Se7en62's '99 Montero Gen 2.5 Overland Build & Adventures

[Se7en62]

Alternator/voltage regulator I'd say. Harmonic balancer doesn't fail quite like that in my experience- having it spin partially free would generate considerable heat and plenty of wear as the rpms increase. Not to mention noise. Alternatively- some fail and the pulley just falls off entirely.

With a multi meter- can you see any voltage fluctuations while at idle? You could have another bad ground elsewhere I think.

That's a good point. My multi-meter died, but I have a 12V voltage meter inside the cabin and it shows lots of fluctuation. It's over 13V while driving, but when at a stop and in gear it drops to 11-13V. Then If I put it in Park, it rises to around 13V. When I turn the A/C and radio off it bumps up to 14-15V. At any one of those points the voltage fluctuates by about .5V to .9V. I'll swing by Oreilly's on my way home and see if they can run their meter over it for more clues.

There is a section of the FSM that details the location of every ground in the whole truck. I’d check and clean each one. Do these lights flicker with the engine off?

I haven't paid them much attention when the truck is off, but I'll pay attention to them this evening and report back. - I want to say that they shine regularly when the engine is off, but I'm not sure. I've looked through Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 of the FSM and haven't found any list of grounds but I may have missed them. I'll look again...unless you know what page?

 

[zerodrift]

It is normal to have 12 volts (+/- 1 volt) and increases to 14 volt (+/- 1 volt). I don't trust the factory gauge in mine at all, as it reads lower generally than what my multi meter notes.

 

[Salonika]

That's a good point. My multi-meter died, but I have a 12V voltage meter inside the cabin and it shows lots of fluctuation. It's over 13V while driving, but when at a stop and in gear it drops to 11-13V. Then If I put it in Park, it rises to around 13V. When I turn the A/C and radio off it bumps up to 14-15V. At any one of those points the voltage fluctuates by about .5V to .9V. I'll swing by Oreilly's on my way home and see if they can run their meter over it for more clues.



I haven't paid them much attention when the truck is off, but I'll pay attention to them this evening and report back. - I want to say that they shine regularly when the engine is off, but I'm not sure. I've looked through Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 of the FSM and haven't found any list of grounds but I may have missed them. I'll look again...unless you know what page?

70-4, 70-5, 70-6

 

[NickSchmaus]

I had this problem with pep boys reman alternators of the voltage dropping way to low at idle and lights flickering. Finally spent the money for an oem alternator and the problem went away.

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[Se7en62]

70-4, 70-5, 70-6

You're a scholar and a gentleman. Thanks for the shortcut!

I had this problem with pep boys reman alternators of the voltage dropping way to low at idle and lights flickering. Finally spent the money for an oem alternator and the problem went away.

Yeah, as I was installing the new alternator power cable last night, I yanked the sticker off the Alternator and found "Made in China" printed on it. That's my sign, I guess. LOL. I'll get it tested this evening just to be sure, but all signs seem to be pointing to a crappy alternator.

 

[Se7en62]

Alright, so here is my update to the "Big 3 Upgrade." All-in I recommend doing this upgrade, especially if you are planning to upgrade other electrical components or add a lot of electrical draw. Even if you don't have those plans, this is a simple enough (time consuming) procedure. You can buy the kits online, or you can build your own from scratch as I have for about $100, plus the cost of whatever tools you don't currently own.

I found this ground strap hanging from the driver's side exhaust manifold. It's suppose to be conmected to the main engine ground, so I made sure to clean the copper up and reconnect it with the new grounding wires.

I also found that surface rust from battery acid corrosion, so I sanded it all down, then primed and painted it. The battery support also needed it, so that was done as well. "When in Rome..."

This is the main engine block ground after removing the factory wire.

This is the factory frame ground where the engine and chassis grounds meet. I cleaned the metal with my 20V Dewalt, (2) 10" extensions, and a copper wire bit.

My first idea on the chassis ground was to replicate the factory one, but this configuration didn't work due to fitment issues.

Under the factory chassis ground at the bottom of the fuse box mount is another ground where I cleaned the points and reconnected.

