Arrg !! Darn Jeeps. Just when I thought it was ready...

After spending a complete day running back and forth to BMV and the insurance to get her legal......
I just finished everything up, test drove around the neighborhood and started stopped in drive, let it sit a day or two and then...... I went out yesterday to take her (87 XJ) to the gas station for some good go go juice she is dead. Ok, just a dead battery no problem, I jump it, it starts, great I am happy. Not really I switch on the wipers and they barely move. I turn on the headlights hit the brights and it acts as it's going to die. Spits and sputters, bla bla bla. Ok so I then try the blower motor and again it spits and aputters. It does run fine when everything is off.
As I look around the dash I see I have absolutly NO charge on my ampmeter. Oh looky wonderful ! I say, I have no alternater. GREAT ! Not only is it 35 degrees and rainy but it's out of garage and I have to change a alternater.
OK, I've done worse things in worse places so I jump in head first, start pulling things, pull battery , got the first bolt out of the what appears to be original alternater, move to the lower bolt and BAM ! Looky here its rounded! That is the point I decided to stop. I guess I wont be driving it to X-mass.

That's why you should always have a back-up XJ.
Happy Happy. :woohoo:

Hey Mark ... I know the frustration. Been there several times with many vehicles since my teen years. Just try to be patient and remember it is not the vehicles fault. I assume you bought your Jeep used ... the previous owner left the bad bolt in there when it should have been replaced. Remember this whenever you work on this Jeep and always try do the job right. Replace bolts that are bad, and never force anything together. Do plenty of research before starting a project and, if possible, get yourself a FSM so you have it available for reference. I read a piece of advise once that made a lot of sense ; it was "buy tools, not labor". Having the correct tools is everything. This will make your life soooo much easier in the future when you have to go back and work on it again.

I've got a 15 year old son who is just getting started on his own vehicle. He gets frustrated sometimes and I give him the same advice. I know this post does not help much, but hope you have good luck and get it repaired before Christmas.

Les