Moving Alternator to A/C location

[curtis1620]

I have a 1994 Jeep Cherokee 4.0L. Originally came with A/C however it has been removed. The compressor was replaced with a Idler Pulley.

A few weeks ago I got her stuck in some DEEP mud and ended up getting the Alternator wet....Resulting in a fried alternator. I replaced the alternator with a mean green high amp model in the same location as the original.

Now I am wondering... Is it possible to move the alternator to higher ground by installing it in the location previously used by the A/C compressor?

Has anyone done something like this? or have any opinions on the matter?

Thanks!

 

[thechief86]

can you weld? it is possible to make a bracket to raise the alternator, and also move that idler pulley to where the alternator was. i have crapped out a couple of alternators that way meself, but i like my a/c, so i don't wanna go through all that.

 

[curtis1620]

I can... was looking for something a little easier if possible. LOL

 

[joe_peters]

Lots of threads on here re: alternator relocation, for both early Renix and later models, just make sure when you do the search you don't start planning for the wrong year.

 

[ehall]

There's no off-the-shelf fix. You need to fabricate a bracket for the alternator, as well as an idler pulley for where it used to sit. If you get rid of the mechanical fan, you can use the ZJ/TJ/WJ brackets, since those used the water pump and did not have a separate fan pulley.

 

[curtis1620]

mechanical fan is already gone. ill look into that.

 

[ehall]

well in that case ... remove the A/C and alternator brackets and the fan pulley and switch the layout. The ZJ and pre-200 TJ is probably the simplest since it has the alternator and A/C up high but they are still on the same side of the engine.

I don't know if there is an A/C delete pulley for this setup but I would assume so since it was common option for the Wrangler. There might also be a problem with battery fitment--I have the brackets here but have not installed yet since I have not eliminated the mechanical fan yet.

The WJ and 2k-TJ moved the A/C over to the other side of the engine which introduced all kinds of issues (different water pump to clear the compressor, etc), but I like that layout the best and may use parts of it for my project.

 

[curtis1620]

maybe i'm missing something here... How does removing the fan do anything? the fan was attached to the waterpump pulley, which obviously is still there. The layout above is exactly what mine looks like. anyone hve a diagram of the tj layout? or is that the same?

 

[ehall]

Better look under the hood again, the XJ has an offset fan pulley that is separate from the waterpump. This is because the XJ has two fans (one mechanical and one electric), so the mechanical fan had to be moved to the side. Here are diagrams of the 91-95 and 96+ belt routings, note the "FAN" pulley

The other 4.0 engine platforms only had one fan so they were able to use the water pump to drive the fan directly.

The TJ layout is basically the same as the ZJ layout until 1999 or 2000, then the WJ and TJ adopted this layout with the A/C compressor on the driver side.

As already stated this affects a lot of stuff and it is the most difficult to implement.

 

[curtis1620]

OH! ok, now i get it! thank you!