XJtlk789

Stock alternator on a 01 cherokee. No pulley squeek or anything. All. Belts tightened perfectly.
Lately its been "whining" or making a whistle noise upon acceleration. Is this a beginning sign to its demise or am i just overthinking it.
Voltage sometimes drops well below the middle when idling at a redlight or even on park.
Running 2 hella black magic 500s and 2 hella amber rectangle fogs on lower part of Bumper. And lower watt sound system.
Made the noise before lights were on. So....?
Any feedback would be great.
Thnx
Terry

XJtlk789

Addition: Also seems to be worse in wet weather but does it in dry weather also.

Jeepjunky

i got the exact same thing right now, ur alt. is going bad and its time to replace or upgrade. i killed mine when weldin my front bumper together, took a week to rebuild, and it does all those symptom after going mudding for a month or longer

XJtlk789

D***it thats what i was afraid of. :angry:

So how much time do I have? Its been doin it for 6+ months?

DFlintstone

I'd loosen the belt and feel the bearing. If there is any problem, change it. Odd though, maybe the belt should be tightened more perfectly. A slipping belt is the only thing I can see that would make it worse wet. Also a bad bearing will normally get hot. That's all I got, God luck...D.

XJtlk789

Its not the typical squeel though. I got rid of that noise a while Ago lol

Its just a whine. A bearing would Cause that? Hmm.
Well if i have to replace... Is it better to replace with oem? Or do the mean green high output? Or the wj mod?

I was so hoping that someone would say its a normal xj noise too lol darn..

andyg

Definitely a bad bearing in the alternator if the noise is from it. At least you have some warning before it goes.

XJtlk789

So i should just replace the whole thing then...?

DFlintstone

If you have more time than $ you can change the bearing and brushes, test it with a meter. Use to be common. I just swapped mine wen it went bad, wasn't the bearing though. For the time and trouble its usually better to go new. I look for US made for parts.

XJtlk789

Ok. If i were to upgrade, is mean green the way to go? Or the grand Cherokee mod?

XJtlk789

Anyone?

Jeepjunky

depends on ur money, mean green is $400 but its a bolt in 200 amp alternator. a grand cherokee alt. is cheap, but its only 136 amps and u got to do some grinding to make it fit