alternator or bad ground??

My 93 cherokee isn't charging my battery, so I ordered a 120 amp alternator. Anyway today I was doing a little work and noticed that the braided strap that grounds the engine to the fire wall is barely together, could this be the charging problem?

Also anyone have experiece with the 120 amp bosch alternator from advance?

It would screw up the meter reading.

yeah the meter reading was down but when it was...I'm pretty sure the battery was low...also the jeep would not start

so your saying its probably just a bad alt???


I went wheeling last weekend and had the jeep in a mud hole up to the parklights and I just figured that killed my alternator until I seen that partially broken strap.

Change it anyhow (I make them...) because it's completing the ground loop between the engine and the chassis.

Since the SBEC is grounded to the chassis, and half of the sensors are grounded to the engine, it could screw things up...

As far as the alternator goes, it may have been killed by submersion in "dirty" water. Since most water we're likely to drive through had mud, dirt, silt, and sand in it, it can get into the brushes and cause premature wear - and it can also cause them to stick and lose contact, if it gets in there right. If you go fording, it's a good idea to flush the alternator and starter with clean water (the starter isn't as big a problem, but why wait?) once you're clear. I don't recall if the engine should be running or not when you do this - I'll have to find out for myself anyhow (I don't usually ford anything.)

Bosch? My experience with them overall has been good, but that's with electronics and sensors. I usually get my alternators and starters done locally by a small shop (see my website,) that does good work, and I've never needed his warranty. Chain stores that offer a "Lifetime Warranty" do so for a reason - you'll use it. Having wasted 3.5 years behind the counter at Kragen's, I can attest that their return rate on alternators and starters was, at the time, somewhere around 60%.

Take this as you will.

5-90

thanks...

I don't think the grounding strap is my charging problem even though I'm going to fix it.

I knew deep mud and water could kill a alternator but I didn't know you could clean it out...I'll keep that in mind next time I do a little wheeling. I think I'm also going to make some kind of alternator shield...to keep water from splashing up to it when going through shallow water.

As for the Bosch...I've always recieved good products from them so far, thats basically why I went with them. Also they are pretty much the only place I could find online that sold the 120 amp for the cherokee. Summit sold them but for the 87-90 models...they also had a 140 amp for the 90-01 but it was like $400 which I wasn't willing to spend.

If you find out wether you have to clean out the alternator when the engine is on or off just let me know, thanks

Ummm....

http://www.geocities.com/JeepI6Power/sjgprice.html

Description Part Number Current Output Part Price
4.0 Starter - All Years #17006 N/A $85.00
Delco SI Alternator #7273 78A @ 14VDC $65.00
Delco SI Alternator #7294 94A @ 14VDC $85.00
Delco CS Alternator #7902 100A @ 14VDC $85.00
Delco CS Alternator #7902-140A 140A @ 14VDC $140.00
Nippondenso Alternator #13341 90A @ 14VDC $110.00
Nippondenso Alternator #13341-130A 130A @ 14VDC $125.00

Granted, I haven't put any search metas in yet, so I don't know if Google will turn it up, but this is from a site I built for the shop that I use - since I talked him into doing mail-order.

It's a little funky from the "cut-and-paste," but click the link and you'll see it in the clear. You're interested in the Nippondenso units - the Delcos are for earlier rigs (1990 and back.)

5-90

Hey Jon, I have a 130 amp alternator sitting in my spare parts box waiting for me to install it. Do you know where I can buy direct replacement upgraded alternator cables? What would you recommend? I'm not very good when it comes to electrics and you seem to be expert in that area.

What year, and what is available to you locally?

I don't know what your resources are there in Araby, but I'd imagine you'd have something available, just from all the oil fields. If you can find a welder and give him measurements, you should be able to get something made (since you'd probably have to pay tariffs if you order from me. I don't mind doing the customs paperwork, but duties are your issue. Do you still have that maildrop in NYC?)

