97 wrangler charging problem??
cal
miles from home, he noticed that the alternator dash gauge was only
showing about 9 volts. The further he drove, the lower the gauge
moved. Everything electrical just slowed down/dimmed until
everything, including the engine, died. I met him about 10 miles from
home, hooked up jumper cables, charged his battery for about ten
minutes, Had to do this 3 times, but we eventually got him home, each
time between charging everything just slowing to a stop. So,
obviously no alternator output. Took the alternator off today and had
it tested at autozone, and the alternator checks OK. So, I come home
and look for any obvious blown fuses and can't find any. The belt
was tight and not slipping. Some mild corrosion perhaps on one of the
alternator wires, (what looks like one of the ground wires, but there
appears to be two ground wires on the alternator but i might be
wrong.) My luck is, I think this jeep's voltage regulator is on the
computer. Is there anything else i'm missing?
thanks
cal
Will Honea
You say you checked the fuses but did you really test the fuse LINK inline
between the alternator and the battery? Should be a relatively fat
colored segment of wire. It will be more flexible than the rest of the
output wire from the alternator. Those things break by opening up, usually
right at the crimp between the cable and the link or at the lug near the
battery.
--
Will Honea
Will Honea
You might consider a portable battery pack for him - Harbor Freight has one
for under $40 that I've used for several years. Sealed battery, holds a
charge really well and has been really useful around here. No jumper
cables to mess with, just clamp it on and go. Makes a good "stocking
stuffer".
--
Will Honea
cal
>
> - Show quoted text -
I didn't check the link, didn't know it existed. so its in the cable
somewhere between the alternator and battery? I guess it could be
checked just using a meter? I'll try following the cable and see if I
can find the link.
thanks
cal
DougW
First thing I'd check is dead battery or battery cell.
A dead cell can draw down the alternator so much it just
can't keep up. Pepboys/Autozone can test the battery as
well.
--
DougW
cal
wrote:
>
> - Show quoted text -
I'm planning to try charging the battery tonight, and getting it
tested tomorrow. It's only about 4 months old, but I know it could
still be faulty.
thanks
cal
cal
>
> - Show quoted text -
While checking ground wires, i noticed the battery ground/alternator
ground/and two other ground wires that come together at the engine are
loose on the block. The way it is put together, the wires are
actually tight against each other, but the stud into the block is
loose on the block. (This stud also holds the dipstick tube..) I
don't know if this would matter since the wires are actually together
tight. I will clean all these 4 connectors, tighten the stud in the
block, and then reassemble. Any chance this could be the reason the
alternator doesn't seem to work? (I checked the same ground on my 97
GC and it is very tight against the block.)
thanks
cal
RoyJ
has a solid ground through a wire, it SHOULD work. But if the case is
not properly grounded to the engine and then to the battery, the voltage
seen by the regulator will float up, shuts off the alternator output.
A lot of speculation, just get things properly grounded and try again.
cal
Thanks for all the replies. Too dark and cold outside now, so will
try again tomorrow afternoon.
cal
Will Honea
> While checking ground wires, i noticed the battery ground/alternator
> ground/and two other ground wires that come together at the engine are
> loose on the block. The way it is put together, the wires are
> actually tight against each other, but the stud into the block is
> loose on the block. (This stud also holds the dipstick tube..) I
> don't know if this would matter since the wires are actually together
> tight. I will clean all these 4 connectors, tighten the stud in the
> block, and then reassemble. Any chance this could be the reason the
> alternator doesn't seem to work? (I checked the same ground on my 97
> GC and it is very tight against the block.)
> thanks
Gotta by an inline 6 - that @#$%^&* stud is a flaming bitch to work with!
You'll need two wrenches or a wrench plus a good pair of vice grips and
some luck since just trying to tighten it with the wires tight can twist
and break the wires attached to it. You may be able to tighten it back into
the block using the outside nut but I usually have to manage to get hold of
the stud behind the connector lugs and loosen the nut off to get the stud
tight. PITA!
Quick test: run your jumper cables between the battery negative and the
engine block. If that gets the alternator up, then you found the problem.
