Since my nearest Jeep bloke is about 150km away from me it would want to be a good deal....

Good news indeed. If their actions match their words, and if they can be consistent, they just may turn the corner. Can only be good for us!

Has anyone determined the characteristics of the shunt on the negative battery terminal... either by researching the part of number or via measurement?

I'm looking to monitor for current leakage, and using the factory shunt would be extremely convenient... if it is actually a shunt.

https://www.moparamerica.com/oem-par...end-56029713ad

Cheers, Steve

Maybe FCA here in Aust has finally realised the Grand Cherokee is still the best bang for your bucks SUV and most capable tow vehicle available in Aust.!Going from very high sales afew years ago to virtually nothing tells you heaps about lack of marketing,poor dealer service ,not paying legitamate warranty claims ,overpriced spare parts etc etc,.

I remember hearing the same comment about service back in the 70's but they packed up and went back across the pacific then again when they started with the XJ in about 94, only taken a couple of decades to get the message that they have shit overpriced service.... They have always had a poor report card for service back up, overpriced parts.
Nearly bought an XJ back then, ended up with a house instead, the XJ and the ZG one of the best Jeeps, proper FWD's really........:cool:

With 3 Jeeps passing through the shed I have no complaints about their service, never used it but the price of parts, well like Toyota, Holden etc, way over the top........... Holden wanted $90 for a tranny sump gasket so Jeep aint alone.

Mine was in junk mail as well. If you read through it all it is an improvement including flying mechanics anywhere in australia if you have a problem, think that would only be under warranty though.
regards Russell

Re awj s reply from FCA
Surely this must be an admission of a problem with the alternator.
What about the rest of us who have registered complaint with both FCA and ACCC.
I will be contacting ACCC and FCA again re this issue.
Cant believe that all those complaints registered prior to this one ,were told its your problem.
Whats different about this case.

Same alternator same problems.I suppose its the old we will see how many complaints we will get against the cost of a world wide recall of hundreds of thousand GCs.I would say that the replacing foc of a diesel unit could open up FCA to many claims.The failure of these alternators is a real safety issue.loss of steering ,underbonnet fires etc are not much fun,

Hi Folks, I acquired a replacement rectifier from a local supplier as pretty common. Its a Jaylec 16-8536 and that will come up with RN-67. I note another facebook fellow has done a lot of research work and he ordered RN-59 with exact same specs other than the outer diameter of the heatsink being 3mm less.

I will keep this as an emergency as towing a caravan in the middle of nowhere as a spare so if things go haywire then a side of the road replacement after a battery disconnect to stop the drain on battery if a diode or two has gone direct short AKA drawing a lot of current into the windings to eventually kill the battery. Or if I am smart, will replace it out a few months before heading out on a major trip and keep the old.

These are direct replacement but the alt has to be removed from vehicle so will change the drive belt soon and take that alt out from above as a test teardown (I have the adventure pack with bash plates so will just swear at it from above). The only issue is the alternator's 6 copper poles are fused to the rectifier pack so I need to check this out to see if I can DIY seperate or I will modify the joints and use Jaycar NS3045 Silver solder kit as is a flux and 5 x stronger solder so more closer to plug and play for the emergency.

Happy to ack the facebook user and our alternators are not actually at fault here so even if you get a replacement for the Diesel, then its a like for like I am afraid. The issue appears to be the altenator provides the primary loads and spare capacity to battery. No wonder our batterys last many years. If Jeep did a mod, you would think the current parts would be upgraded. I cannot get 60a diodes for a 12v system so the 50's are the go to for now. The one thing I learn't was go easy on the steering perhaps!

I've attached a table that the facebook user did a lot of real life and hard work to prepare to show you the current loads on our vehicles prior to the full electric steering as very insightful as to the loads it has to deal with. So the upshot is change your battery earlier when 20% supercheap and sell the old to a boatie as lots of live left. Hope this assists and will save a whole alternator being carried around or a tow truck. The one advantage of the that specific solder may (or may not) will become a first point of failure post a current short from a failed diode vs damaging the windings here. Sorta like a fuse perhaps however if soldered properly, the current transfer is equal to crimping anyway.


