I had a friend ask me how long it would take to replace the alt on a 97 mountaineer. she is not sure which motor it would be . I researched and they had either a 4.0 or the 5.0 anyone know. she said she got charged for 5 hours of labor and I thought that was excessive

We have a 2000 with the 5.0 and the alternator is underneath the upper radiator hose so they may have had to take that off and refill some coolant. But otherwise I can't see it taking 5 hours.

Holy crap!!!!
I if it took 5 hrs of labor they must have removed every other pulley, the fans, and removed the motor. My brother had a 1995 Explorer with the 4.0 and although I know it would have been a pain to change the alternator on that, I am sure I could have done it in under 5 hrs.
I think they did the "charge her double-time for being female' trick on her.
Call and get a quote from a couple different shops. Then call the shop that did it for her, get a quote from them (without letting them know who you are or what you are about). If it changes, dry clean in court, or get some sort of restitution from them, like free oil changes for a year.

well she has already had it done she was asking me what I thought normal time to replace was. I am no ford expert but 2 hrs seems more then plenty if they know what they are doing . It was a "family friend mecanice that did it and charged her that

i've personaly owned a 99 explorer and i doubt it would take 5 hours for a job like that

It'* about a two hour job for the 4.0, dunno about the 5.0 though. Sounds like she'* the victim of one of Ford'* "Planned Labor" times. They do some tests on how long their guys take to change the part, then use that number. Of course, since their mechanics are taking their time, putting every nut in its own seperate baggie (after cleaning it....), making sure the serpentine belt is lined up nicely on the bench, measuring the belt tension with that special tool that the last user dropped under a toolbox, picking their nose using a SAE-approved motion.....Well, their times tend to end up just a bit inflated. Don't worry though, if they actually take SIX hours to fix it.....well, you end up getting charged for six hours. But if they take only FOUR hours......you still get charged for five.

I've pulled several 5.0 explorers and moutaineers apart in the junk yards and it takes 10 minutes to get the alt off.

well ford'* flatrate times for the alternator are 0.5 hours on a 4.0 and 0.4 hours on a 5.0, sounds a little low to be but id bet money it could be done in under an hour