You can check my website to see if I have measurement for your year already - no sense reinventing the wheel if you don't have to. If you still have the NYC maildrop, we can work something out where you don't have to find a welder (since he'd have access to the heavy-duty cable and crimping tools,) or track down material - it's up to you.

I haven't been that way since 1991, so any information I might be able to dig up would be woefully out of date...

Bear in mind, tho, that if you get upgraded alternator cables, you'll be bypassing the OEM fuze protection in the PDC. I'm working on a solution using an ANL fuze instead, or you can run wild and eliminate the fuze entirely (I've done it on all four of my RENIX rigs with no ill effects for several years, but I've got to leave it ENTIRELY up to you, the legal climate being what it is...)

However, if you're not going to use full output all the time, it may not be much of an issue. Gimme yer year, I'll see if I have an FSM, and run down the gage of the wire to see what it can handle.

5-90

Dr. Dyno said:

Hey Jon, I have a 130 amp alternator sitting in my spare parts box waiting for me to install it. Do you know where I can buy direct replacement upgraded alternator cables? What would you recommend? I'm not very good when it comes to electrics and you seem to be expert in that area.

Click to expand...

I highly recommend Jeepers and Creepers heavy duty power cables. They are a little expensive, but well worth it in my opinion. Oh I would also recommend the quick battery disconnects. One of the best purchases I've made yet.
http://www.jeepersandcreepers.com/gear/pages/powercable.htm

Oh, yeah, they're spendy! I use 1 gage, which is more than adequate for our purposes, and you'll get a "quick-disconnect" out of the deal from using marine-style battery clamps (if you can get them locally, great! If you can't, or don't have the time, orjust can't be arsed, I carry brass marine-style battery clamps for $5 per pair - see my website for pix and details.)

I also use welding cable, rather than battery cable (which it looks like in the pic,) which features finer strands - increasing ampacity and flexibility - and heavy-duty chemical- and heat-resistant neoprene insulation.

I also pack the crimped terminals with corrosion inhibitor, and use cold-shring tape and heat-shrink tubing to seal the ends. I've had one sitting in a bucket of salt water for the last year, and I've yet to see any signs of intrusion/corrosion when I check cable resistance.

A couple points should be noted -
J & C does two or three cables for that price - they don't do replacement alternator leads.
Replacing the alternator lead will result in removal of an OEM circuit protection device - so you do so at your own risk. Where I have measurements, I offer two kits - with and without the alternator output lead. I am working on a kit solution using an ANL fuze (the large wafer style,) and I will offer it when I've got useful measurements.
My kits also provide a replacement ground strap, from the cylinder head to the firewall - which is important for RENIX (pre-1991) applications, since the ground strap going silly will cause no end of trouble, which can be difficult to locate if you don't take a larger view of the problem.

Questions may be directed to me via PM, or to JeepI6Power AT yahoo DOT com, and many are already answered on the website. I'm working on the next round of updates to the tech archives, and I'll be answering more questions on the site as well (since I do keep track of what I'm asked, so I can make things easier to find out for everyone...)

5-90

Edit - oops, I just took another look. They do use welding cable! My fault, I missed it... My apologies.

5-90

Aww crap. For some reason I could have sworn that the J & C cables upgraded the alternator wiring. Sorry about that. It's been awhile since I installed them.

Thanks Jon and Joecool.
I've already added extra ground cables (home fabbed using welding cable) from the block to the firewall and from the head to the battery.
I would like to add a ground cable from alternator to battery and upgrade the battery cables themselves. I also like the idea of battery quick disconnects. I'd rather not change the alternator charging cable if it means losing the OEM fuse in the PDC.
My Jeep's a '92 XJ 4.6 stroker and I do still have a NYC mailbox but it's not the same one that I had when I was in Saudi.
Let me know what you can supply and how much it'll cost. You can send me a PM. I might also consider buying welding cable and making my own items if it's not too difficult. I'll just need to know what gauge cable to use and what type of connectors are needed. I can easily find a lot of parts locally to fab stuff.

I fabed my own out of Locomotive cable, actualy even better than welding cable.