3.4 swap into 1985 Jeep Cherokee questions?

[cardana24]

Do you have that alternator wire hooked up anywhere? I don't know where it needs to go on the Jeep, but if it isn't hooked up the battery won't be charging. My Trooper used the same connector, so it wasn't a problem for me.

I am talking about the plug that goes into the top of the alt and then has a little 16-18 gauge wire coming out of it, in the stock routing it goes inside of the vehicle and plugs into a little while harness that is inside of the vehicle. It goes in a plug along with other wires that go to gauges in the gauge cluster that's why I figured it goes to the volts gauge, but my volts gauge is not currently working so I am guessing my guess was not right.

I do have the ~10ga wire hooked up on the back of the alt. that is on the stud and held down with a nut. This wire is hooked to a wire that goes to the battery, I am guessing this is the wire that charges the battery.

Please correct me if I have this hooked up wrong but I think I only need to figure out where the small wire goes that comes out of the plug ontop of the alt.

[bszopi]

The large wire goes to the battery to charge it, but the small wire goes somewhere else to tell the alternator TO CHARGE the battery. If there wasn't a way to turn on and off the alternator, then it would overcharge the battery. So that smaller wire needs to go to something that will tell the alternator when it needs to charge the battery or when it can just freewheel.

[Canyonero]

Connect the small alternator wire with the connector however it was connected on the old engine. It's for the charging system, not for the gauge. I think you can connect the gauge to any 12v source, don't know why it would have stopped working. Maybe it got power from your old ignition system or something?

[ssterlingb]

According to the diagram on the camaro alternator, the wire is connected to the circuit feeding the gauges, but it shows that resistor in the line before it leaves the gauge cluster to the alternator, so I think you just need to hook it up to a 12V source, but will need to add the resistor for it to read correctly. I am asking around to see if that is correct.

[cardana24]

According to the diagram on the camaro alternator, the wire is connected to the circuit feeding the gauges, but it shows that resistor in the line before it leaves the gauge cluster to the alternator, so I think you just need to hook it up to a 12V source, but will need to add the resistor for it to read correctly. I am asking around to see if that is correct.

Well I hear what you are saying but I need to see it on a diagram, I'm not understanding it completely as to what I need to do.

[cardana24]

Do you guys know a good source to get a 470 ohm resistor/s? I am looking at radio shacks site, but they also have wattage ratings. When I am buying resistors do I need to be concerned with anything other than the ohm rating?

[cardana24]

I did not get a ton done this weekend, but I did wire up the circut for the alt charging wire (not so sure my resistor will be beefy enough, it just a standard 1/2 watt 470ohm resistor from radio shack). I also wired up my volts gauge. I figured out that my latch was just binding when I was trying to shut the hood and the hood actually closes with no modifications...but I still have a cowl insert that I may still use, and still cut the hood just for increased ventilation we will see.

[cardana24]

I am having two big problems and I need some help. One is a charging issue and the other is the clutch.

First with the charging issue. My jeep is now at the point where it will not start unless I jump start it. I think jump starting it so many times recently may have killed my battery. Right after running for a little while tonight I probed my battery with my Volt meter and it was reading 10.5V...so that's not good and assuming I have my volt gauge in my jeep hooked up correctly it shows a volt reading of below 8V while its running...I can see my check engine light at this time under the hood and it is very dim while running and then gets brighter when the engine is not running. Is my alt. not charging correctly? after I turned my engine off the alt. is hot to the touch. I currently have it hooked up like this. For the smaller gauge wire that goes into the plug on the top of the alt. I have that being fed by a switched 12V source with a 470ohm resisor in line before it gets to the plug. As for the larger gauge wire on the lower part of the back of the alt. I have that running from the post on the alt. to a power distribution block on the inner fender, and from there it runs to the battery. Should it be run to the battery first then to the distribution block...does that matter? Also would the lack of current make my engine run like crap when trying to accelerate. Tonight I pushed the gas while it was moving and it just died....when it is idling and I rev it, it seems to do much better but when under load of driving it just falls on its face and dies...could that be a current problem?

