136 amp alternator, voltage regulator fitment issues?

Has any one else doing the 136 amp alternator upgrade had issues fitting the voltage regulator on the back of the 13387 alternator?

The first 13387 I picked up smoked and lit on fire within a minute of the starting the engine. The voltage regulator fit perfectly on the back of it. On the second replacement unit the voltage regulator does not line up correctly. After sliding it on the two posts in the middle of the back plate the left grounding lug sticks too far out to the left to go on. Since the left grounding lug is in a fixed position, I can't force it on. It looks like I can widen the hole on the lug and get it to fit. Has any one tried this?

I really don't want to remove both of those alternator brackets again to remove yet another alternator just to try my luck with one from a store further away. Three of the local stores are now out of stock because of this fiasco.

ive done a few alternator swaps, but ive NEVER had to mess with any voltage regulators, nor sparks... what exactly are you trying to do? and to what? (what year? i assume renix?)

hmm on the newer xj's that were externally regulated my durano 160amp went right in (clearanced bracket).. I've hears the g.c. One does too is that the 136amp?.

on the older ones you can have them rewound at an alternator shop for more amps.. Which I was told I couldn't do with my newer denso in the 97plus

xcm said:

ive done a few alternator swaps, but ive NEVER had to mess with any voltage regulators, nor sparks... what exactly are you trying to do? and to what? (what year? i assume renix?)

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1996 Jeep Cherokee 4.0L

I am putting the ZJ 5.9 136 amp alternator in there. I have the brackets clearanced to accept the alternator already. The first alternator I tried was bad out of the box.(The box was suspect as being tried already. Roughed up, instructions not in packaging, no padding.) The second one matches the first, sort of. The nuts on the regulator studs are larger than 7mm and do not line up normally.

I managed to wiggle the thing into place with some persuasion. Now I have to figure out why it is not charging.

Alexia said:

1996 Jeep Cherokee 4.0L

I am putting the ZJ 5.9 136 amp alternator in there. The nuts on the regulator studs are larger than 7mm and do not line up normally.

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The ZJ 136A alternator is just about a plug and play.
The only modifications that I needed to do were to radius the steel and aluminum brackets to accomodate the larger alternator case, swap the output stud insulator from the old alternator to the new alternator due to the locating pin on the back of the insulator and swap the pulley from old to new due to the difference in pulley diameter (if you use the new larger pulley it will slow the alternator speed to engine speed). The wire(s) that connect on the back towards the bottom of the alternator are the electrical system reference voltage for the ECM to regulate system voltage. The is no need to install an additional voltage regulator.

CharlesS said:

The ZJ 136A alternator is just about a plug and play.
The only modifications that I needed to do were to radius the steel and aluminum brackets to accomodate the larger alternator case, swap the output stud insulator from the old alternator to the new alternator due to the locating pin on the back of the insulator and swap the pulley from old to new due to the difference in pulley diameter (if you use the new larger pulley it will slow the alternator speed to engine speed). The wire(s) that connect on the back towards the bottom of the alternator are the electrical system reference voltage for the ECM to regulate system voltage. The is no need to install an additional voltage regulator.

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This particular remanufactured alternator's back cover is in fact just slightly out of alignment. The good news is that I did make it work.

Looks like my original stock alternator was perfectly fine. The auto parts store guy even messed up testing it properly which I realize now. Whatever, I have an upgraded alternator!

Also, I found the issue with the charging system of the temporary fix I put in place. The previous owner cut the green output cable at the PDC. I had no idea what the weird wire lug to no where was for so I had just tossed it in my spare parts box! The fusible link is fine so I put it back together with a wire nut as a temporary fix.