Hey all, i'm still around. Just had a LOT going on.

Cherokee's been alright. I got that spare wheel cleaned up and repainted (Just used flat black for the inside and hammered black for the outside) and the skids are both cleaned up and painted.

This weekend i should be ordering the H4 conversion kits, as well as some Crown motor/tranny mounts. I figure they are better than the super cheap ones i got from amazon, and if they need replaced again i'll do Brown Dogs.

Good news is, i got a decent raise, so more Jeep parts!

 

W00t!

 

Yeah, getting a promotion you thought would never happen, PLUS get offered to rent a place to live in a very convenient location for a nice deal, its been hectic.

My game plan for the moment is to get the motor mounts fixed, then i can install the new fan shroud, which will make the trans fluid cooler more effective, which means i can also flush and refil the tranny fluid and fix the leak. also in there i should be able to flush/drain/refill the coolant. once im done rooting around up front i'll install the skids.

This on top of changing the headlight housings and oil, which is a bit overdue.

 

So while messing around checking on brake light bulbs, i realized the factory fogs take an H3 bulb.. and are replaceable.
I went to dissasemble the passenger side light which wasblown, and once i got the cover off i see how rusted it is inside. now i REALLY hate to buy a set of them new if i ust need a bulb, and i dont want to by one because the one that does run appears to have some spray pain overspray on it.

so theres that, and lighting updates should be soon.nice to see things really about to take off.

 

Hey all, still not dead.
As it turns out, getting a promotion, having your grandparents (most of the only "family" you have) move to Florida, and also moving yourself, is a heaping barrel of crap to have go on at once.

Ive finally gotten things settled down enough to do something new to the Cherokee.

So, i got some things from Amazon and Qtec. Surprisingly, the Qtec stuff showed up faster then Prime! Hella E-code housings, some replacement fog lamp assemblies, and replacement tranny and motor mounts.
to install when the weather breaks- the E-Codes, and fog light assemblies, and fix the crappy splices i did the first time i fixed the fog switch.

the plan is once i see how the headlights throw light, and how the factory style fog lamps do, then make my decision on upgraded bulbs, higher wattage for the H4s and possibly a yellow H3 for the fogs.

I might get lazy and let someone else do the mounts for me. In the meantime im pondering H3 bulbs. Im not sure any higher wattage than 55 would be so good on the stock wiring, but perhaps i can ust find some better performing bulbs. (thus the yellow)

 

Hey man, glad to see you're still around. Definitely understand what it's like when life gets busy. Congrats on the promotion, btw!

 

Just finished up fixing the splices for the fog lamp switch. im going to have to go back in and do an even better fix in the future, i figure, but at least now the things should work the right way again.

If it wasnt wet as heck outside id go ahead and install the fogs real quick before i go do some errands, but...
i really think having a garage would be nice!

 

So here, i'll toss up some pics.

Soon i'll get a comparison shot at the same place i took the pics when i added the harness.
I plan to get hella 80/100s for the headlights and now that i see what the fogs do, the optilux 55w H3s.

the pattern on these housings are much more crisp and useful than the Nighthawks where. im pleased thus far

 

Well i think we have our first little issue here.

For about two weeks now the battery gauge would sometimes Just instantly drop to zero, almost like turning off a switch. However it still ran fine, everything worked, and i could verify it still had power via the OBD-II. Once even, i started the thing, watched the voltage via Piston and it hovered around 11.5-12v right after startup, as i drove away from work the gauge went to zero but the reading in Piston remained the same. once i drove for a little bit, the reading in piston climbed to 13.8-14v and remained there.

Seeing this i figured the gauge was faulty. Well last night i think i was wrong, since she started running low on electric on my way home (it was getting dark, too!) and ended up stopping a short walk from my house. A Jump with my brother's Yota and she started right up, Piston read 12.5v, then i quickly drove it the rest of the way home, by which time Piston read 9.4v.

