whatscooking

My 96 today on start up pegged the volt meter and lit the idiot light on the dash. I put my meter on it right away and the volts were up 18-19. I came here and the info I got shows mine is regulated by the ECM. I have had the vehicle for about a year now and it has been trouble free with the normal maintenance I have done to it but I didn't know the alternator history. I thought I would take it off and have a look at it and have it tested. Tested good, four times. While removing the alternator I broke off the top part of the alternator bracket, the part that bolts to the engine. Note do not pry on the upper part of that bracket, it will not take much. By chance I checked a local guy and got one for 20. When I got to looking the bracket over it is obvious someone had to grind on it so the alternator I have would fit. Does this mean I have the larger Durango Alternator?
I came home and cleaned wire ends everywhere, was easy with the alternator out. Ground on my new bracket to get the alternator in and put it all back together. It is holding a steady 14.1 on the dash, idle or at speed. I don't know if I got her fixed or not but I got to know her a little better.

whatscooking

Let me ask it this way without a lot of ramble. The Jeep is new to me so I don't know what the PO did. When I got the alternator off, it bolted in and the wires all fit on nicely, I noticed the alternator bracket and the engine block has been ground to allow the alternator to fit. It looked like the factory alternator but fatter. Is this possibly the Durango alternator I read about?

jordan96xj

If your 96 has air conditioning, it might just be a stock alternator that someone got frustrated with and couldn't figure out how to squeeze down into place. It will -almost- fit, but not quite. So someone might have just decided to grind something to get it in. I fumbled with mine for quite some time before realizing that it just wasn't going to work without removing all of the brackets (at least that's how I did it). Next time, I think I could make it easier on myself by just lifting the engine a small amount with a jack.

Unless, you have a part number on the alternator to research from, I would not assume that it is a durango alternator. If there were was other evidence like modifications that require more amperage (light kits, winch, etc), then maybe.