connolcj

So I have been researching doing the 98 ZJ alternator upgrade and I have a few questions. The alternator just went out in my 1993 XJ with 178,000 miles on it. I want to go to the 134 amp ZJ alternator but I couldnt find anywhere if i need an external voltage regulator or not. I wasnt sure what years require it or not. I have the alternator off and the brackets that will need to be ground down. Also wheres the best place to pick up one of the ZJ alternators. Id like to get a new one preferably from a local auto parts store and we have the common ones in town i.e. Auto Zone, Advance, Napa, Oreilys. Also is there a good write up somewhere as to upgrading the wiring too for the alternator/battery/ground connections. Thanks in advance for the help.

Gee oh Dee

External regulators were used after 1991.

connolcj

Ok so does the 98 zj upgrade just bolt on with a little grinding to the brackets? Also what's the best way to upgrade the wiring?

5-90

The Nippondenso alternator (Jeep, 1991-up) uses an external regulator. The regulator circuit is in the PCM, and will answer to pretty much any alternator you give it.

Wiring upgrade? Link in sig.

Gee oh Dee

X2 on the wire upgrade...

connolcj

How well will the stock wires hold up for a short period of time. Im at school right now and i dont really want to tear the wiring out in a parking lot. It wouldn't be more than a month with the stock wires on. Thanks

connolcj

Anyone know how well they hold up I need to get her back on the road ASAP. Thanks

5-90

The job isn't that difficult - it can be done easily with hand tools. And, search for a very recent thread by "bimmerjeeper" - he just did the job, I'd answered a load of questions for him and his thread is more detailed than my instruction sheet (for the basic install. It's not that much extra to install the fuse kit, which you'll also want to do.)

You can use the OEM wiring with the upgraded alternator for a while - but there's a good chance you'll blow the fuses/fusible link if you go to full alternator output for any real length of time. 10AWG fusible link wire is difficult to find, I don't suggest installing larger MAXI fuses for OBD-I. (Simply increasing the size of the fuse is not an effective upgrade - and is an unsafe practice in the bargain! If you're going to move more current, you'll need larger wiring. Think of electrical current as water, and the wires as hoses. It's an inexact analogy, but it will suffice if you don't want a course in beginning electrical technology...)

connolcj

Do i need to grind down some of the block when installing the zj alternator? I plan on buying the wire upgrade next week. 5-90 do you think if I ordered them today if have them sometime early next week? I'm located in Indiana.

Gee oh Dee

Should only have to grind some of the bracket.

BimmerJeeper

Why are you doing an alternator upgrade? What's wrong with stock?

5-90

- Some people have requirements greater than OEM.
- Some people expect to have requirements greater than OEM.
- Some people expect a more robust replacement part to last longer than OEM (and rightly so.)

There are a number of reasons. For me? Good enough - isn't.

BimmerJeeper

If I am going to replace the alternator anyway, I might as well do the upgrade, right? Which alternator do we need to order?

connolcj

Yeah thats why I upgraded mine went out and i needed to replace it so i went ahead and upgraded. I went to Auto Zone and picked up a 98 ZJ 4x4 alternator from the 5.2 V8 version. Make sure it is the 134 Amp version too. It was about $120 out the door because i had some credit on my rewards card.

Soon im going to order the wire upgrade from 5-90 that listed in his signature.

5-90

I believe I've posted donor lists here (along with Cham/Lestr part numbers, which are good anywhere,) so see if you can't dig it up.

Now that my wife's working again, I should get more free time, and I can finally do a comprehensive list and code it into HTML for my site update...