what is the best way to fit an alternator on a td4 with air con & roughly how long will it take

first thing is tie ya hair back !!

box of matches + jerrycan of petrol takes about 5 seconds. Might glow for hours though!

I did mine from underneith take the engin protector off now this is the best way undo your engin mounts drives side have a jack under the engin the lower it then you will need a 24 mm ring spanner to put on the tensioner I found it easier with the engin slightly lowerd this is why you take the engin mounts off no need to take all the nuts and studs out though on the top mount just the 4 that conect it to the engin getting back to it pull on the ring spanner and take the belts off then undo the alternator and take it off and then back on with the new one and re asembell make sure you have the the belt going the right way I replaced mine while doing it to save future bother I thik it took me juist over one hour if you do not want to take the engin mounts of you do not have to BUT it is a bit of a stugle getting to the belt tensioner hope this helps

thanks for that do i need to remove the air con pump

no you can get to the alternator without removeing the aircon as i said it is possible to do the job without removing the engin mountings on drives side top and bottom but I just found it easier be carefull of the belt tensioner there is not enough room to get a socket on and you need a 24 mm at least i am sure of that so it does not slip good luck