- Location
- In a strange land
Introducing "The Varmint-Mobile":
1997 Grand Cherokee Laredo, 4x4, 4.0L, slushbox, NP242.
$1,000.
Told it needs a new battery. Funny. It has a 2 year old NeverStart battery and a new alternator. Hmm...
Here is the new toy as it came home:
My initial suspicion on the battery situation was that the voltage regulator on the ECM bit the dust. When I drove the Jeep onto the car dolly I noticed that the voltage was low and that it didn't budge in the least when I revved the engine. So I ordered a stand-alone voltage regulator.
However, when perusing things at my leisure at home I noticed this little detail:
There isn't even half of that wire left to carry any current. And that is the wire that grounds to the engine block, hence the alternator. I have had experience with alternators not being properly grounded in the past. Powdercoating them has an impact on that detail. Took me a while to figure that one out. But this opens up a new and simple project for Varmints to learn. Lets fix these battery terminals.
I decided not to run new wires. The existing wires don't appear to be in poor condition. It is just their connection to their terminals that is suspect. And the terminals were nothing to be excited about either. So I decided to just put ends on the existing wires and run military terminals. That has become my standard setup. Wonderfully convenient for future maintenance or mods.
First step was putting new terminals on the ends of the old wires. I did the first wire and then put The Varmints to work on the rest:
One thing I like to do on new terminals is add a washer to go under the nut. This helps prevent the nut from getting buried in the lead terminal. Problem is, a washer doesn't quite fit right:
That is easily solved with a trip to the belt sander:
(Note: Those are 5/16" stainless washers. Stainless is nice because they are thinner.)
And this is how things look now:
I am not sure if that Varmint is trying to send me a message there or not...
At any rate, now when I start the Jeep the voltmeter immediately jumps up to a charging voltage and holds it. Hopefully this fixes the "needs a new battery" problem. Alternatively I am chasing an intermittent issue. Time will tell.
Next week we go after the cooling system.
1997 Grand Cherokee Laredo, 4x4, 4.0L, slushbox, NP242.
$1,000.
Told it needs a new battery. Funny. It has a 2 year old NeverStart battery and a new alternator. Hmm...
Here is the new toy as it came home:
My initial suspicion on the battery situation was that the voltage regulator on the ECM bit the dust. When I drove the Jeep onto the car dolly I noticed that the voltage was low and that it didn't budge in the least when I revved the engine. So I ordered a stand-alone voltage regulator.
However, when perusing things at my leisure at home I noticed this little detail:
There isn't even half of that wire left to carry any current. And that is the wire that grounds to the engine block, hence the alternator. I have had experience with alternators not being properly grounded in the past. Powdercoating them has an impact on that detail. Took me a while to figure that one out. But this opens up a new and simple project for Varmints to learn. Lets fix these battery terminals.
I decided not to run new wires. The existing wires don't appear to be in poor condition. It is just their connection to their terminals that is suspect. And the terminals were nothing to be excited about either. So I decided to just put ends on the existing wires and run military terminals. That has become my standard setup. Wonderfully convenient for future maintenance or mods.
First step was putting new terminals on the ends of the old wires. I did the first wire and then put The Varmints to work on the rest:
One thing I like to do on new terminals is add a washer to go under the nut. This helps prevent the nut from getting buried in the lead terminal. Problem is, a washer doesn't quite fit right:
That is easily solved with a trip to the belt sander:
(Note: Those are 5/16" stainless washers. Stainless is nice because they are thinner.)
And this is how things look now:
I am not sure if that Varmint is trying to send me a message there or not...
At any rate, now when I start the Jeep the voltmeter immediately jumps up to a charging voltage and holds it. Hopefully this fixes the "needs a new battery" problem. Alternatively I am chasing an intermittent issue. Time will tell.
Next week we go after the cooling system.