I forgot about that - my last bout with your problem was the fuse link but
I've seen that stud loose before as well.
--
Will Honea
DougW
> While checking ground wires, i noticed the battery ground/alternator
> ground/and two other ground wires that come together at the engine are
> loose on the block. The way it is put together, the wires are
> actually tight against each other, but the stud into the block is
> loose on the block.
If you can, reattach those to the bolt that holds the coil to the block.
Or the point just forward of the passenger side motor mount. I've started
to put in a seperate ground strap for every I6 I help someone with as that
is the #1 cause of engine problems.
This might cause some problems but genrally not charging ones. Floating
ground to the block usually results in wild sensor/dtc errors and rough
idle.
--
DougW
cal
wrote:
Thanks for all the replies! I'm not sure what the problem was, but
the alternator is charging fine now. Cleaned all connections to the
alternator, and fixed the ground problem. Just had autozone test the
charging system/battery, and everything is good.
thanks again
cal
Will Honea
> While checking ground wires, i noticed the battery ground/alternator
> ground/and two other ground wires that come together at the engine are
> loose on the block. The way it is put together, the wires are
> actually tight against each other, but the stud into the block is
> loose on the block. (This stud also holds the dipstick tube..) I
> don't know if this would matter since the wires are actually together
> tight. I will clean all these 4 connectors, tighten the stud in the
> block, and then reassemble. Any chance this could be the reason the
> alternator doesn't seem to work? (I checked the same ground on my 97
> GC and it is very tight against the block.)
> thanks
Gotta by an inline 6 - that @#$%^&* stud is a flaming bitch to work with!
DougW
> Gotta by an inline 6 - that @#$%^&* stud is a flaming bitch to work
> with! You'll need two wrenches or a wrench plus a good pair of vice
> grips and some luck since just trying to tighten it with the wires
> tight can twist and break the wires attached to it. You may be able
> to tighten it back into the block using the outside nut but I usually
> have to manage to get hold of the stud behind the connector lugs and
> loosen the nut off to get the stud tight. PITA!
Wonder if it would be easier to fabricate a new ground jumper and use the
engine motor mount bolt. Some of those blocks also have additional
mounting locations on the block that just need tapping (or might already
be tapped)
That or threaded rod, run it down into the hole then use a jam nut over a
split washer to lock it in. Then bolt down the ground straps to that.
A tiny bit of locktight will help and won't hurt the connection. It moves
out of the way and most of your ground comes from clamping to the block.
--
DougW
Will Honea
That's close to what I do every time I have to pull one of those out. There
is one nut down near the block but the lugs on the wires seem determined to
freeze them between that and the top nut so the whole thing wants to turn.
I do two things, actually: Locktite red on the bottom part of the stud and
a lock washer under the lower nut. Still a PITA to get at but so far I
haven't had one back out on me a second time. Biggest problem is that this
stud is the primary ground for a bunch of secondary circuits so it affects
a bunch of things.
My motor mounts already have jumper straps across them - was that someone's
good idea or is it the normal practice?
--
Will Honea
DougW
> That's close to what I do every time I have to pull one of those out.
> There is one nut down near the block but the lugs on the wires seem
> determined to freeze them between that and the top nut so the whole
> thing wants to turn. I do two things, actually: Locktite red on the
> bottom part of the stud and a lock washer under the lower nut. Still
> a PITA to get at but so far I haven't had one back out on me a second
> time. Biggest problem is that this stud is the primary ground for a
> bunch of secondary circuits so it affects a bunch of things.
One of the nice things about working with threaded rod is you can use
vice grips to get it tightened in there then cut off the buggered up
threads. The hardware store has some (not sure what to call them)
but they look like threaded rod but have a hex socket in one end.
> My motor mounts already have jumper straps across them - was that
> someone's good idea or is it the normal practice?
Dunno. Usually the jumper is from the stud to the frame. Still though
it's not a bad idea. Next time I'm under the ZJ I'll add one to the
passenger side mount. Fairly easy to get at.
--
DougW