cmsaw83

Hey everyone, I am still having an issue where my Jeep is wanting to stall whenever it is at low RPMs. I knew I had a bad cheap Everstart battery that needed to be replaced, and an alternator that was about to give up the ghost as well, and seeing as how I just installed a second amplifier in my Jeep, after I got it running again following some different problems which I resolved, I figured it was just low voltage from the old battery being old, and the alternator not being able to charge it amply enough. Every time I would charge the battery to a FULL charge, I could get in the Jeep, drive it to the end of my street and back, and before I was pulling in the driveway again, it was wanting to cut off when RPMs got low. Then after it would cut off, or I would cut it off, I would get a reading on the battery, and it would be just below, or right at a half-full charge. This is after just going up the street in my neighborhood and back.

So, two days ago, I purchased a 136 amp alternator, and an Optima Yellow Top dual purpose battery. I used to install car audio in my much younger years, and I knew that for my needs, with the two relatively small amplifiers I have in my Jeep, that between these two components, I should never need to worry about any power issues from the audio I've hooked up. Anyway, I installed the alternator, which went in like a breeze, and then dropped the battery in, and after getting in the Jeep and driving around a bit, I quickly came to realize that it was still wanting to do this stalling thing, when I get down to low RPMs. Ever since changing the IACV a while back, the idle has been much more consistent, and much lower than it had been for a while as well. Now, I am wondering if it is not TOO low? This stalling only wants to happen when the RPMs drop, say, below 1000. So, if I keep them up, to at least 1500, then I'm good to go. But with an automatic, this can get a bit tricky, and at the end of the day, I want my Jeep to be as reliable as I know it can be, and for it to run correctly/properly.

I have included some pics, so that anyone interested, can see some of the work I have done replacing the POS and NEG/GND wires, from the battery to the starter, engine block, PDC, alternator, etc. Though, one of the wires I left alone, was the main GND from the alternator, because it splices into the main GND that goes from my NEG battery terminal, to the engine block GND. It just splices right into the middle of that wire, with some heat shrink, and some sort of glue that had been applied to it. I am wondering, would it suffice, for me to use some of the 4 AWG OFC black wire I have, and make a new main battery NEG cable, with no splices, that goes straight to the engine block with a ring terminal on the end, and then cut that main GND wire from the alternator, just before it splices into the existing NEG battery terminal GND wire, and put a ring terminal on it, and just fasten that straight to the engine block, instead of trying to re-create some spliced wire that just looks to be iffy anyway?

Also, there is the issue of the starter wires. My starter had a rubber connection attached to it, that had two flanges, a big one and a smaller one, and the thicker AWG positive wire connected into that rubber dual fitting, as well as the much smaller GND. Instead of that, I removed it, and I installed some red 4 AWG OFC copper, straight from my POS battery terminal, to the starter, which I used a crimped on ring terminal to fasten it to the starter. The much smaller GND, I use some good 10 AWG OFC silicone wire, which I crimped a ring terminal to, to connect it to the starter, and I used a yellow coupling type butt connector to connect the other end back up to a piece of the original green wire which went to a wire harness, with several other smaller GND wires going to it as well. So I crimped it back to a piece of the original wire, which I left a bit of, sticking out of that wire harness, for the specific intention of being able to reconnect the starter GND to it. Is this okay, the way I've described it? Is there anything I should have done differently. I know the original wire to my PDC from my alternator, used to use a piece of burn-away wire between the two larger AWG sections of wire, which acted as a sort of fuse between the alternator and the PDC. But now I have red 4 AWG OFC copper wire for all of my POS engine management connections/wires, and in that particular wire, I placed a 150 amp ANL type fuse, in a fuse holder which I mounted to the truck body with some screws, between the alternator and the PDC, to act as that fuseable link. Is my starter okay as described? Or is there some reason why I should re-install the previous wire with the rubber boot on the starter end connection. I began replacing all of this wire, because it was either original wire, which felt stiff, and just not great, or there was quite a bit that had been replaced already, which was CCA wire, which I do not like to use at all, especially for anything in an automobile, but not only that, I'm pretty sure, considering it was CCA wire, that all of it was pretty well undersized. I'm assuming the GND wire from my NEG battery terminal, to the engine block GND location, which also has the alternator main GND spliced into it,, as I previously described, is also one of this person's bits of handy work, andI am afraid that it is also CCA wire. But I needed to describe my plan to replace it, as I have above, here first, in order to have someone reassure me that the way I plan to rerun these wires will suffice. I am a plumber, not an electrician, and beyond what I know from doing my car audio installs (which I have always continued to do on the side, along with several other things besides plumbing, which I enjoy doing, like home theater install, and work on guitars and guitar amplifiers as well), my electrical expertise - which I only say here for lack of a better term - only goes so far. I'm one of those guys who, if I don't know, I'm ALWAYS going to be honest with whoever I am dealing with, and let them know before hand "hey, this part of this, may be a bit out of my wheel house, and I can do my best here for you, but I would recommend getting someone else who is a professional to do this part of things". And that is what I am doing here, because I know it's just not anything I'm thoroughly schooled on, so I'm not going to just pretend I know, and try to wing it. I know from experience watching other guys do that type of thing, that it can very often come back and bite you in the a**.

Anyway, thats where I am at and any help with this stalling issue would be greatly appreciated. I really could use some suggestions as far as what it could be, or where to start looking, or what to look into, because I'm kind of at a loss here. Thanks for anything anyone might be able to offer.


These are my new starter connections/wires. Is this acceptable? The Jeep has been starting up fine.

This is my new 136 amp alternator. You can see the new 4 AWG OFC red wire. But the main GND from the alternator is the questionable one spliced into the main battery terminal GND wire. Can I reroute the ALT GND straight to the engine block, then make a new NEG battery wire 4 AWG OFC, straight from battery to engine block?

This is the ugly splice, where the alternator is spliced into my main NEG battery cable, that goes from battery to engine block.

This is how my new Yellow Top battery reads with the engine off/not running.

This is what I get on my meter with the Jeep running, in park, at idle, with the AC on high, my headlights and fog lights on, and my stereo system on, which means both amps are on and functioning.

97grand4.0

I’m sorry, what was the question again?