

This past August 2009 after a long trip (i.e. 8 hours or so) my battery died. Brought to a auto parts place and they determined it was the baterry and the alternator. Since I was back on my home town I went to a good friend that is a mechanic and he fixed it for real.

He had a similar issue with three different Escapes coming back with alternator or baterry or both death. He found out that Ford has an official report for Escapes that when this happens the electric fan behind the radiator are short circuiting, affect direclty the baterry and alternator killing them, and needs replacement.

Try this and may work for you.

This is a problem with the alternator. Diode rectifiers and voltage regulator replacement will give this baby a 14.2 voltage output. In this 3L V6 SUV removal of the alternator requires removing the right tire, the right axis and undercovering to reach the 6G alternator. It is a 133mm rectifier with a motorcraft, The serpentine belt is better removed from the bottom. Also keep a bucket on hand to recover the oil from the transmission.

The best way is to get a voltmeter and check the voltage of the battery with the truck running and not running. When the truck is running, the voltage across the battery terminals should be aboput 14.9 volts (showing the alternator is charging the battery). With the truck off, the battery voltage should be about 12 volts (showing that the battery is holding the charge). From there, you should be able to tell which is bad.