Thread: Charging system failure

Missed that one word... Lol

Sometimes it makes all the difference lol.

Very true. Lol

Trickle charger was only 25 bucks, fits right next to the lower radiator hose, and I shouldn't need a new battery for a nice long while... Need new post clamps though.

You are literally the polar opposite of what I deal with. It rarely gets below freezing here but it will get well over 100 in a heartbeat.

This "new" charging strategy was meant to prolong battery life as well as save on fuel.

Yeah, the cold up here will literally drain a battery within hours, without it even being connected to anything. Hence the heated battery tray, trickle charger, and the heated blanket I'm about to wrap around the battery... Lol

I'm gonna have to research how the 04 alternators are meant to work, like the original intent behind the clutch, and what it actually does in terms of charging and output. It's an interesting subject to me, since I'm considering upgrading...

The clutch is nothing more than a one way bearing. The theory is that when the engine decelerates that the mass of the Rotor will freewheel and save some sort of wear and tear on the belt. It is also supposed to allow the system to absorb some of the harmonics induced into the alternator, as it would allow the rotor to over run, but it doesn't make any sense since the clutch acts in one direction only. When the engine slows down the load on the alternator will slow the rotor at the same rate as it is always under a load, so it wouldn't over run in that situation as well. The only time it actually works is when you shut the car off the rotor will freewheel for a second after the engine stops. The other asinine thing I read about it was that if the alternator seizes then the belt wouldn't be damaged since the bearing clutch is there. This is total BS since the belt only drives the clutch in one direction and is free in the opposite direction (that the engine is not turning). Whoever though it up was a dumbass.

Jeff

So the only benefit would have been from a two-way clutch, which would be more trouble than it's worth. lol

The CS144 swap wouldn't remove anything of value from the stock charging system, would it?

A 2 way clutch would just be a bearing and that wouldn't go over that well lol. I don't see the benefit of having the clutch in there and have yet to come across a tech article that can get past the previously mentioned obstacles. I don't think that it can be done as easily because the signal to the alternator is a PWM signal and the PCM actually has control of the alternator. I have had one guy say that he bolted one in and it works fine, but when asked about details he was evasive and I think he was probably full of it, or got lucky with a case of Elmer Fudd Syndrome.

It's kind of like the parts stores call our fan speed controls "Blower motor resistors" when in fact they are a simple motor speed control using a MOSFET to pulse (PWM) the motor based on the signal it's given. This includes the base "manual" AC controls.

Jeff

I don't know if mine actually has the PWM control... there's no current sensors on my negative battery cables. Any of them. lol

Then again, mine was an early production. May 03.... lol

That may be I haven't really looked into it yet for 04. The current sensor is supposed to be around the 3 Negative battery cables. You may be able to add the 144, but I would research it more. The stock alternator is 125 amps and it plenty for most anything even a system. Add a battery to the trunk and you can easily support a 2KW RMS stereo system.

Jeff

I'm also planning on adding an inverter, some other things... Lol

Moar power.

An inverter is a different story all together. How many watts?

1200-1400, enough to run medium sized appliances.

That's a tall order, you are talking about needing 215 amps continuously and that's a challenge. If you just need it for short periods of time (10 minutes or so) then an extra battery would work. At that current continuously you will need to upgrade all of the power and ground with a bigger alternator (300amp) and 00 size wire or at least 2/0 and you will still need that extra battery.


Jeff

The big stuff wouldn't be for very long periods of time, at the most 20 minutes. And I was already planning on running 1/0 power and ground.

I've got some ideas for little stuff, and the bigger stuff is only while I'm up here in AK... I would really only need about 250w continuous, and I could easily get away with a 750w inverter for the other stuff, but...

Go big or go home. Lol

Well the good thing about the inverters is their typical efficiency is in the high 80% range. The bad is that some devices won't run off of one if it's a modified sine wave style. I always use worst case so I use 75% as the efficiency and 12V to calculate amps. Audio is different since the actual normal running current is typically 1/4th the RMS power consumption even when you run full blast unless you are pumping sinusoidal wave forms through the amp you will never reach the continuous power requirements you would expect.

Well, a mini fridge, bullet heater and normal household small stuff, chargers and whatnot will be the extent that I would run. Bullet heater wouldn't be continuous unless it dropped below -40 and I was stuck in a ditch for 6-8 hours or more...

2-3 extra 5 gallon fuel cans are nice to have. Lol

Got the new battery in. That's good. Now the alternator is howling a bit. If it's not one thing it's another. I guess the alternator had been taxed compensating for a weak batter for a while. Any preferences on brands of replacement alternators?

If you get the Delco version has a high amp kit that;s 250 amps. I think it's $198. I have a Bosch unit on my car, so I just bought the smaller pulley so it will keep up at my low idle.

Jeff

Originally Posted by J57ltr

If you get the Delco version has a high amp kit that;s 250 amps. I think it's $198. I have a Bosch unit on my car, so I just bought the smaller pulley so it will keep up at my low idle.

Jeff

More info on this delco version? I did a little searching and didn't come across it.

I might just pull it off and take it to the alternator shop I have build my Jeep alternators. I have had them repair others for me and their work seems to last much better than the lifetime warranty crap from the auto parts store.

It sounds like a bearing is going out, but I can def smell some burned electrical smell too. The DIC shows charging at 12.80-13.2 volts so its charging, but the sound def needs to addressed regardless of what it is.