Not sure if it's the alternator, battery, terminals, or ground to chassis.

[SulkierLizard]

I have a 2000 Jeep Cherokee with around 240,000 miles on it. On a trip my "Check Gauges" light came on, and the battery gauge was reading at the bottom (9v). I'm not sure if was not receiving any voltage or it was actually 9v. Anyway, after about 40 miles of driving the light went out and the battery gauge jumped back to (14v) where it normally stays.

My dad suspected it to be the ground wire to the chassis since it was frayed and worn. He temporarily replaced it with another wire from an older car, but the connection was very loose to the terminal. The next day on the way home from his work he said the radio started to go and then the headlights dimmed and nothing was working except the engine. He was only 10 minutes away from home and continued to drive it home. Then he turned it off and immediately tried to start it, it would not start, though. After 3 days of sitting in ~20 degree weather the Jeep started up and we was able to move it. I'm not sure what to make this.

So my question are these symptoms of a bad battery, alternator, terminals, or is a bad chassis ground the case? The battery is 3 years old, and everything else is still original.

I tested the battery while it was running and was getting a constant 14.1-14.3v depending on how much my dad revved it. The resistance from the negative terminal to the nut on the frame was around 4.7 ohms. Although, it was still connected..I'm not sure if I was running through the rest of the circuit. (It's been a while since I've messed with electronics). Taking the wire off it gave me around 1.7 ohms. I would have thought it should have been 0 ohms considering the gauge, but again I'm having trouble remembering the tidbits.

So, yeah. I'm not sure where to go from here. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!!!

[2000izusu]

Originally Posted by SulkierLizard

So my question are these symptoms of a bad battery, alternator, terminals, or is a bad chassis ground the case? The battery is 3 years old, and everything else is still original.

it could be any of them. how about a load test on the battery?

also when brushes fail in an alternator the can be intermittant.