Electrical Issue

[gbolton98]

I have a 03 jeep liberty and I have been having problems with it. The battery light keeps coming on, then the air bag light, and after about 20 minutes the lights go dim and all lights on dash start flashing and it dies. O'Reilly's said it was the battery so I got a bran new one and it's still doing the same thing. Any advice .... ?

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[ltd02]

Sounds like it could be the alternator. Tough to bench test them out of the vehicle so just check the voltage at the battery terminals while idling and report back.

 

[gbolton98]

14.18v @ an idle


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[ltd02]

What is the ignition off battery voltage before you do anything? Is that idle value stable and is the vehicle warmed up at the time of measurement? Does it restart after it dies or do you have to jump start it? This is the sort of thing that happens when an alternator is failing OR the battery is not recharging properly. Are all the battery and alternator connections clean and tight? How are the grounds especially the major one off of the battery to the engine?

 

[Billwill]

Good advise above from itdo2^^^^

Where is this East Liverpool? In the UK or some place in the USA that I would never know about.
If in the UK is this an Export CRD?

Check the battery connectors, the negative battery lead going to chassis and the engine grounding leads grounding engine to chassis are clean and tight.

Check the thick lead on the alternator is on tight...disconnect battery first as this point is always live! Also re-plug the small connector on the alternator.

With battery disconnected....re-plug the connectors on the PCM a few times to clean the contacts.

When I had charging issues on my 2002 Export CRD I plugged my Multi meter into the front cigar/power points so that I could monitor the voltage while driving.....I had multiple wiring issues!

Also the early KJs have a Battery Temperature Sensor located under the battery which informs the PCM how hot it is and the PCM then slightly adjusts the voltage on the alternator to compensate. If there is a problem with this sensor then it sets the same battery Icon on the cluster as a charging problem would but I doubt that this is your issue as a failing temperature sensor has little effect on the final charging and would not affect the headbeams etc.

You will need to look at the wiring diagram to trace the wiring to look out for cables fraying to engine/chassis and check if you suddenly get these faults coming up when you do some action...I had problems when I turned on the front wipers or turned on the aircon for example.

Download the 2003 KJ Service Manual here...includes wiring diagrams.

Index of /manuals/Jeep/KJ

 

[gbolton98]

New battery...will run short distances then light comes on ...i pulled over checked volts @ idle and 1500rpm did not go past 12.9...maybe alternator going bad?


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[ltd02]

New battery...will run short distances then light comes on ...i pulled over checked volts @ idle and 1500rpm did not go past 12.9...maybe alternator going bad?

Looks that way to me. That's what mine did when it failed.

 

[gbolton98]

Dealer wants $125 to diagnose it....new alternator is $140 ...wut would you do?

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[ltd02]

Others may argue to test it but I'd get a new alternator. I lack patience...

 

[renegade 04]

I'd install a new alternator, and at the same time clean the engine grounds and all grounds you can find off the battery. On my jeep I have tons of grounds and it makes a world of a difference in charging voltage as well.

 

[gbolton98]

New alternator and belt fixed the problem....thanks for the help


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[gbolton98]

just to put it into the guardrail at 70mph

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[ltd02]

Crap!

 

[LibertyTC]

just to put it into the guardrail at 70mph

Ouch..sorry you had an oopsie..A long as everyone's ok that's what truly counts.
How bad of damage to the Jeep?

 

[turblediesel]

Hate it when that happens. Hope you're OK and your Jeep is repairable.

 

[gbolton98]

I was alone and yea im fine thanx...the jeep not so much .Broke steering knuckle and bent the strut ,but i think its fixable.I'll take some pics after work .Would like to hear what you guys think....

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[Billwill]

I was alone and yea im fine thanx...the jeep not so much .Broke steering knuckle and bent the strut ,but i think its fixable.I'll take some pics after work .Would like to hear what you guys think....

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The problem with a frontal or front corner impact on the KJ is that the main wiring harness goes around the front of the engine bay near to the radiator.

My 2002 Export CRD has this harness going through a metal channel under the radiator and when my GF hit a tree that jumped in front of her this area got damaged either by the collision or by the idiot repair shop that repaired the damage!
This was on the RHS front corner on my RHD Jeep.

For months afterwards I had to trace down about 7 wires that were causing problems ie. shorting to chassis or to a neighbouring wire all inside this metal channel which was impossible to get to. I had weird problems such as when turning the front wipers ON or switching the AC ON the engine would post a CEL and I would grind to a halt.

I managed to trace the bad wiring and had to completely isolate bad wires by cutting off all ends including all splices in the relevant circuit and fitting brand new wires! Most of these problems caused the charge voltage to rise to 17 volts...I monitored the voltage inside the cabin at the front Aux power plug and as it hit 17 volts the Jeep would grind to a halt.

Unfortunately the one time I was on a long trip in pouring rain and had to use the wipers in brief spurts...by the time I got home the battery had boiled itself to death!

Not trying to scare you but have a good look at this wire harness up front where you suffered damage!