[leadfootny]

Hi, I've been having a alternator issue in my 96 zj. About 3 months ago, my alt gauge would drop to about 11-12v while stopped. Replaced alternator. Almost right away, the alt gauge would drop all the way and check battery would flash on the vic. Brought the jeep to autozone to test, failed. Was told to pull it and they would bench test, which it passed. Manager said its probably in the jeep, not their alts. After some yelling and such, I got a replacement. It behaved beautifully until this morning (~7000 miles later). Pull out the driveway and gauge dies. Alt is def failing...it is getting too hot to touch and is whining. Now, is it possible that something else (regulator, bad ground, battery) is somehow causing the alt to fail prematurely? Or do I just keep getting crappy AZ rebuilds? I bought the lifetime one, so I can get another...its just such a PITA that I'd prefer not to replace every 3 months. Any help is greatly appreciated!

[jeep95xj]

Could be a bad battery, bad cables, bad grounds, or autozones crappy reman alternators. Regulater is built into the alt so if thats what went bad you need to swap the whole thing.

[leadfootny]

In the zj's the regulator is actually part of the ecm. Im hoping that its not the problem...maybe time to head out to the pick and pull and get one that way....

[johnnycrash]

Usually if you alt is heating up to the point where is squeels(bearing failure) There is a current over draw, which is a short. Bad Battery can cause this, but you need a battery where the plates have buckled right together, which would prolly not start your jeep anymore. id look for grounds that are no good, warn cables grounding out or loose connections where you are getting arcing. Also take a look at your pullies for the belt, make sure everything is lined up well, and that the belt tension isnt overly tight(i know its spring loaded but just in case)