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I just carry a spare alternator in our caravan and also just replaced the battery - 2015 GC Diesel. I haven't heard of any 2015 diesel models having the alternator/battery problems, but I don't want to take any chances & don't need any dramas when we are way outback.

I was not really worried until I saw a few facebook pics of our jeeps on flatbeads and the hight costs they were getting stung with makes these little projects worth while. Very few issues that actually stop this vehicle. The good news is the car will never spit an issue if you have spares with you! I have the earlier MY13-14 so cannot comment on the later steering current.

Is this likely to be the alternator? 6/17 build 3.0 GC



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Hi Folks, as promised, I've whipped the alternator out for a peek and compare with my diode pack RN-67 as is a potential showstopper in the outback, very remote on the diesel but a few pics of jeeps on tow trucks and the cost folk are being charged is mind blowing.

Pics at the end. To remove the alternator is straight forward and is after belt removal so will not repeat that procedure. I did put a inspection hole for one of the coolant header tank bolts so easy to remove into the future. Otherwise a small piece of trim removal is needed.

Minimum tools:
10mm socket 1/4 inch drive.
E8 Torx socket to use with 1/4 inch drive (nice to have)
13mm ring and open ended spanner.
13mm socket with 3/8 drive (1/2 drive is okay two)
Small extension for 3/8
Stubby screwdriver.

Remove the Driver side turbo hose, then remove the two 10mm bolts to move the coolant header out the way to give full access to alternator. Battery negative terminal must be removed (please don't attempt this without battery disconnected as you risk serious injury).

With the 13mm you can lift the positive terminal cover and remove positive cable. Press clip remove the electrical connector.

The alt is secured by 4 bolts all 13mm. Top front bolt facing you has a negative terminal and second securing nut, remove this first, then second bolt underside closest to you. The lower far bolt is a 13mm nut which holds power steering hoses. Remove this nut. Now here is the key, use your E8 socket to unwind the shaft from the alternator frame but you just leave the rod floating as no room to remove. Finally the top rear remove and the alternator is free to come forward and up where the coolant tank usually sits. Removal complete.

My mistake was not seeing the torx head and there is no way to remove alt without unscrewing the shaft, so three more 13mm bolts and I took the carrier out as well. So you can see the bolt arrangement. So you don't need to remove the bracket as I did, but it will show you that torx shaft. Mind you if your stuck, three extra bolts and take the lot out will not be any worry for roadside repair.

Moving to the alt, I took the rear cover off to confirm I had the exact part and looking closely at the 6 alt copper pins, they are just copper welded at the very top so a hand file is necessary to file the top off just to free the pack from alt. There is not a lot of filing and that leaves plenty of copper pole to solder in the new one. You do have to reuse the regulator so Phillip screwdriver to remove and they use a spot clamp to the light duty copper pole.

My vehicle is 73K and originally going to replace, but given the remote chance, I've decided to leave the original as is. I'm very much into electronics and and higher currents then these and I am confident a good soldering job, even pressing the new copper terminals on to the poles then soldering will be fine. I've put my regulator pack on top to show you the copper arrangement that you can solder in without trouble.

I know this is not for many, but if your worried, this is the tear down to replace the alternator for yourself. I was surprised that the minimum tools required. I removed mine without the torx with frame only added 15min to the job. My pics have the part numbers as confirmed if your doing really remote stuff.

The key to all of this if it does happen, immediately use your 10mm spanner and straight to the battery to disconnect so you can save your battery first then think about the repair! Leaving it connected whilst failed will take the battery to zero volts.



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Fantastic, so my understanding from this post is: can buy the back part of the alternator with the diodes etc, rip her out, swap it over, solder it back together and good to go on the side of the road.
Am doing the Simmo in 2 months and would hate to be stuck.
For my WJ 4.7 I'd accumulated a heap of spares from services, hoses, belts, all sorts of globes, bought spare TPS, cam and crank angle sensor etc just in case it went to shit in the bush, but don't have any spares for the WK2 yet.