Midway point...

New engine block ground.

New frame ground where the engine block and chassis grounds meet.

New chassis ground for frame (right) and battery (left).

Factory power output on alternator.

New 1/0 AWG power wire from alternator heading to positive terminal of battery.

Buttoned up and finished...

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[NickSchmaus]

Below is the list of materials I bought (UPDATED w/ WHAT WE USED 5/12/18):

• 8 Surco GM100 5-1/2" Gutter Mounts - Weight: 2 lbs
• (2 @ 21") 3" x 1" 11ga (0.120") Rectangle Tube - Weight: 6 lbs/ea. = 12 lbs
• (2 @ 96") 2" x 1" 11ga (0.120") Rectangle Tube - Weight: 18 lbs/ea. = 36 lbs
• (1 @ 48") 1" OD (0.083") CREW Round Tube - Weight: 0.8 lbs/ft. = 3.25 lbs
• (8 @ 48") 1" x 1" 14ga (0.083") Square Tube - Weight: 4.12 lbs/ea. = 32.9 lbs
• (2 @ 48") 1" x 1" 11ga (0.120") Square Tube - Weight: 5.7 lbs/ea. = 11.4 lbs
• (2 @ 8" x 24") 3/4" 9ga Extruded Steel - Weight: 0.5 lbs/ea. = 1.0 lb
• Total Weight: 98.5 lbs + Welding Wire

About how much was your cost on the metal not including gutter mounts? Thanks. I want to make something similar.


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[Se7en62]

About how much was your cost on the metal not including gutter mounts? Thanks. I want to make something similar.

It was $160 or so for what was used, but the metal distributor (Metals4U) has a warehouse that's local to me. If your location requires shipping, the price can more than double.

 

[Se7en62]

Final prep on the rack is nearing a finish. My garage is a wrecked mess, but the epoxy floor makes for a quick clean up.

Anyhow, I hit it with the angle grinder, then wire wheel, then painted it with VHT Roll Bar and Chassis paint. I like that paint because it's self-priming and has a finish that just about matches the ARB bumper. Plus, the left-over paint I have I can touch up my ARB after trips.

I also replaced all of the hardware that came with the Surco mounts with M6 and M8 allen head bolts, washers, and nylon locking nuts. I also added a set of ROAM awning mounts, which I'll use to mount an ARB awning in the future. The rear awning mounts from Rhino haven't arrived yet, but they're on the way.

Mounting of the Pelican's includes (4) Grade 8 - 3/8-16x1-3/4" bolts, washers top and bottom, and nylon lock nuts. To strengthen the Pelican's mounting points, I added some 36" long 16ga 1" wide Aluminum strips that I cut down to (4) 14" pieces. Those will go inside the Pelican cases to provide more structure to the mount. they'll also serve to help re-waterproof the cases when I install them with some silicon.

 

[Se7en62]

Yesterday, I noticed that Sam's Club has the Duracell Platinum Group 27 AGM in-stock for $159. That's half the price of a comparable Northstar! I did some digging and it looks like these Duracell AGM batteries are made for Duracell by East Penn, which also makes Deka so I know they're high quality. Their specs are solid too with 93Ah and 900 CA.

I'm going to buy one of these on Saturday unless someone convinces me otherwise.

 

[Se7en62]

Alright, a couple updates: The EGR code is gone for now, not sure if it will return pr not but while I was swapping batteries the system was powered down for several hours so it may have done a hard-reset. Fingers crossed, because it's a nuisance.

The battery has been upgraded to the aforementioned Duracell Ultra Group 27M AGM Dual-post. It should run our fridge for a couple days at a time until I can get a Group 31 and mount it in the rear with solar. That's in the months to come.

The other update us that the roof rack is finally finished. It was a lot of time and work, but worth it in the end. This rack will likely last me for years and years to come. The cases up front are hard-mounted to the rack and I also made rubber landing pads for the cross bars that the tent will rest on. These should reduce vibration and negate metal on metal contact.

