CHILI442

I need help!
A buddy of mine has a '94 Jeep Cherokee Sport with 166,000 miles. Last night as he was almost home the dash lights started getting dim and the check engine light came on. I went over there today to check it out. It started right up, so I put my volt meter on it and it was around 11 volts. This naturally made me believe it was the alternator. We shut the Jeep off and I hooked jumper cables to it and my car to put a charge on it (about 10 minutes) with hopes of limping it to my place to work on it. The drive was about 10 minutes and after about 3/4 the way there his volt gauge dropped but it kept running and we made it to my house. We pulled the alternator off (pain in the azz!) and took it to Autozone and they put it on the machine and said it passed. This surprised the hell out of me. The guy there said it could be that the voltage regulator was questionable, and that they will often test good but fail when they get hot. They didn't have an alternator at that store, but sent us to another store. At the second store we ran things past the manager and he said on Chrysler products the voltage regulator is in the computer, not the alternator like GM and Fords. I've never messed with Chryslers, so this is new to me. We held off on getting the new alternator. My buddy has a Hanes manual and it says it has an internal regulator, but these books cover 15 years of production and are basically worthless. Anyone have a clue? My buddy is unemployed and were trying to fix this b*tch as cheap as possible.

Thanks in advance

93xj

yes the regulator is located in the computer.. so if it is the regulator u can pick up a new computer at the JY for around 75-100 dollars,

BuckB91XJ

I had the same exact scenario when my alternator went bad on my 91 XJ. I had multiple no start situations where a jump got it going. I had low voltage reading on the volts gauge and when reading across the battery terminals with the motor running. A good reading is 13-14 volts. Anything less and your alternator is not putting out enough juice to properly charge the battery. I took the alternator off and had Autozone test it on their bench. They of course said it passed. I told the manager what was happening and about my troubleshooting that lead me to believe the alternator was bad. He told me that their bench cannot properly load test an alternator. I went with my gut feeling and said I wanted a new alternator, anyway. He sold it to me. I put it on my Jeep. It has run perfect since.

CHILI442

Well, last night we took a gamble and went ahead and replaced the alternator. It did the trick and now runs fine. Thanks everyone!