i haven't posted on here for a while but.....i think i have a problem.

on my way back to school today (about 180 miles; 3.5 hrs usually) i stopped after a while to take a ****, and put my hood up to let the jeep cool off because we all know they run hot and it was very hot outside today, and noticed oil of some kind sprayed on the side of my battery.

let it cool for about 20 mins and went on my way, the rest of the way i noticed it wasn't running right at all, sluggish, and going up hills was even worse than normal. if i would try to give it some gas it would struggle a bit it seemed and make a lot more noise than normal. when i was getting closer to town i had my windows down more and noticed an awful smell, and wasn't sure what to think. got to my apartment and put the hood up and could smell it even more and saw there was a little bit of smoke coming off my alternator.

maybe these will help



there's more there than the pic shows, this was the best i could do.





is my alternator toast? or is it something else?

 

never seen anything like that before. not sure where that oil would come from, but since i have no useful input...good luck

 

crank case seal? have you replaced your vibration dampner lately?

 

if that is oil it def didnt come from the alt. alt's have no oil in them at all mostly copper i work in a JY i know these thing but check your seals and gaskets and tranny lines up front for pin holes/ leaks

 

i've been hearing AC clutch about this...anyone offer anymore insight into that?

as i said it was very hot yesterday, and i sat in traffic for over an hour. and when i did turn the AC on it wasn't as cold. i read on here that sometimes you can recharge the system, but i think if the inside of mine is thrashed, im past that. so does that mean i need a new one?

 

Are you sure that oil.. and not rubber? You could have a bearing going in the alt which is allowing the belt to slip on the pulley and melting/flinging small particles.

Whats the backside of the belt look like?

 

it does seem to be more rubber than oil, because it wouldnt rub off. i didnt check til it cooled down cuz it was very hot.

the belt seemed to be alright. i haven't been losing any power or anything so i was hoping to rule out my alt.

 

check tranny cooler lines

 

how much of a PITA is it to replace the ac clutch if that's what the problem is?

 

does anyone know if you can run a shorter belt to bypass the AC clutch?

 

Looks like melted belt to me.First thing I would do is pull the belt off and find out which pully is turning hard or not turning at all.I have had p.steering pumps do this to me before!!

 

If your belt is good, my geuss is that your dampener rubber worked its way out and is rubbing on your timing cover, which can wear a hole in it if you let it go. You should be able to see ALL the rubber all the way around your dampener and not be sticking out.

The only reason it would be the AC clutch is if it was stuck in the engaged position and your AC compressor was seized. In this instance you would need a belt to go to the store and a belt to get home.

I don't think you can even run a belt with out the AC pulley there. XJ's that didn't have AC had a idler pulley where the compressor is.

I'd crawl under your Jeep and look at the dampener, they go out often on these rigs.

 

Looks like rubber from a melting belt to me too. You'll definitely wanna check you Vibration Dampener, make sure all the rubber is good on there. Mine went bad and the belt was half-off the balancer. Also check all the pulleys and make sure none of them are unusually hard to turn. You'll definitely want a new serp belt when all is said and done though.

 

does anyone have an answer for this?

 

No... as mentioned earlier you would need an ac delete setup. It's another idler pulley that bolts in where the ac compressor sits.

Did you remove the belt and see what's seizing? A delete might not fix your issue.

Check ebay.. my bud picked up a delete while he was awaiting his new compressor.