Now my CVT Mt. Shasta Extended Pioneer is ready to be mounted. I'm going to treat the rain fly with Aqua-Tite and replace the seam tape with Seam Sealer. I also ordered CVT's newer Summit-style tent mounting rails, so those will go on as well.

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[Se7en62]

We've cleaned the tent and it's just about ready to be mounted. I'm just waiting on the rain-fly to seal. We treated it with Aqua-Tite and it take 2-3 days to fully cure. Once that's done, the tent will be loaded from the rear. Then I can install the ARB 4.5' awning with the Rhino Rack mounts I bought. When we designed the roof rack, we actually made it specifically to fit these Rhino Rack mounts in the rear...Why? I don't know...angle iron would have been a lot cheaper. LOL.

Anyhow, our DFG Offroad fridge slide with cutting board has been made. I spoke to Carlos at DFG and he said he's just waiting on another part to arrive and then the slide will ship out. - In anticipation of that being delivered, I went ahead and ordered the materials I need to supply the fridge with constant power. I'm using some 4AWG welding wire from the same manufacturer I used for the "Big 3 Upgrade." It'll run through an 80A Bussman circuit-breaker, then back to a Blue Sea Systems 12-circuit fuse panel with BUS terminal. From there, I'm using a dongle of sorts to provide a 12V DC outlet to the fridge with a 15A inline fuse.

The passenger side window doesn't roll down, so I ordered a replacement regulator as well. That will be here next week and I'll knock it out next weekend.

This weekend I'll be replacing the PO's cheap Chinese alternator with a Denso Reman unit that came in yesterday. I'll get everything I can done with regards to the rear power station, but I also need to install new CV axles, UCA's, LBJ's, and TRE's this weekend as well. - It'll be a busy weekend in 100° heat with 50% humidity, but I can finally seethe light at the end of this 6 month tunnel. Quick, but labor intensive.

I'll post another update this weekend...

 

[Se7en62]

As I said before, I had a pulsation in the interior lights that was really consistent. After looking at my voltage readings a couple times and asking around, I found that my alternator was going out. I ordered the Denso Reman unit from Rock Auto and it was a quick 1 hour job that completely eliminated my pulsing lights and stabilized my voltage.

While I had the airbox off, I went ahead and replaced the 4WD solenoid that causes the front wheel lights to flash on the Super-Select display in the dash. This was a $20 fix that took me 5 minutes to do.

Next I started working on my removing and replacing my CV axles. I realized I needed another tool, so I parked that job for this next week.

Next up on the rack was to get the tent tightened down and the rear awning mounted. I used a set of Rhino Rack Foxwing awning mounts. Why? Idk...I could have used angle iron like the sides, but sometimes these things just work out.

I also started to put together my solution to provide steady power to the rear cargo area. I'll finish all of this today after work.

Finally, I needed to give it a test flight, so I drove it down the road to check for rattles or any ither issues. I used rubber strips and 3M tape on all metal on metal contact points between the tent and the rack so there was nothing to report.

As it sits right now, the exterior is just about finished for now...

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[reversecaoboy]

Man. Everything is great. I may have to try out that battery. Group 27 didn't need any banging or modifications to fit?

 

[Se7en62]

Man. Everything is great. I may have to try out that battery. Group 27 didn't need any banging or modifications to fit?

No modifications whatsoever. It dropped straight in and everything connected just fine.

Last night I ran my 4-AWG wires from the battery to an 80A breaker under the hood and then down along the frame rail to a grommet in front of the rear shock. That grommet leads into a small pocket under the back seat that's barely accessible through the bottle-jack door. Once Ifished them through the harness hole, I was able to then route them back out another hole and under the carpet to the driver's side rear wheel well. Then from tehre, I ran them up through the top of the plastic wheel well surround. - It took me a few hours to get it done right, but it's done.

When I got home tonight, I just needed to mount the Blue Sea Systems fuse panel next to the speaker and hook everything up.

For the time being, I'm just using the 12V DC plug extension as an outlet to connect the fridge. Once the fridge slide arrives next week, I'll figure out how to secure it so it won't come lose offroad. - I know an Anderson clip is likely the route I'll go.