1998 Limited Transfer Case Actuator Light

My old beast is playing up a bit lately after several years of relatively good behavior. I actually have a couple of problems I'm hoping someone can advise me about - please!

The first is that recently the 4WD Indicator light doesn't always come on, though it does most of the time, even though the 4WD is actually engaged; I know the actuator's working because I can hear it engage and disengage every time. There's a fair chunk of wiring going to the transfer case and I've pulled out all of the connectors I can and shorted out the ones that seem to be connected to individual switches installed on the transfer case, but none of these work the light in question. Is it possible that the light is actually switched from something inside the electric motor itself rather than from a removable switch on the transfer case itself? When the light does come on, it has full brightness, i.e., it doesn't flicker so it either illuminates perfectly or not at all.

The second problem is that 2 alternators have failed within a month, the first lasting about three years, and the second, well a month later. Both were after market alternators, the first from Crappy Tire, er I mean Canadian Tire, and the second being a new Premier Gear PG-13671 Professional grade via Amazon. Everything I read about Premier Gear alternators was positive, with mainly 4 and 5 star reviews. My one concern was that it is rated at 70 amps and I'm not really sure whether that's sufficient, however it was shown as being suitable for my 4Runner which is why I went for it. I live in Edmonton, where winter is the dominant season so everything electric is usually on, including headlights, rear defrost, heater fan at full blast.

Any suggestions, short of buying a Jeep, will be very much appreciated.

 

I would source a used OEM and have it rebuilt. Usually it's just brushes going bad. Very easy job if it's just brushes. Probably a straight up used TOYOTA junkyard alt will run for another decade.

My alt has run for 250k miles. No way am I replacing it with anything other than OEM or getting it rebuilt.