My second issue is the clutch issue, I have blead this thing to death and I do not have any leaks in the hydrolic line between the master cylinder to the slave (I also have a new slave cylinder installed that worked fine before this swap). I push the clutch pedal all the way to the floor and still have to slam the gear selector into gear...I have never had to do that before, and once it is in gear it does not want to come out. The only thing that I have though of that could be a possible problem would be when I installed the friction disc on the clutch. On my old set up (known working setup) the side marked flywheel side the center hub stuck out about an inch and the other side was flat with the disc. On my new clutch I noticed something was different, it was the opposite. The side that was marked flywheel side was flat and the opposite side the hub stuck out about an inch...so I installed it the way it said on the disc...the flat side towards the flywheel. Could this be causing me to have problems selection gears? If not what else could it be?

I would love some help with both of these problems if you guys know.

[ssterlingb]

Can't help with the clutch, but maybe the charging issue.
If you have a volt meter, check the voltage across the battery terminals with the jeep off. If the batter is okay & charged it will read above 12 volts, usually 12.5 to 13.5.
Start the jeep & recheck, it should read higher than when it was off, usually 13 to 15.
If not, try bypassing the resistor & re-check while it is running. Usually the running voltage will read between about 13 to 14.5 if the alternator is running right.

[Canyonero]

I put my clutch disc in backwards (it wasn't labeled), and the clutch would not disengage. The springs were actually dragging on the flywheel bolts. Ooops! Sounds like that might be the case. Time to drop the tranny.

And I would take the resistor out. I don't see why your Jeep wouldn't have whatever it needs already onboard. Just take that wire and hook it up to where-ever the old alternator connected. Worked that way on my Trooper.

[cardana24]

Can't help with the clutch, but maybe the charging issue.
If you have a volt meter, check the voltage across the battery terminals with the jeep off. If the batter is okay & charged it will read above 12 volts, usually 12.5 to 13.5.
Start the jeep & recheck, it should read higher than when it was off, usually 13 to 15.
If not, try bypassing the resistor & re-check while it is running. Usually the running voltage will read between about 13 to 14.5 if the alternator is running right.

I can re check that tonight but with the jeep off it was showing about 10.5V...I never had a chance to check it while it was running. Would the lack of current cause it to run poorly?

Not being very scientific but before I installed the resistor in the line going to the plug on the alt, the 12V bulb that I have hooked up in the CEL circut was very bright. After I installed the resisor the bulb was super dim. I'll just add that to my list for tonight.

[cardana24]

I put my clutch disc in backwards (it wasn't labeled), and the clutch would not disengage. The springs were actually dragging on the flywheel bolts. Ooops! Sounds like that might be the case. Time to drop the tranny.

And I would take the resistor out. I don't see why your Jeep wouldn't have whatever it needs already onboard. Just take that wire and hook it up to where-ever the old alternator connected. Worked that way on my Trooper.

Since the disc was labled that way, I am waiting for someone to say that is wrong for sure. I put it in the way it said on the disc but I swear that hub was pressed in backwards. It's a pretty cheap Perfection clutch that Advanced Auto sells so who knows.

What does your top alt. wire go to? I know you said it goes to the old alt. wire but can you tell me where that goes, was it switched 12V? Is it only one wire? My jeep had 3 wires coming out of the top alt. plug in stock form.

[Canyonero]

Both of mine only have one wire. Compare wiring diagrams on both vehicles, or post them here.

[cardana24]

Both of mine only have one wire. Compare wiring diagrams on both vehicles, or post them here.

can you not tell me what yours is hooked to? It's going to need the same input, that's why I am wondering what yours is actually hooked to then I could just replicate that on my set up.

[cardana24]

How does the crank position sensor work on this engine if there is not a timing ring on the flywheel? I have an S-10 flywheel installed, but it's just that, with no timing ring. I am pulling the transmission down today and need to know any answer on this. Should there be a timing ring for the Crank position sensor to work right?