I'm not much of an electrical guy..

My wife has been running my XJ for the past week while i work on her ZJ, she came home friday night stating the radio was going on and off. I go out and check it saturday in torential downpour and the amp gauge is in the red and it wont start.

Yesterday i charged the batt and disconnected the charger last night. (again pouring outside)

This am i hooked up the battery, showing slightly above 9amps. It started and i hear the alt whining...

Pull the pos lead from batt and it dies immediately.

Whats my problem... batt or alt? I originally thought alt but now wondering if the Jeep would immediately die with batt at around 9-10 amps.

Clean battery terminals, never had issues starting this Jeep.

Did a bad alt destroy the batt where it wont take a charge?

 

OK, i think i figured out my issue.

Just for giggles i tightened the serp belt.. it was just a tad loose. So i then started it and let it warm just a few minutes while watching the amp guage. Still hovering around 10 amps.

Tached it up to 1800-2000 RPM and noticed the amp jump up to 12ish... then drop right back down. I think i have a bad alt.

Tomorrow i'm gonna go grab an alt at the upull and test my theory.. $15 alt beats a $150 alt at the Zone.

Also picked up a good deal on an Optima off a member from CF/NAXJA.

 

Just to be sure you could take the alt out and take up to the parts store and the will test for free.

 

Agree - take the alt to get tested. My alt gauge would drop out and then come back. I thought it was just a bad gauge as it would stay at 0 for long time and come back but never had an electrical issue. Then I go to the badlands (Indiana) and about an hour away the gauge drops - no big deal just a bad gauge (what I thought at least). get to the parking lot and shut the Jeep off - turn the key to run the windows up and nothing. go to start the Jeep nothing. sure enough about a year after having the gauge drop out here and there the alt finally died all the way. no play that day just fun of changing an alt on a dirty side of the road.

Moral of the story - check it now or it will strand you at the worst time.

 

I have to fix this tomorrow.. i need to drive it to wherever i get my replacement part. I could drive it to the parts store but i also dont want to drop $150 for an alt that will be resold in a few months when i start to strip this Jeep and build my ZJ.

The upull has a dozen or more XJ's and i can get an alt for $20.. i'd rather go that route. Lots of times you can find newish starters, alt's, battery cables and the like on Jeeps someone tried to fix and decided to cut their loss's. That reminds me.. theres a brand new power steering hose there..lol.

Yeah, i'm cheaping out in this particular case... If my ZJ also needed an alt i'd buy new.

 

Having the alt tested at the parts store proves nothing. I could charge the battery on my wifes Corolla but it would die after about 45 minutes of driving and left her stranded twice while I was out of town. Had the alt tested 4 times and each time it passed without question. Turns out that when the alt started getting hot from the engine temp it would short out and stop charging and the battery would drain out. Replaced the alt and so far all has been good.

 

I'v read that before Winston.. doesnt seem foolproof. Plus if i pull it there for testing i'm stuck buying there. Not reinstalling just to get to yard... and pull again.

The wife's ZJ is on jackstands awaiting the catback i ordered.. i'll take her batt with me incase i run mine down. This just comes at a bad time with her using my Jeep.. and the weather here has been horrific..

 

Good point - they would not have found mine unless it just happen to be acting up when they were checking.

 

That's the good thing about having multiple cars in the driveway, if one is out of commision, then just jump in another one.

 

I hear ya... i'v been laid off for sometime and sold my F-250. My Jeeps is my DD now. So were down to two plus the kids Wrangler... which is tough to get off a 22 year old.

 

I am thankful that all of ours are paid for now. We just paid off the wifes 01 XJ last month and got the title in the mail this past weekend. Now if I got just get rid of all the repair and maintenance costs.

 

not gonna happen. Just Empty Every Pocket. right.

 

Pulled the alt today, found that the internals was arcing against the housing in the back. One of the screws that holds the unit together was actually welded to the caseing.

Threw in another alt and all is fine.

 

Woohoo, now you just have to get the wifes ZJ fixed and your in business.

 

Yeah, install that exhaust tomorrow. I have to grind down some spot welds to get the old muffler off.

Figure i'll throw some brakes on it to.

Been tough with the weather of late... blizzards, heavy rain.. not as young as i once was.