97 wrangler battery not holding charge!!!

[Dana G.]

I have a 97 jeep wrangler 4 cyl. and the battery won't hold charge!!! I had the alternator checked it was fine. I also switched batteries and it did the same thing!!! Today i started it up, and the meter was reading half way then i turned my heater on and the belt started sqeeking really bad and the battery meter started dropping, when i turned the heater off the belt stopped sqeeking and the gage started climbing again!!!! Please help!!!!!

[gtmud]

Look at your A/C compressor. When you turned on the heat, do you mean the defroster. This (defrost mode) turns on the a/c compressor, you might have a bearing failing in the compressor that would only be noticed when you engage the compressor, causing a drag on the belt, there fore, belt sqeal, slowing your alternator down, volt dropping off.

[fredjacksonsan]

Also sounds like you need to tighten your Vbelt, if it's squealing there's some slippage there. Once you've done that, monitor your battery and see if it stays charged.