jasontbird

I have thouroughly searched this topic hoping to find a similar fix but I have come up short. I have an 82 Toy 4x4 Sr5 longbed with 22r engine with IC Alternator/Regulator. History; Charge light and Brake light hav come on and off randomly since I owned the truck (6 years). Would come one each time the truck was started and the voltmeter would show low charge. I would rev the engine and the lights would go out and the voltmeter would show proper charge. Finally I decided the change the brushes in the alternator before it totally died. So I did that exactly 1 year ago. Doing that fixed the low charge and lights coming on upon starting the truck but the lights would still come on and off randomly but never showing a low charge on the voltmeter. I chalked it up to a loose wire in the dash and decided to live with it. Well, this past weekend the voltmeter showed low charge and lights came on and stayed on. So after the battery died and I had to charge it 3 times at different places just to get home from my hunting trip I took out the alternator and had it tested, and it tested bad and it also showed no charge from my own testing. I assumed I screwed it up when I put the brushes in or from off roading and getting wet/muddy. So I swapped in an alternator from my 81 Toy parts truck. Showed charge, but lights stayed on. Swapped in the voltage regulator from the parts truck, still showed charge but lights still on. I had this parts truck running a couple of months ago and it seemed to work fine then and the alternator on the parts truck had been rebuilt already by a local mechanic years ago with very little mileage on it. I am pretty sure these items are good. I checked the ground from the battery to the fender and the ground from the engine to the fender and they both looked good. Not much rust on them or anything. With the truck running I tested the the voltage at the battery and it's showing 14.5 volts. This batter should be full since I charged it to capacity with a charger. The battery seems to be ok. I had it hooked up to a digital charger and it didn't have any problems with the battery while charging. I also checked the fuses. I didn't see any specific fuses for the alternator, but I looked at the enjine and dash lights fuses and they were good.
How long can an alternator run at full capacity before it burns up?
How do you test the grounds besides just looking at them?
Can the battery be bad in some way that would cause any of this?
So any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated guys. In the middle of hunting season for me here and my hunting truck being down really bites. If I don't figure something out by Monday I may have to take it to a shop and I almost never do that. Thanks in advance for your help, much appreciated. Jason.

rowdy235

There is a charge light relay that has been known to go bad and make the lights go on and off randomly. The next time they are on, either smack the passenger-side dash or slam the passenger door and see if they turn off. The relay is mounted back behind the glove box to the right. Something to think about before you go sending it to the shop.

jasontbird

That would make sense. I did notice when the lights would kick on and off randomly I could hear a click over by the passenger door. I guess that would be that relay. Would clicking indicate a problem with the relay or would that be normal. Maybe it finally completely broke and now the lights are on. Well, I do have a free one on the parts truck so I will swap it out and see if that fixes it. Thanks.

red1983

iTrader: (1)

I think these trucks have wierd things go on with the alternator. I would check out that relay rowdy suggested. I replaced mine and it made no difference although.

Sked

I have always had this problem too with all my first gens it drives me nuts. When my Alt finally hits it again im doing the GM 1wire swap and ripping out all that regulator crap.

As of right now im truck charges just fine but Just the Charge light always stays on no matter what. My truck doesnt have a charge relay ive looked everywhere and it aint there... maybe something too do with the 2L diesel it came with?

Scooby098

could always fix it the cheap way... take out the bulb lol

jasontbird

Well, I looked in my 81 toy 4x4 and it did not have a charge relay, so your not alone on that Sked. The truck is charging according to the volt gauge on the truck. How do I know if it is overcharging? I don't want to burn up the alternator. Fo now the relay is out of the truck and the lights don't show at all, but I would rather have it working correctly. I searched the salvage yards and couldn't find any trucks like mine, and the parts store didn't have the part listed. Is there a universal relay I could wire in to replace the old one or am I going to have to go to toyota? Thanks. Jason.

rowdy235

Dealer wants 90 bucks for it. Its been a while since I looked at one but I think its a fairly common relay. If you still have yours, see if there is a diagram on the side and take a pic and post it. One of us will be able to tell you what relay to replace it with, I'm pretty sure you can wire a SPDT one, but I'm not 100%

EDIT: Measure the voltage at the battery with the voltmeter while running if its over 14 IIRC, its overcharging

jasontbird

[IMG][IMG][/IMG][/IMG]

Here is a pic of the relay in question. Without it in the truck the charge and brake light don't function.

" Measure the voltage at the battery with the voltmeter while running if its over 14 IIRC, its overcharging"

What is IIRC? From what I read from the manual, 14.5 volts was in the acceptable range.

jasontbird

[IMG][/IMG]

I didn't see any diagrams, but hand written on the side it says "Drop out 2.3" and under that it says "Pull IN 5.1" Does that mean anything to anyone?

jasontbird

I found the part number for it also.

27790-35010

ND 061700-0330

4Crawler

iTrader: (3)

Likely means the relay coil "drops out" or shuts off at 2.3 volts and "pulls in" or turns on at 5.1 volts.

jasontbird

Question; Is it possible that since I pulled the regulator and alternator from my 81 truck that did not have the relay in question, that it would screw up the way my 82 truck works to turn off the brake and charge light? How does the charge and brake lights get turnned off in a truck that doesn't have that relay?

83rustbucket

So, I have this problem with the charge/brake dash lights on my 83 which has the ic regulator as well. The dash lights have been on since I bought the truck 2 years ago and I have since rebuilt the brake system and never had a problem with charging or battery. The truck has an additional charge/oil pressure gauge setup (appears to be a stock accessory) that shows around 14.5V. At first I thought maybe it was an aftermarket gauge that screwed with the original dummy lights, or something but after trying to trace the wires it appears like a factory setup and I really can't tell any legitimate reason why the lights would be on. occasionally (very rarely) the brake light will turn off but then return after a short time. Should I remove the bulbs and forget about it or what?

Thanks,
Jeff

83rustbucket

agh. Nevermind. I actually sat and thought for a minute and realized that the e-brake wasnt pushing its button in far enough, and jiggling the regulator on the passenger side turned off the charge light. duhh.

jasontbird

Yeah, well, I never solved it. I pulled the relay so the lights would go out. I have not tried getting a new one to see if that's the problem or not, but I have the guages for volts so I'm not too worried about having the idiot lights.

trk4sale

My 83 has been doing the same thing lately. Interesting that this thread would pop back up, I'm going to check the relay today.

gragg2001

Had the same problem on my 82, I took the relay apart, the top comes off and you can push up on the spade connectors on the bottom, to take it apart, what I did was to connect an ohm meter to the relay, mine showed that it was working, but if you moved the relay a little bit it would stop working, I found that the mounting lugs for the magnet and other parts that are soldered to the mounting board, where loose, if you look close enough you can see the post moving, I just re soldered the one's that where moving, and it work's great now, no more light's flashing on and off every time I hit a bump, I hope this helps

yotaboy82

lol WOW my 82 just started doing the exact some thing the other day, i changed the regulater to a IC one i had laying around, now i im gonna change the alternator and that relay(its disconected cause the charge and brake lights would flash on and off)

Padawon

http://board.marlincrawler.com/index...843#msg1076843

I know this is old topic but I know the 1st Gen people will love this modification.