TLDR: trying to figure out if it is alternator, battery, or some other oddball thing. 1998 2.5 auto
Im writing a book with hopes that it helps somebody else at some point. And other than sitting in a jack parking lot for an hour it wasn't so bad.
Drove to work yesterday morning in the rain. No problem.
Left work last night and within 1/2 mile i got the check gauges light and 0 volts on the gauge. Got home after my 26 mile approximately hour long commute and it started right up no problem. I found a slightly loose negative battery terminal connection and a little corrosion on the positive. Can't find my brushes, whatever. I've seen a lot worse that had no issues.
Tightened the loose negative this morning. Started right up, volt gauge went to just shy of 14, drove to the gas station 2.5 miles away, no problem.
Started right up, but volt gauge near the first white mark. I'm guessing around 12 V. Got on the freeway, check gauges again, but drove 24 miles to work with no problems.
Left work tonight, started right up, and check gauges came on after i drove a mile or so. At this point I figured it was a bad connection to the PCM or something because i didn't think there was any way a tj battery could last 50+ miles without an alternator. It started sprinkling so i hit the wipers and they moved slow so i got off the freeway as fast as i could. A couple miles later I'm stalled at a stoplight at 35th ave. And mcDowell, not the best part of town. I started pushing, nice lady in the car next to me volunteered her passenger to help the a couple middle/high school kids joined in to get me around the corner into the jack in the box parking lot.
Took AAA an hour to get there, but the driver was a cj owner. Had to tow it backwards and i left the rear window at home so he wanted to remove the doors and fold down the windshield. I told him just pull the uppers, we're not going on the freeway. I doubt my doors have ever been off or windshield folded. Nice guy though. Talked about the Arizona jeep trail, cj-7 stuff, yj stuff, tj stuff.
Now to the real meat of the problem.
I read that the alternator won't work if the battery is too dead, but the starter never turned over slow. I didn't think a dead alternator would let a car drive 65 miles in traffic. Connections to the PDC look pretty good assuming the alternator wire and battery wire both go directly to that connection on the end with a separate cover.
I'll put the battery on a charger tomorrow, but I'm guessing it's beyond that. I need to check voltages after charging, both battery and alternator. Is there anything else before testing at the auto parts store?
Im writing a book with hopes that it helps somebody else at some point. And other than sitting in a jack parking lot for an hour it wasn't so bad.
Drove to work yesterday morning in the rain. No problem.
Left work last night and within 1/2 mile i got the check gauges light and 0 volts on the gauge. Got home after my 26 mile approximately hour long commute and it started right up no problem. I found a slightly loose negative battery terminal connection and a little corrosion on the positive. Can't find my brushes, whatever. I've seen a lot worse that had no issues.
Tightened the loose negative this morning. Started right up, volt gauge went to just shy of 14, drove to the gas station 2.5 miles away, no problem.
Started right up, but volt gauge near the first white mark. I'm guessing around 12 V. Got on the freeway, check gauges again, but drove 24 miles to work with no problems.
Left work tonight, started right up, and check gauges came on after i drove a mile or so. At this point I figured it was a bad connection to the PCM or something because i didn't think there was any way a tj battery could last 50+ miles without an alternator. It started sprinkling so i hit the wipers and they moved slow so i got off the freeway as fast as i could. A couple miles later I'm stalled at a stoplight at 35th ave. And mcDowell, not the best part of town. I started pushing, nice lady in the car next to me volunteered her passenger to help the a couple middle/high school kids joined in to get me around the corner into the jack in the box parking lot.
Took AAA an hour to get there, but the driver was a cj owner. Had to tow it backwards and i left the rear window at home so he wanted to remove the doors and fold down the windshield. I told him just pull the uppers, we're not going on the freeway. I doubt my doors have ever been off or windshield folded. Nice guy though. Talked about the Arizona jeep trail, cj-7 stuff, yj stuff, tj stuff.
Now to the real meat of the problem.
I read that the alternator won't work if the battery is too dead, but the starter never turned over slow. I didn't think a dead alternator would let a car drive 65 miles in traffic. Connections to the PDC look pretty good assuming the alternator wire and battery wire both go directly to that connection on the end with a separate cover.
I'll put the battery on a charger tomorrow, but I'm guessing it's beyond that. I need to check voltages after charging, both battery and alternator. Is there anything else before testing at the auto parts store?
