XJNemb

Vehicle: 2001 Cherokee sport 4.0l 4x4.. Everything is factory as far as the engine/drivetrain go.

Just looking for a little helpful insight. Didn't know if this was a common issue or if anyone had ran into this before.

Me and a buddy went and played in some mud the other day, My xj ran fine the whole time and on the way home.
Took my jeep out the next day and noticed the CHECK GAUGES light was on, then checked and my voltage gauge was dead. So I shut it down and started it back up and the gauge was reading 12volts and then after about 30 seconds, it drops dead again.
Everything seems to run fine while driving and I drove it a few miles, shut it down for a couple hours and then drove it another few miles back with no issues besides the gauge dropping.

Haven't had a chance to actually tear into it yet, so figured I would see if anyone had ideas.

Thanks

OleBlue

Your alternator is probably intemittently charging due to its probly full of mud. I would look there first.

XJNemb

Yeah I hate that the alternator is on the bottom. I sprayed it off a little bit, but due to lack of time I haven't got to do anything else. lol

OleBlue

clean it out then spray some wd40 in it, should help. If not, may have toasted it.

XJNemb

Think I may have toasted it. Jeep finally started getting slow to start and then died yesterday while installing a reverse camera.

XJNemb

Ended up replacing the alternator last night. After I took the old one out, I gave it a good spin or two and it locked up. lol Upgraded to a '98 dakota 5.2l 136amp alternator. Runs great now.