Infectious Off-Road.com

Ok so here is the deal... We took the ZJ offraoding with Mickey and at the end of the night I had now power coming from the alternator. The voltage meter was reading nothing. So we use another jeep and jumped my car to his and let his jeep kinda charge my battery so I could get it home. After getting home i went through everything determining the alternator was bad. Took the alternator off and ran to autozone and had them test it. I found out that the alternator was charging but the leads for the Voltage regulator were bad. So $114 bucks later I was walking out with a new alternator. I went home and put the new one on. Turn the car on and still no power... Looked at the fuses and Alt Power 1 was completely fried to the point it was melted and Alt power 2 had just poped. I replaced both maxi fuses and started it up... At first I had a low reading at about 9 volts then the power started to kreep up. When I drive it around it sits at about 14 volts. Which was normal before this all happened. BUT, whenever I turn on a load like headlights or the blower motor it drains the piss out of the alternator. So if I am driving and have my headlights on it is ok but if I hit the brakes and turn on the brake lights or if I turn on the Heater the power drops down to almost 9 volts. I also installed a new battery and the same thing happens. I did notice however that the new alternator chirps really bad when I put it under a load, like the head lights, until it reaches back up to 14 volts. Is it possible that the "New" alternator is bad as well???

Please, if anyone has any input let me know. I am at a lost. I have been checking ground wires and everything. I have no ideas anymore.


Thanks, Trevor

Was the new battery fully charged when you put it in? If it isn't then the altenator is trying to charge the battery and run every thing else at same time. Since you had the fried fuzes maybe there is still a short somewhere draining your power too. Did you ever figure out why the fuzes had blown or melted? That could be why the first alternator died.

[quote="Jeremy"]Was the new battery fully charged when you put it in? If it isn't then the altenator is trying to charge the battery and run every thing else at same time. Since you had the fried fuzes maybe there is still a short somewhere draining your power too. Did you ever figure out why the fuzes had blown or melted? That could be why the first alternator died.[/quote]
i think if you find out what fryed your fuzes, you will find out what fryed the leads to you regulator

the only thing I kind find that may have fried the fuzes is the voltage regulator. All of the wiring seems fine from the fuzes out...

[quote="t_long927"]the only thing I kind find that may have fried the fuzes is the voltage regulator. All of the wiring seems fine from the fuzes out...[/quote]
maybe they didn't give you the right Amp output they might have giving you a smaller one

Or it could be just as simple as a bad alternator... lol I have had 2 brand new alternators from autozone that where bad from the start. So it happens... you could always drive it there and have them come out and load test both the alternator and battery for you. This way they don't give you any trouble changing it and if you want leave the heater and lights on when they do it lol

Yeah I think I am going to run to autozone today and have them do that...

[quote="Mickey"]Or it could be just as simple as a bad alternator... lol I have had 2 brand new alternators from autozone that where bad from the start. So it happens... you could always drive it there and have them come out and load test both the alternator and battery for you. This way they don't give you any trouble changing it and if you want leave the heater and lights on when they do it lol[/quote]
good info Henry

[quote]ran to autozone [/quote]

That is your problem. Their rebuilt alternators are not ver good. Some times the new ones aren't very good. Take it back and get another alternator.

Update.......
I took the Battery off and took it to autozone to have them load test it and possibly charge it. Well they said it was fully charged and the problem wasn't there. They said pull off the alternator and they will try it again. The ASE certified dummy at the count, he had an ASE pin on his shirt, Said that the alternator has to be defective becasue there is no other explanation. So I went home lossed the PS pump and noticed that the Serp belt was LOOOOOSSEEE. WTF? So I tightened it up real good. Started up the truck and BAM it worked.... I turned on all my AUX lights, blower motor, high beams, and it stayed at 14V.

So what have I learned??? Even if it seems like something as easy as tightening up your serp belt... Always double check your buddy's work.