jason96r

I own a 89 Cherokee and have run accross some charging issues lately. I don't believe it is the altenator as it will run, according to the stock guage, at 14 without the fan on plus I don't know but the altenator looked brand new when I got the Jeep in December.

I will explain what I have on the vehicle. I have an aftermarket headunit but no amp or anything that should be a major draw plus I have phone charger, GPS, and Sirius off the cigarette lighter. I can also have the lights on and the guage will read at 14 or just barely below.

Just got the AC fixed and occasionally when I turn it on the belt will squel and when it does the guage will read just barely above the red. I have a new belt and idler pulley I will install soon so I hope that takes care of that problem.

To my main problem:

If I turn my fan on no matter if it is heat, vent, or AC unless the belt is slipping my first 2 speeds will drop the volts down quite a bit and then the highest 2 speeds will drop even more. It really doesn't matter if I turn the AC on or just vent there is barely a change according to the guage in voltage, other than when the belt squels/slips.

I plan to replace my positive cables and ground. Do you guys believe that will fix my problem or could there be more headaches? Also, before I even got my AC fixed I suspected my powersteering pump to be on the verge of dying could that effect my voltage output too?

Thank you for your help guys. I will try to get a number or something off the altenator to figure out what amperage it is supposed to be. I really hope the PO put a 100 amp or so altenator because there is little price difference between a 100 amp and 60 amp.

superj

i jsut had charging issues, this past weekend put an end to it as the alt died on the highway but here is what i had.

alt read fine but would occasionally read low and would read low when i turned on the fan or headlights and fan together. checked with a multimeter and read 12.5v all the time, even when the gauge read wrong. lights would dim at idle though so i knew something was going on. i pulled upto the garage and let it idle and got yellowish lights and then rev it up and the lights got bright white again so i knew the voltage regulator was heading out the door. i replaced hte belt and idler and had the same squeek issue and lower reading when it happened and had to tighten the dang belt till it would not get any play when reving and letting go between the idler and power steering. after replcing the alt on the side of the highway saturday, i have not had a single issue. just make sure your belt is tight and you will be fine.

jason96r

Like I said the alt. looks brandnew but I don't know because the PO didn't have a reciept for an altenator, had a few other receipts though.

My headlights don't dim or darken though. But I will recheck tonight I checked that when I first got the vehicle but not recently.