Hey guys, I'm having a charging issue that I can't seem to figure out. It's a 99 Cherokee 4.0 ect. alternator stopped charging all together. I changed the alternator because it was about time for a new one whether that was the problem or not. So with a new alternator, it still won't charge. the field wire plug on the alternator did have done corrosion on/in it so I cleaned it thoroughly while I had it off. other than that I don't really no where to start looking. where/how should I test the plugs/ wiring harnesses and are there any other possible culprits. Nuts and bolts are easy, but when it comes to electrical issues, I'm not much help to myself. Thanks for any help u can provide

 

I'm not educated that well on electrical either but what I would do is get one of those electrical testers I forgot what they are called I think they're called voltage meters or something like that, but anyway I would start seeing if you're getting any connection in the wires from the alternator to the battery, other than that I'm not much help but that's just my 2cents

 

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Test your battery. Your alternator can't supply a receptacle that is unable to take a charge.

 

I forgot to mention I've already tested the battery and so forth. The battery is 3 months old and runs about 11.8 volts under load. I can drive about an hour without lights on with my battery's charge. So basically, I have put a meter on multiple places inducing the battery, the alternator directly, and the field wire plug. I have checked grounds ect. I'm pretty sure it's a wire or plug that's fine bad. I just am not sure how to go about checking that

 

Checked the fuse? There's the possibility that you got a bad alternator, tho fairly rare, it happens. You can take it to the parts store for a free test.

 

Change your grounds. And battery ends.

 

Yep, I have installed quite a few new Alternators that were bad right out of the box.


Here's another possible issue that Dave pointed out on another thread about charging issues, Battery Temp Sensor:


https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f5/hel...2/#post3152843

 

I would install new battery cables.


I have saw posts about this before as well as a "New out of the Box" not working.

 

So I found and fixed the issue. Just to follow up for any1 searching threads for a similar issue, it ended up being a shorted wire. it was the wire that goes to the pcm from the alternator. had power after the connector at the alt. did not have power at the pcm. I put power to the wire(after I snipped it) at the pcm. It got hot. Put power to the wire after the snip from the alt. and it started charging. So rather than chase where the short was somewhere behind the engine block, I just snipped both ends and ran a new wire. Problem solved.

 

Good thread , didn't solve my issue....