This sux!

Well we are down to one vehicle now since we got rid of our car. The XJ has been running great and I have been replacing things off and on during ownership. Most items did not need to be replaced but I wanted new or better stuff. Anyway last week my alternator started to show a low charge. At idle the turn signals were weak or would not blink but everything else worked fine. Go above 1000rpm and the needle would go back to 14vdc and everything worked fine. I figured the alternator would need to be replaced sometime in the next 1 to 4 months. Well today I get in the XJ and the needle is down at the bottom of the scale. I drive to school and my blinkers are not working and the wipers are dead slow. Reving the engine doesnt do anything. I get home from school around 1pm and pull out the DMM. Voltage across the battery is between 12.5-13.0vdc. With the engine running it drops down to 11vdc and maybe down into the 10's. My headlamps dont do the usual dim bright thing... they continue to be ok for now. But everything else suffers. Here is the part that sux. I just got down paying school and other bills. I dont get paid until next friday and I am pretty positive this alternator is going to crap out on me sometime in the next day or two. I can't afford more then 15 bucks... what I am thinking about doing in trying to see if I can just change out the brushes. I have done this on other vehicles in the past and it did the job. I am hoping it will work on my XJ. I can get a set of brushes for 6 bucks. I havent pulled an alternator on an XJ before. I notice the dang thing is burried below the AC.. I am hoping it wont take more then ten minutes to pull it, another 20 to replace the brushes, and another 15 or so to put it back in... some maybe 40 to 60 minutes total? What do you guys think?
I would love to just replace it with a new one... anyway Im stuck for now...

payday next friday

visa man comes next month - whats the problem again?

It may not be the brushes I have seen this many times in the past and what it sounds like is a bad diode in the alternator this is not something you want to change I think that replacing the alternator is what your going to need to do. I would hate to see you do all that work for nothing. Good Luck

ahh dont have a visa...

Well I got out of school this afternoon, went to talk with student housing. When I got back out to the parking lot the XJ was dead. The alternator is toast. Office lady gave me a jump start and I was able to get home (three blocks down the road). I'm a disabled Vet. So I went ahead and called my VA counselor and she made arrangements for a new alternator. I have to pay it off in three months but at least she took care of me when I really needed help. So the XJ is back on the road waiting for the next thing to go wrong.