Cruiser is finally running again after more than a month of downtime.
Back in December, I installed a backup camera to the radio on the Cruiser. After installation of the camera, the Cruiser wouldn't hold a charge and while driving the to the Christmas party, symptoms were pointing to the alternator. I purchased new alternator brushes to fix the charging system, however when I pulled the alternator, I found the bearings were shot and the belts were close to breaking. During removal of the alternator, I broke the rusty belt tensioner bolt. With the alt out, I discovered that the alternator bearings were dry and locking up causing the belts to slip. I could have rebuilt the alt but instead took this opportunity to upgrade my 80A to a 140A Jag alternator. Unfortunately as I was removing tension from the AC pulley I broke the AC belt tensioner. The AC pulley belt was in much better shape but overdue for a new belt. I also removed the idler pulley since it doesn't do much but at least the idler pulley spun smoothly.
With the battery box out and while in there, I found that my SAE power steering trans cooler hose was a little oversized for the metric nipples and the spring clamps weren't holding very well allowing fluid to leak. I added stainless screw clamps in addition to the spring clamps to each line on the PS system.
While in there, I installed the
@Fourrunner ground/starter wire upgrade kit. Super beefy wires that match the beefy mechanical parts of the Cruiser. 1/0 and 4 AWG wires for battery to chassis, TC to chassis, block to battery, starter to battery, and head to chassis.
I have been offering this kit for FJ60/FJ62 and have put together a similar kit for the FJ80's. The kit costs $140.00 shipped (within US). International shipping is available (additional shipping costs will be added). The kit includes 4 cables and battery terminal connectors. This kit fits...
forum.ih8mud.com
The new alternator arrived and I quickly realized that this wouldn't be a plug and play. Modifications to the alt case and belt tensioner were required to make the new alt work. I must have installed the alternator 20 or 30 times trying to fine tune the fit. New belts were installed along with a new AC pulley, new belt tensioner block and bolt. Anti-seize was slathered on every bolt.
Finally alternator was installed but I didn't want 140A running over a 8 AWG wire and tiny fusible link. I stripped back the wire wrap and TEQ electrical tape and removed the OEM alt to battery wire. I ordered a 4 AWG custom alt to battery cable from
@Fourrunner and built a 10 AWG fusible link. Ideally, the fusible link should be 8 AWG (fusible link recommendations are 4 sizes down) but 8 AWG fusible link it A) expensive and B) almost impossible to find. 10 AWG and 3 spares will be fine. The new fusible link looks OEM except for the orange color. I routed the new cable the same as OEM and added the wire jacket and covered with electrical tape.
After everything was buttoned up, I found yet another problem. When I installed the backup camera, I must have had the doors open too long and drained the battery. The battery would no longer hold a charge and had to be replaced. For a whopping $4.59, I exchanged my 2 year old battery at Costco for a new 24F.
With the dash apart still from the backup camera install, I replaced all the bulbs in the HVAC and switches. I had a dead light in the HVAC and it was difficult to see settings at night.
New battery, new belts, new alt and the truck starts great. Idle voltage is 14.6V. The headlights are brighter, the engine purrs, and my annoying startup squeal is gone. HVAC lighting is nice and bright and even the original interior lighting is brighter. I haven't checked the lightbar on the ARB to see if there is a difference in output. I've still got to weld a mounting block on my swingout arm for the backup camera and route the wiring into the cab.