Not any different from most others, just in a crap position for sure...... it is scary stuff soldering the wires back on though..............good to see pics, on my VM Motori in the Colorado at least it was on top of the engine and easy to get at when it went up in flames.

You can always cheat with this solder and at $25 dollars, it still melts with a standard cheap soldering iron. Because your working with quality copper, it’s a delight. Mind you, the more expensive stuff as slightly less resistance due to the silver. By the way if you look at this alt it is twin windings so each terminal is no more than about 30amps max. I.e the three fields are duplicated so two 110amp field windings here. img]http://www.ausjeepoffroad.com/forum/imagehosting/374625f1e916cda06f.jpg[/img]

Every time I open this page and look at the chart of whats drawing power I'm amazed at the amount of work this gadget has to do, no wonder they chuck a whammy , driving fast, with bum warmers, AC, wipers and lights on, she's running at a fair pace, I don't think I would want to throw it anymore work, in fact starts me thinking that a good DC-DC charger to an aux battery to run van fridge as I drag van around might be a better less load option than direct hook up into the system or maybe look for a bigga power station..........

I've thought the same thing, although the alternator should be able to cope with the load that it has to put up with.
I'm going to bite the bullet and pull the trigger on a DC-DC charger this weekend, might grab the one from Jaycar, seems decent and an OK price. Will chuck it under the drivers seat, short run for wires, although not much room under the sucker when it's low. Would be good to be able to lift the base of the rear seats like in the WJ, there was a nice sized pocket each side on them.

Had Jeeps for over 30 years.Had two XJs last one had 360000 ks on it when sold no major problems.Original alternator etc,etc,Now own 2010 WH and 2012 Wk2 diesels and must say fingers are always crossed when I am on a trip. ! Now freight delays ex US re parts etc If something breaks may be in a cockys back paddock for a while.!

I wish I had read all this after I get back home, I'm wandering around out near Eromanga....it breaks I have my Scania tool kit with me.....




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One things for sure ,I think if any of us need a hand to get parts out to people in trouble we have some pretty knowlegable people on this forum.Wouldnt be the first time I have posted urgent parts .

HeHe......you might not need the BIC lighter mate, apparently when these alternators shit themselves they catch fire and thanks to the hidden battery access under the drivers seat.....by the time you move the seat (assuming battery has enough juice) to disconnect battery terminal.....she's probably toast.

Not that hard really. When 'out there' don't overload the system. I turn off anything I'm not using and have no bolt-on stuff to gobble power. I think of all the car's inbuilt gadgets and conveniences as being there as and when needed rather than having everything going for the sake of it. No different to turning lights off at home if you're not in the room.

Other measures such as DC-DC chargers make sense, and a while ago I decided to run my caravan fridge off the fixed solar rather than ask the car to do it, works fine. I'd do this with any car, not just the Jeep.

If we need to nervously keep fingers crossed every time we go out, why are we bothering. Turn a few things off and relax.

Trouble is these alternators are failing with out any load on them in both diesel and petrol models.Remember this recall was a worldwide recall issue.

I wonder if fitting a battery isolator switch would be a handy option so that in the case of an alternator failure you could quickly throw it to stop the battery being cooked or a fire starting. It could be mounted inside or under the bonnet where the earth connector is, ie if the negative cable runs up to it. It would sure beat trying to disconnect the battery under the seat.

Indeed, they should have been built with a unit robust enough to cope with 'normal' use (whatever that is) of the GC's standard equipment. I'm sure Denso had the capability of building one.

At present I think minimising the risk of failure can only come from releasing unnecessary pressure on the alt. If you used most of the standard equipment most of the time the thing would feel the strain, but add a light bar, winch, fridge etc. and you could almost smell the smoke before it rises.

