Here is the situation:

05 CRD with 136K on her. Replaced a faulty alternator in August.

Today while driving home I got both a flashing ETC warning light and a solid battery light. The battery light went out, but the ETC stayed on and flashing.

I finished the > 2 mile drive home, shut her off, and then tried to restart, as per the manual. All of the gauge lights came on, as per normal, but when I turned the key I got the click that comes along with a dead battery.

I then let it sit for a bit while I started researching. I went back out, cranked the key and she tried to turn over - i.e. the battery started to regen some energy.

I put a trickle charger on it and let it charge for an hour or so. I then went out and it started right up. I let it run for a couple of minutes, shut it off, and then tried to restart and got the click again.

I put it back on the charger for two-ish hours and then started it up again, let it run for five minutes or so, turned it off, and then tried starting again. It started up just fine. My wife then drove it around the block. When she got home and shut it off then tried to restart it, the click again.

The ETC light has not come back on during any of these activities.

The front pulley of the alt is covered in dust - seemingly indicative of the clutch going bad - part of what helped to diagnose the bad alt originally.

My question, then is does this seem like an alt that just decided to give up the ghost or might something else be causing this? As I live in Alaska, I don't want to order an alt from the Outside if it might be something else - takes too long and costs too much.

Thanks in advance for the help. I've lurked here for some time, getting answers about all kinds of issues with the Jeep.

I'm by far not the best mechanic in the world, but would I would check: if you have a voltmeter, see what the output is on the battery with engine off. Start it and see what the output is with engine running. Not sure of the right numbers, but someone on this forum probably will jump in with the right numbers. If I can "remember" battery full charge 12.6v Alt. 14.5-14.8v?

Althoughit sounds like an alterator problem, a weak battery will do strange things.

Have the charging system checked out no charge at your local Autozone or Advanced Auto.

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2006 Liberty Limited CRD, Deep Beryl Green, Yeti tune, Arp studs, new cams, rockers, lifters, TB. "Green Monster"
2005 Liberty Sport CRD, Deep Beryl Green, GDE Hot Tune, ARP studs. "Rocket"
1982 Fiat 124 Spider Convertible. "Fiona"

Thanks for the ideas. The battery should be good as it was purchased just before I moved to Alaska in August of this year. I'll check the voltage at the battery and see what I get. If it is low >12, it is fairly safe to say it is the alt, correct? That is the sense I get from the other posts i have read about the alt.

Thanks again.

Alternator maybe but, not knowing what kind of battery you have, it may just have a bad or dead cell in it. Battery with dead cell shortly after buying it "new" has happened to me in the past once. Was a new expensive Delco years ago.

Batteries can fail in two basic ways. A shorted cell will show low with the jeep shut off. A weak one (alternator problem maybe) will show 12 volts with the jeep shut off but when a load is applied will drop.
Ideally you check a battery with a load tester AFTER it has been fully charged. Load testera are not a fancy devices and have been around since the begining of self starters They have a meter that indicates voltage, most times in a GREEN, YELLOW or RED scale. When hooked up if it's not green then it's bad. Then a switch is pushed and a large resister bank is put accross the battery. With the load applied the meter will show green, yellow or red.

I know your in Alaska and there's not an Advanced Autoparts and Autozone both on every street cornor but there's place somewhere that has one

You can test the alternator, mostly, by metering the battery with the jeep off. Then start the jeep, turn on the head lights and heater blower and read the battery voltage. Its should be above 14 volts. You may need to raise the idel a little for this.

It sounds like your wife is the primary driver and for material bliss you might want to seek knowledgable help if your not sure of what's going on. Or just replace the alternator, battery and serpintine belt and you should be good.

I've not had pulley problems yet but as I understand it they mostly fail locked up like a normal pulley but I "assume" they could fail where they slipped all the time.

That all said my experience with "rebuilt" anything electrical has not been so good. But there are some good shops around that do good work

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Atlantic Blue 06 CRD Limited (his)
Joined by a 2000 XJ Classic (hers)

I would also check your battery connections and ground connection. It could be some corrosion or maybe a loose connection.

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My collection of CRD's:
2005 Deep Beryl Green Pearlcoat
2006 Light Khaki Metallic Clearcoat
2006 Inferno Red Crystal Pearlcoat
2006 Midnight Blue Pearlcoat
2006 Gold Limited
2015 Black Ecodiesel
2015 Black Ecodiesel 2

The only time I had a dead battery was when the decoupler pulley on the alternator broke, the dealer could not even diagnose it properly, the battery was replaced the a few hours later the lights started to dim so I drove home shut it off and tried to restart and nothing just a click. I charged the battery and had the charging system checked and nothing. So I took the alternator off took it to a alternator shop and the guy grabbed the alternator by the pulley and said here is your problem. I then went to the local jeep shop and ordered the decoupler pulley, I installed it and no problems in 3 years and 80k miles. The part was $55 not bad compared to $ 400 for a alternator.