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Replacing fusible link on alternator cable
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Author:  BodhiBenz1987 [ Tue Jan 09, 2018 3:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Replacing fusible link on alternator cable

I'm posting a second topic on my problem because at this point my important question is kind of buried in the first one, since I didn't know what the actual problem was when I posted, and it also went off-topic. I blew the large fusible link between the alternator and power distribution block and need to replace it. It is 8 gauge and I cannot find 8 gauge fusible link anywhere other than in 25' rolls from distributors. Has anyone else replaced this, and where did you get it? Also, what are my other options? Could I try 10 gauge, like the gas KJs had or would it likely just blow? I've seen people say they replaced it with a MAXI fuse, but I have no idea of deciding the amp rating to use, since fusible links don't have amp ratings.

Author:  WWDiesel [ Tue Jan 09, 2018 10:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Replacing fusible link on alternator cable

Not sure how you came up with 8ga.? WD Page 8-20-3 in the FSM for the diesel charging system says 10ga fusible link between battery and alternator.... :shock:

Author:  BodhiBenz1987 [ Tue Jan 09, 2018 10:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Replacing fusible link on alternator cable

WWDiesel wrote:
Not sure how you came up with 8ga.? WD Page 8-20-3 in the FSM for the diesel charging system says 10ga fusible link between battery and alternator.... :shock:


The link that came out of my CRD has "8 gauge" stamped on it and so does the link in my dad's CRD. I have the diagram and believe me the contradiction concerns me but it seems like I should use the same thing that was in the car from the factory. If anyone else wants to check what it says in their car and chime in I'd be interested to know. Either some CRDs differ from the diagram, the diagram is wrong, or the links are stamped wrong ... I don't see how that last one would happen.

Author:  tjkj2002 [ Tue Jan 09, 2018 10:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Replacing fusible link on alternator cable

You will need at least a 125amp-150amp fuse.

Author:  BodhiBenz1987 [ Wed Jan 10, 2018 12:41 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Replacing fusible link on alternator cable

Update: I did find 8-gauge fuse link from a supplier in Ohio and ordered it. Now just need to decide I am confident with that size despite the discrepancy in the FSM. If anyone can offer more insight into this please do, or check what is in your CRD.

Author:  Billybob [ Wed Jan 10, 2018 8:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Replacing fusible link on alternator cable

I have been into the wiring diagrams for the KJ many times and trust me there are lots of discrepencies!

The link you had installed in your Jeep worked well for you and did its job well so I see no harm in replacing it with the same stamped value of 8.

Author:  WWDiesel [ Wed Jan 10, 2018 4:00 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Replacing fusible link on alternator cable

BodhiBenz1987 wrote:
Update: I did find 8-gauge fuse link from a supplier in Ohio and ordered it. Now just need to decide I am confident with that size despite the discrepancy in the FSM. If anyone can offer more insight into this please do, or check what is in your CRD.

I went and looked at mine; could not find any markings, but most of wires are covered up in new sheaths that I redone a couple of years back.
Does look like a large wire!!!
If your OEM was 8 ga. I would certainly go with that! Should be plenty big enough.
And yes, FSM has been proven to be wrong before especially on the CRD's! :shock:

Author:  BodhiBenz1987 [ Wed Jan 10, 2018 4:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Replacing fusible link on alternator cable

Thanks guys, it makes me feel somewhat better that the FSM is known to have inaccuracies. Maybe sometime between the writing of the diagrams and building of the Jeeps, they decided to switch to the larger gauge wires shared with the Renegades. Maybe it has to do with alternator output ... our CRDs and the Renegades would have had higher-output alternators than the normal 3.7s, right?

Author:  GordnadoCRD [ Wed Jan 10, 2018 4:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Replacing fusible link on alternator cable

BodhiBenz1987 wrote:
Thanks guys, it makes me feel somewhat better that the FSM is known to have inaccuracies. Maybe sometime between the writing of the diagrams and building of the Jeeps, they decided to switch to the larger gauge wires shared with the Renegades. Maybe it has to do with alternator output ... our CRDs and the Renegades would have had higher-output alternators than the normal 3.7s, right?

The "why" is Unknown

I suspect it has more to do with the "copy and paste" process of people trying to push a product to market too quickly to do a thorough job.

Author:  WWDiesel [ Wed Jan 10, 2018 11:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Replacing fusible link on alternator cable

As a former technical procedure writer for 20 plus years, I cannot imagine trying to write a manual of such scope and complexity to cover every version of the Jeep Liberty they produced for one year! No wonder they have so many mistakes and bad data! :shock:
Seems to me it would have made a lot more sense to produce a different manual for each model rather than trying to cover them all in one document. :roll:

Author:  BodhiBenz1987 [ Thu Jan 11, 2018 12:15 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Replacing fusible link on alternator cable

WWDiesel wrote:
As a former technical procedure writer for 20 plus years, I cannot imagine trying to write a manual of such scope and complexity to cover every version of the Jeep Liberty they produced for one year! No wonder they have so many mistakes and bad data! :shock:
Seems to me it would have made a lot more sense to produce a different manual for each model rather than trying to cover them all in one document. :roll:


That's true, it's a ton of information crammed into one resource. I can see why they grouped them together for some of the chassis stuff that's all the same, but it might have been simpler to produce a separate manual for each engine and engine-specific systems. I'm not an expert into what goes into organizing a manual though! I guess if I think about it some of the Mercedes ones are just as confusing, but I don't notice it because I have more experience with working on the car and can shrug it off if something doesn't make sense in the manual because I know what it should be.

Author:  tjkj2002 [ Thu Jan 11, 2018 1:05 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Replacing fusible link on alternator cable

BodhiBenz1987 wrote:
WWDiesel wrote:
As a former technical procedure writer for 20 plus years, I cannot imagine trying to write a manual of such scope and complexity to cover every version of the Jeep Liberty they produced for one year! No wonder they have so many mistakes and bad data! :shock:
Seems to me it would have made a lot more sense to produce a different manual for each model rather than trying to cover them all in one document. :roll:


That's true, it's a ton of information crammed into one resource. I can see why they grouped them together for some of the chassis stuff that's all the same, but it might have been simpler to produce a separate manual for each engine and engine-specific systems. I'm not an expert into what goes into organizing a manual though! I guess if I think about it some of the Mercedes ones are just as confusing, but I don't notice it because I have more experience with working on the car and can shrug it off if something doesn't make sense in the manual because I know what it should be.

Everyone does that,the biggest offenders are parts houses and it's real bad for KJ's since outside of North America the Liberty is still called the Cherokee so the parts houses systems lump all of the XJ stuff into the KJ stuff and all the KJ stuff into the XJ stuff.

Author:  BodhiBenz1987 [ Tue Jan 16, 2018 7:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Replacing fusible link on alternator cable

I updated my older thread as well, but, I ended up taking the whole harness out and taking it to a battery/alternator/wiring specialist shop and for $30 they redid the alt cable and fusible link for me. Looks great and professional and worth a little money to save me the struggle of trying to pry apart and recreate crimps without the right tools, plus have peace of mind it's done right. Also gave me a chance to really check and clean up every connector. Put the harness back on last night and it fired right up. I drove it on some errands today and no issues so far. Still on guard for the original charging issue i had to reappear, but it doesn't seem at this point my mistake caused additional problems. The shop agreed that I should use the 8-gauge that was on the harness and ignore the diagrams. They said they could use a MAXI if I wanted but their preference is to go with the factory setup. So, hopefully that is informative if anyone else is scatterbrained enough to do this. I also have some 8-gauge fusible link left over if anyone else finds themselves needing it. 8)

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