Okay. So as I hinted I've been very busy this weekend. I had a laundry list of items to get done and I was able to complete most of it.
This weekend I:
Upgraded to the 136amp alternator
Upsized all of my battery cable to 2 gauge
Dodge Durango power steering box swap
JCR power steering box spacer
Replaced my power steering pump
Replaced my power steering lines
Replaced my tensioner pulley
New serpentine belt
I also replaced my entire exhaust up to the manifold using the following components:
Walker Evans down pipe
Magnaflow high flow cat
Borla's cat back system
Everything went well except my power steering. After several attempts at bleeding the system I only had manual steering. Frustrated and tired from a weekend of work I drove the jeep home the way it was and figured I'd deal with it later in the week. The next morning when I went to drive the Jeep to work I noticed that I suddenly had some assist from my power steering, but it was very weak. I attempted to bleed it again but it made no noticeable difference. As of now I still only have a weak assist. I feel like the durulast pump I put in last minute is faulty, when I didn't have any assist I felt like I had no pressure in the power steering system.
I haven't had any problems with my charging system in the past but when my current alternator started to become noisy I knew it was the perfect excuse to upgrade. I had recently added a 10lb warn winch, and plan on hard wiring my 2000w inverter in in the next month. I planned on swapping in a 136 amp alternator out of a V8 grand Cherokee. The swap was pretty straight forward.
I first removed the current alternator and the bracket. I assembled the two piece bracket off the jeep and attempted to fit it to the new larger bodied 136 amp alternator. There were some obvious clearance issues and I had to grind the bracket to be slightly deeper to fit the alternator. After I was able to fit the bracket I remounted it to the motor and noticed that the motor also had to be clearanced
After that the alternator bolted right up
After that came the wiring. Previously on my 99 Cherokee there was a two wire harness that plugged into the back of the stock alternator to what I am assuming is the regulator, on the new one there was a place for two ring terminals. After a check of the wiring schematics:
Cherokee:
A grand Cherokee that runs the alternator that I am swapping in:
It appeared I simply needed to remove the harness, and replace with ring terminals and wire them to the right place. (Sorry for the lack of detail, follow the diagrams!) I also noticed the new alternator had it's own ground. So to make sure it functioned properly I added one!
Next I tackled the battery cable. Since I'm running a higher output charging system I needed cable thick enough to handle the amps. I stepped up the cable running from the alternator to the fuse box to 2ga. Along with the cable running from the fuse box to the battery. Next I turned my attention to the grounds. I replaced both the motor and body ground that was connected to my battery with 2ga. and added the one from the alternator to the battery.
Even tho my charging system was keeping up before I'm confident that the larger 136amp alternator will have an easier time keeping up with my new winch, 2000w inverter and my ever growing demand I put on the electrical system of my jeep.
The exhaust went well, it was a necessary for me to redo it because my previous one was smashed against my floor and was causing issues.
In about a month I have a large trip upcoming where my brother, my girlfriend, my best friend and myself are heading to Maine to explore with our rigs. I have a lot more prepping to do. I hope my write up of the alternator swap helps those who were debating doing it themselves.
As always, get out there, and never stop exploring!
