Electrical problem

[Glenn_tx]

Okay this is unrelated to the 2nd alt I put in cause it's not hooked up yet, but I installed a new Warn winch yesterday and checked to see if it worked. Without a load it reeled in for about 10 seconds then the waggy died. Battery was dead. Charged the battery back up, now it won't idle and sounds like it has a small miss as well. I tried a known good alternator., no help. It appears to be charging okay, but it does spike up to the upper end of the gauge when it's first started then slowly settles down. If I let off the gas it dies. Do the 78's have some kind of fusible link I may have blown? If so, where is it?

Thanks

[PhilSine]

I think that there are 2 fusible links. One goes between the battery and the ammeter and the other is in-line from the alt. If you blew the one near the battery then there is a chance that it would cause your symptoms.

[Stolen76]

sounds like a bad ground, maybe you have a loose one or burned out inside the connector. When you let off the gas the current flow from the alt decreases and with a poor ground that would drop the voltage too. It may be too low for the ignition to keep going.

[Hammer]

Bad grounds/connections.
Is there water in the battery? Dumb question, but the heavy load on a battery with low water can ruin is fast.

[Glenn_tx]

Guess I'll start checking ground connections. Feels like it's a bad plug wire but that seems too coincidental.

Are the fusible links contained in the plastic wire loom? I couldn't find any on any bare stretches of wire under the hood.

Hammer, the battery is new and is holding a charge fine. I'll double check it though.

[FSJeeper]

I vote bad ground. Also be careful about the problematic alt gauge setup in your FSJ. Do a search on this and you will find out what the problem is on these and how to fix it. Bottom line is the way the alt gauge is wired in can end up making your whole FSJ the fusible link. The loads you are putting on your system could amplify the problem leading you to the new owner of a toasted durabak choptop that used to look fine as hell.

I am trying to imagine what dripping melted durabak would like like hanging off of your choptop. Icecicles?

The alt gauge wiring setup is a known FSJ defect and has lead to many of our FSJ's being toasted and put out of commission for good.

[Hammer]

The alt gauge isn't limited to the FSJ side of Jeeps, trust me there. You would be surprised how fast you can rip gauges out of your dash when that thing starts sparking, hissing, smoking, and throwing fits!!! (helps with the old CJ dash being that simple ;) )

[Glenn_tx]

Originally posted by FSJeeper:
I vote bad ground. Also be careful about the problematic alt gauge setup in your FSJ. Do a search on this and you will find out what the problem is on these and how to fix it. Bottom line is the way the alt gauge is wired in can end up making your whole FSJ the fusible link. The loads you are putting on your system could amplify the problem leading you to the new owner of a toasted durabak choptop that used to look fine as hell.

I am trying to imagine what dripping melted durabak would like like hanging off of your choptop. Icecicles?

The alt gauge wiring setup is a known FSJ defect and has lead to many of our FSJ's being toasted and put out of commission for good.Yeah, I've read about it. I'll definetly put it on my short list.

[Stolen76]

good idea to ditch the ammeter all together. if you can't live without ammeters, get the shunt type that leave the amperage under the hood. voltmeters are a strong preference !

[Glenn_tx]

Okay, after I got home today, I fired up the waggy. It ran fine til I went to drive off. Then it started missing again. I had already bypassed the ammeter. I grabbed the bunch of wires going into the firewall from under the hood and the big wire (red w/ green tracer) was very hot.

I can't make heads or tails of my wiring diagrams in the shop manual, it's for an 82 anyway. I'm assuming it's grounding out somewhere but haven't figured out where it comes out inside the cab.

[ June 26, 2003, 11:18 PM: Message edited by: GlennTX ]