dham99

alright, busy week is over so i can try to get back to my baby..lol

I think Ive done all or most of that, but what Jeepsrt6 did ill do and see what i get. Jeep, did you just cut into your wires? they have gapping holes in them now lol..I tested them before by just piercing the line with the tip of the lead and it seemed to work...

So quick question, Im guessing from the material and some of the diagrams, my Alternator is grounded through the 2 mounting bolts, correct?

and no one has really inquired or said much about the fuse being blown right after the first mudding. if the fuse for the taillights and instrument panel blew, maybe there is a corresponding wire (the one we seek! lol) that has shorted. I just dont know why a fuse replacing that would fix a short. Then again that fuse has been replaced 3 times in 6 months...so its not a rare thing for it to blow...but the timing was perfect during the first mud.

What doesnt make sense (and I have pics on my iPhone), is i traced that tan/black wire, but it goes from the female 6connector plug, into the harness that goes in the front grill behind the headlights, right infront of the radiator. That goes all the way to the driver side, but i cant see where from there (and I doubt it loops back up into the instrument panel).

Ive taken my dash and instruments out before...ill do so again and test. What should i test and how (black lead to any screw/metal then the pos lead to the metal where the bulbs actually plug into?

ET JEEP

Yes the alternator is grounded thru the attach point. Some also have a pigtail that connects to the case and to an engine ground point. Yours does not appear to have this pigtail.

As I posted, find the A connector, by the instrument cluster, separate the connector and find the end of the wire at A3. Check the wire color to make sure you have the right wire. Get a long wire with an alligator clip and connect the clip to the wire at the alternator end. Run the wire to where the A connector is located by the instrument cluster. Set up your meter to read OHM and set to 200. Connect red lead to the wire at A3 and the black lead to wire from the alternator. You should read that zero ohm reading. If you get a 1 . you have a break in the wire.

What you are creating here is a circle from one end of the wire to the other end with the meter reading the resistance. You can also use a test light if you have one. The light should turn on when you connect it to the wire ends.

Now, disconnect the meter black lead from the wire coming from the alternator. Connect the meter black lead to a good ground. You should read 1 . If you get the zero voltage reading that means the alternator wire is shorted somewhere.

I hope this is clear. AGAIN THIS TEST IS DONE ON A DEAD CIRCUIT.

As for the fuses, the only one we are concerned with, regarding the alternator, is that gauge fuse that shows on the schematic.

98jeepsrt6

Ok i wonder if this will work, we know orange/black(the wire we think is faulty) goes to gauge/light... now after this point it grounds out..

Now if the orange/black(OP setup) grounds after the gauge, shouldnt we be able to run a wire from pigtail orange/black to ground?? And from here see whether or not it will show charge on the gauge.. This would be a bypass of the signal wire to gauge..

When ignition is on acc, the gauge shows a reading of normal battery voltage.. which we know is the white wire going to gauge behind instr. cluster. That same wire (White-t) should give a reading of the battery while the alternator is charging and would hopefully show around the 14 range.. or you can test it at the alt ????????

It shouldn't be necessary to separate the pigtail and main harness from alt, but just run a ground on that orange/black and see if it will bypass the rest wire system..

98jeepsrt6

Yea i pierced it with the needle a lil to much but nothing electrical tape cant fix.. plus i have to tape up all the wire back together..

But as for the fuse, im not sure why only that one would go, unless the alt sent a surge charge through the signal wire and popped that fusible link.. and as you stated before it would show charge at inclines so maybe its tapping each end.. i mentioned a possible bypass method to complete the circut but no one is here so cant see.. Im so lonely... oops


And for it going around the front behind the lights around the corner and up in the dash, thats a long friggin wire.. but if thats where we think/know where it should go the yup it loops around into the dash..

ET JEEP

Ok, I think we need to resolve the alternator light issue: whether it works or not. This should test that wire too.

1. Turn ignition switch on with engiine off, alt. light should turn on.

If the light is off, disconnect the 2 wire harness at the alternator. Connect a fused jumper to the pin on the harness for the dead wire and the other jumper end to a good ground. Use a low amp fuse. Turn ignition switch on, the light should turn on and fuse should not blow.

