Battery discharges while my vehicle is running??

Ok, as some of you know my XJ was stolen this past week and wrecked so my CJ is my only vehicle. It's been having problems slowly draining the battery but this is what I found out tonight. I took it out to drive it around after I put in the battery from my XJ. It ran like a champ but as I drove it the headlights got dimmer and dimmer. After being on for about 2 hours I started losing spark and I had to pull over. I jumped it and it lasted maybe 5 minutes after that.

The alternator is most likely not the culprit. It's new enough that it sticks out like a sore thumb in that engine compartment. We're thinking it might be the voltage regulator, is that something to try? Also, where does the ground attach for the motor? I don''t see it on the wiring diagram.

 

put a volt meater on the bat with jeep running it should be 13.5 v to 15v. what alt. do you have some have internal regulators and some external?

 

Just because it's new doesn't mean the PO wired it correctly. Is it a newer Delco with the internal regulator, or older style with an external unit mounted to the pass side fender?

Ground should attach to the rear of the pass side cylinder head, then bonding strap to the firewall.

 

One of my friends looked at the alternator and said he's almost positive it's a ford alternator, he recognized the company.

 

The symptoms you describe definitely point to the alternator as the culprit.

 

Ok, I'll pull the alternator and take it in to an auto parts store to have it tested. Either it will eliminate that or I'll find my problem.

 

As I said, just because the alternator is new, and maybe working, doesn't mean it's wired correctly. You can have it tested, and it might check good, but you will still have the same problem if you wire it back up the same way. Can you take some pics of the back of the alt, and the wires running down to the starter solenoid, coil, and batt?

 

Sure, I'll have them up in about 2 hours hopefully. The jeep is parked at a friend's house because I couldn't get it all the way home. It just happens to be a friend with tons more tools then I do. R)

Strangely enough, he restores VW rabbits. I really don't know why...

 

That's the alternator, it says it is a Delco-Remy but has an Autolite sticker on it (betting it's a rebuild). The autolite sticker says pro-tech 7127-12m. The only wire connected was hooked to the red terminal on the back that you're seeing. There is an internal regulator on it with two tabs (labeled 1 and 2) but are not connected to anything.

My assumption is the voltage regulator needs to be hooked up to something. Does anybody have any input?

 

first off, do you know if it ever charged correctly in this CJ?

put it back in and start the engine. take a meter and read voltage across the battery, if you see anything less than 13V with the engine running, the alternator is not charging the battery. then it is either not wired correctly like mentioned above a few times, or the alt is not working.

 

First off, it's a Delco 10SI, not a Ford. If you Google "Delco 10SI diagram", it should return a bunch of good reading.

This is your problem. You are going to need to get a switched wire ran over to those tabs. Here is how it goes:




Here is a good link:
http://www.geocities.com/cantwait_forviolence/cj_alternator.html

 

Wow, I think those pictures explain what I need to change. We wired it up like it showed and it seems to be fine. I'll let you know if anything else comes up.

 

It's a Delco Remy, however Motorola and Motorcraft rebuild them for jeep applications for Checkers and them guys.