So here in a little bit im going to go out and check the serp belt (maybe its getting crappy and slipped?)and the alternator lead to the battery (the terminals on this thing where crap when i got it, so maybe the leads came loose from the new terminals?)

If not those, Im thinking its the alternator itself?

 

Just gave it a look over. all connections seem tight, the terminals dont appear too corroded. She started (you could tell the battery was a bit low though) and the gauge went to zero. i didnt bother checking with Piston.

No trouble code given. I cant seem to find my multimeter, of course, so i cant manually test the voltage.

At this rate, i think im going to call a local shop that has done auto electric work for decades, and see how much an alternator rebuild cost.

though im wondering... true to the old adage of "if you replace, might as well upgrade", im wondering if i could get them to get a few more amps out of mine (its the 117a) or if i am having one rebuilt, simply get a 136a from the boneyard and have them rebuild it? of course id need to make modifications... Was there one that produced more power than the 117 but didnt require the grinding?

 

I called the local shop i mentioned, they said 75-80 bucks to rebuild the alternator.
I went to start taking it out when i found i was missing my 15mm socket... so after all that fiasco, i went to my mom's house to raid my dad's old tools, which where also terribly out of place.

I came back and i swear a gorilla must have put the tensioner pulley bolt on. as much of a struggle as it was to get off, the bottom two alternator bolts wont budge no matter what i do, so i Just called it quits for the night. tomorrow, if it isnt raining too badly, i'll get the torch and try heating it up.

This is why i hate working on sh.... crap. seems like every bolt i go to turn is seized or tries to round off.

 

I've done it.
I'll drop it off at the shop in the morning, have them test it of course. May as well do the battery as well.

It was even difficult to get the thing off the mount it was so tight.

 

Not to my knowledge. The grinding isn't a real big deal though. You don't even have to grind that much, to be honest.

 

Alternator went back on easier than it came off! always a good thing!!
well, it was fun trying to play tetris and get it back up in there from beneath

Started right up and the voltage gauge is working properly again, and verified it with Piston. I have to say i am very impressed by the local shop, it cost me 85 dollars for the alternator to be rebuilt, and he tested it beforehand as well as my battery for free. All in one business day!


I was also to take some pictures of the new light output. once i reach the "final" stage with the higher output bulbs, ill make a big unified infographic with all of the stages combined for easier viewing.
You have first the GE Nighthawk sealed low beams with the upgraded harness, then with the Hella E-codes. Next are the same, but for the high beams.

I really like these conversion housings, the cutoff is very sharp and the shape of it is nice so that low beams are pretty much all you need. the light is also more uniform and has less 'dead spots' in it. Because of this picture ive noticed that the light they output appears to be whiter as well- but that could be my phone.

 

Oh, and for anyone who didnt have factory fog lamps, and was wondering how they work... (i know, i was in the same boat as you)

Here are how the factory style fogs output on their own. Please note that these are a replacement and not actually factory, but they are the same.
They put out more light in person than would appear, enough to drive with them alone, albeit slowly. But that's all they where intended for- slow going.
I might take a few pictures this evening to better illustrate my point. they seem to throw a beam maybe two carlengths ahead?

I'm planning to replace the bulbs with some yellow 55w ones from Hella. If i get a tad more out of them i think they will suit my purposes (Inclement weather, details on tricky terrain, leaving my friend's cul-de-sac in the wee hours without having to blast the neighbors with my headlights, ect)


I should also mention that, especially with the harness and E-codes, it serves absolutely no purpose to have the fogs and low beams on at the same time. Unless you only want to look cool to oncoming traffic. They might cover some of the foreground when the high beams are on, but i havent modded mine yet to run the highs and fogs at once.
I think i have a loose wire in the fog switch though, sometimes they dont want to come on and it makes my high beams 'stick' (they wont turn back to low). I know this is the typical 97+ thing but it wasnt doing it before.