If the light does not turn on with the jumper test then there is an a break in the circuit going to the light bulb or the light bulb is bad.

2. Start engine, with alternator not charging alt. light should be on.

3. Turn off engine, disconnect the 2 wire harness at the alternator. Set it aside and do not let the pins touch anything.

4.Turn ignition switch on. Light should be off. If it is on then there is a short somewhere.

I think doing this test will tell quite a bit.

It is hard trying to think all this stuff out. But, I too am learning too.

ET JEEP

The alternator light and the voltmeter work separately even though they are both on that white wire. The test I just posted may help resolve a few things.

I hope!!

freegdr

did this ever get fixed

98jeepsrt6

not yet, waiting on the op..

freegdr

did you ever fix the charge prob

retreaded jeeper

the only thing I have to offer without hands on the car id autozone is a great discount store but my experiences are electrical includeing even battery testing is very poor.

dham99

alright guys, im REALLY sorry I havent been on. When I last posted, I got pretty sick from something for almost a week. As soon as that went away, last weekend i got strep and was out of work for 3 days. I hardley get sick so it was a shock to be that sick twice in a row. Now i have to possibly get my tonsils removed, but that wont be determined until after the 19th when i go in for more exams.

Im going to go over my jeep again here in a bit, and then ET, 98, freegdr, Im going to go through the posts and recheck stuff. I needed a short break from this anyways because it was starting to drive me nuts, although i really miss cruising my jeep! Ive got offers from people to buy it and i cant even sell it without it running right!

so, without further adue, im going to go take a look at a few things.

I dont have any lights except the battery gauge in my dashboard, but that only shows voltage and there is a backlight to see it at night. perhaps you are talking about the alterantor 'gauge' in the dash. if it shows voltage with acc on, that i guess is what you mean by 'light'?

i want to run that test but unless i can rig a 'fused jumper' by connecting copper wire to a fuse, i dont have one on stand by. i have low amp fuses like for the fuse box and 20-10gauge wire.

oh and this may sound like a dumb question, but is there any way a bad battery would not allow the alt to charge it, yet i can recharge it fully from a trickle charger? i would imagine not charging would not charge period. just trying to make sure all this work isnt a bad battery lol (like retreaded jeeper said, it could be a bad test from AZ)

freegdr

glad your feeling better health is most important

dham99

eh...possibly over rated



now as stated before at an earlier post, with ACC on (engine NOT started), the battery gauge goes to about 10 or 11 amps. This is about the exact same with the engine running. Like i said once it shows a voltage on the gauge, it doesnt really budge at all until it starts to lose juice from not being charged.

if i disconnect the 2wire connector, and turn on ACC (engine running and not running), the battery gauge still shows a voltage.

so with that 2wire connector disconnected it makes no difference as to whether the gauge works or not. the only connection is the "BAT+"/thick red eye'hole connector.

ET JEEP

Glad you are up and around. We were wondering what had happened.

According the the wiring diagram that freegdr sent, it shows both an alternator light and a voltage gauge. While both are in the same power wire they work independently. The voltage gauge just reads battery voltage with the key on. As the battery depletes, the gauge should show the voltage going down.

The alternator light, if you have one is the one we need to check. It is on the wire that goes to the alternator and feeds voltage to the alternator. See the diagram. For the circuit to work this light must be good. It should turn on with the key on and engine not running. If it does not turn on then there is a problem. With the engine running it should turn off. That is why the checks need to be done.

Note, check to see if you have this alternator light.

As for a fuse holder you can get one that hold the glass cylinder fuses or one that holds the pin type fuse. The correct names escape me. The fused lead is just a precaution.

If you can do the tests in post 140 it may help.

I'll have to review these posts too. It's been a while.

dham99

hmm..ill have to recheck that wiring diagram (i remember seeing wires, but nothing about a physical light). Are you talking about putting a light test to it, or there is actually an inline light somewhere (like an actual led) spliced into the wire to the battery gauge? ive never heard of that, but im not an eletrical guru, yet. haha