Strange ,on my WH 2010 running Engle fridge,van fridge when moving no probs etc these are basically the same alt except 180 amp . understand on my 2012 Overland ,it needs a power station on board. Think alt failure in WKs related to component probs ie below spec etc

I totally agree, the standard alternator is not really fit for service on the GC when you consider the current draw with all equipment operating. You should have equipment that can cope with the maximum current draw being put through it continuously in all conditions.This to me is the bottom line in a vehicle being engineered for purpose!

The alternator problem is it age specific, mileage specific, number of maximum load specific or hit and miss? Does replacing the rectifier guarantee all is good or does it just push the failure down the road hopefully for a bit longer. Surely there must been a solution as I have never had alternator problems at all in 55 years of motoring, except except where it has been a mechanical problem like worn bearing or brushes through huge kilometres.

Sounds like a pain in the ass.
In the WJ in the bush with the radio blasting, climate running, spotties and light bar if at night and it never gave a problem, simple dumb solenoid connecting second battery with fridge running and other stuff charging.
Might as well grab a spare alt for this beastie just in case shit hits the fan. I carried all sorts of sensors form the WJ just incase.
Surely theres some fusible links in there somewhere to protect stuff when the alt shits itself?

I have known it happen in other late model cars. The last one was in friend's Astra, alt went after about 3yrs, very low mileage. I think manufacturers have just loaded more and more electronic gear on cars without developing alternators adequate enough for the long term, and Jeep is a clear culprit.

Alternators in older cars had a fighting chance with much less pull on them. Remember wind down windows, absence of AC, carbies, mechanical ignition, no ECU etc? (not that I miss most of those!). I'd never thought about an alternator failing until the last 10years or so.

Same thoughts here Johnny, remember the days if you had a 55amp Bosch alternator on the ol Kingswood you were doing great, You,d throw a spare regulator complete with brush holder, and if it needed replacing,2 phillips head screws and 2 minutes later all done, I guess when you look at it nothing was heated such as seats, steering wheel, etc, etc.

Haha the good ol days. I'm pretty sure my old MK2 Cortina only had a 30a alternator, did alright, easy to replace, external regulator which was a piece of cake to fix.
Infact I could have the engine out in under half an hour, so easy

And the old HR I had with a ram air-heater, no electric fan (geez, I'd forgotten all about it). And the car with vacuum operated wipers....oh stop it, this is way too much nostalgia!

Haha, my first few cars had ram air heaters, MK1 and Mk2 Cortina's, HR Holden, haha.
I bought an early MK1 Cortina i the 90's that had been sitting in a shed for donkey's years that still had the negative earth, a generator and a little manual push thingo for the washer fluid to squirt out :)

https://www.productsafety.gov.au/rec...grand-cherokee

Just out of Interest these alternators that are failing, are they more prone to the 180amp or the heavy duty 220amp

The recall is for both 180 and 220 amp alternators fitted to petrol only WKs as per recall notice.FCA have up to now not included the diesel in the recall even though same alt same electro hydralic steering etc.ie It appears currently FCA Aust are now reimbursing Aust diesel owners if their alt fails ,as they should!
This was / is a world wide safety related recall.

If FCA are doing this then it is minor but still inadequate progress. As alternator failures appear to occur without warning we have read accounts of drivers narrowly averting potentially disastrous outcomes e.g. failure and a shut down of systems when driving at 100kph etc....

The principal of reimbursement worries me. Offering reimbursement only AFTER the alternator has failed may be too late for the poor sod who ends up being unable to avert disaster. In the worst case scenario, the owner may have more to worry about about than just the cost of a new alternator. A recall on the other hand is a PREVENTATIVE measure which mitigates the risk of failure and potential disaster.

I can't understand why FCA think it's acceptable to exclude diesel owners from the recall when they are at exactly the same risk as petrol owners resulting from failure of exactly the same component :confused:

Loss of steering not nice any time ! I have the same problem with the safety recall for the WK 2 fuel pump relay problem ,another world wide safety recall Dec 2019 still no parts.Probably need new tipms.

i guess this is why jeep scraped the hydro/ electric power steering and went back to hydraulic . No good having no steering if your electrics fail!!