91 4x4 22re 5spd brake and battery light on
 

Battery is also dead...
swapped alternator, still the same...

Try anotther alternator?

By the way, how is the right way to remove the alternator from a 91 22re with power steering and no AC?

With much wiggling and tight fiddling, the alternator top bolt and bottom pivot bolt come out, and the harness connectors are easy enough, but then there is no way out for the alternator. Out the top, the steering box, a couple of hard-steel and flex power steering hoses, the distributor, and air intake system are all in the way. With the power steering is on top of the alternator, hard lines and flex lines but no way to bring alternator up without taking apart PS system and losing all the fluid. Out the bottom, there is the alternator mount bracket, and the lower coolant hose, and the steering linkage all in the way.

So I went out the bottom... remove alternator bracket from engine, (4 x 14mm head bolts) turn wheels all the way right, remove pitman arm to drag-link center-link ball joint (1 x 19mm nut with cotter pin), and it all drops out. That seemed like lotsa pita. Is there an easier way?

Thanks,
Mathew Banack
Round Hill, Alberta, Canada

I found the easy and fastest way .

Is drain the coolant remove the bottom hose from the radiator .

Alternator comes out easy .

I always found it easier to get the top bolt from the top and the bottom bolt from underneath

The easier way is NOT to replace a part unless you are absolutely sure that it is broken and replacing will fix the problem.
Here's how charging system on 22RE works, with suggested test points. No wrench needed :)

Bit of an update...
 

I unhooked battery and left battery on charger overnight.

This morning before heading off to work, I hooked up battery and started it, battery/brake light were on for a minute, then went off, then on again, then off. Didn't have time to get to the alternator test instructions before work, I'll go through the test process tonight when I get under there again.

For about the last year, it seemed the battery had more white corrosion than usual around the posts, and was needing top-up of distilled water from time to time. This would be an indication of overcharging, but the light wasn't on, and at idle the battery terminal voltage metered about 14.6~14.7. Which is at the top of the range, but I attributed it to the battery being 10 years old and maybe getting tired,but hoping it lasts a while longer.

I guess this situation begs for a better voltmeter in the vehicle, the guage in the dash goes up a bit from idle to 2500 rpm driving speed, but "up a bit" is about all one can accurately read from that guage. So I will obtain a more accurate voltmeter and use a relay from ignition power to connect it right to the battery. Driving with my Fluke duct taped to the wiper in front of me is only a short-term solution.

About getting alternator in/out by removing rad hose, I've never had to drain the coolant, change hose, remove rad, etc on this vehicle, only spliced a flush-tee into the heater hose, and flushed system a few times with garden hose while changing coolant a few times since 1991, using drain valve and rad-cap... 22RE-Liable....

This was how a shop replaced mine.

Thanks RAD4Runner
 

I went through your nicely detailed test process to test things upstream of the alternator itself. All was good.
So I changed the alternator again. Since the 4 alternator mount bolts and the pitman-arm ball joint were freshly assembled, and I was practiced at removing them, I went that way again rather than dump the coolant and the lower rad hose.
The second alternator works, all assembled and working. The first swapped-in alternator, from a wreck-truck, was a reasonably fresh looking Wilson rebuild. The second was a much older looking Wilson rebuild.
I will be improving the voltmeter situation, ordered up voltmeter and will be hooking it right to battery. I hope that an accurate reading of voltage is across battery posts may provide warning that something is amiss.

Holy cow! There's your problem. One would be lucky if his battery lasts 5 years.
The regulator is probably saying, "I'm working too hard!"

I also ran with Fluke probing at cigarette lighter socket. Then I got this ( )
However, a built-in volt-meter is the way to go. Which one did you get?

I have ordered up one of those 3 digit 7-seg LED voltmeters
 

http://www.miniinthebox.com/0-28-inc...l?currency=CAD

I have a big (100 amp) relay that sitches some accessory lights, that feeds from the battery, and is energized / turned on by the ignition switch. I will feed the voltmeter off the switched side of that relay.
My dash fascia has a couple of horizontal switch blank outs, which I guess the US trucks don't have. I will put this tiny voltmeter in one of those switch blanks. I think the US trucks have an extra air vent there.
The second time I put this alternator on, on the long bolt with the nut on the back, I used the nut from a Subaru alternator mount; it has a little bracket welded on that makes putting a wrench on the nut un-necessary. Just turn on the head of the bolt with a ratchet, and the nut holds itself.
With the difficulty of changing this alternator, I think it might be futile for me to carry a spare in the under back seat compartment. If I'm out on the trail and the alternator dies, its unlikely I will have enough stuff to do a coolant dump, or bust the knuckle off the pitman arm. Either path one chooses for an in-the-bush alternator swap, its an ugly job. The alternator mount, with the front press-fit bushing that pinches in against the alternator to eliminate fore/aft play, makes removing/replacing the pivot end of the alternator from the mount difficult, or darn hear impossible if working with only a flat blade screwdriver and vise grips. If my alternator goes on the trail, I will pull the headlight fuses, eliminate all unnecessary electrical loads, and stop once in a while to get a boost-charge from another truck.
Next visit to the scrap yard, I'm going to look at various other applications, to see if theres a way to change those hard power steering lines to flex lines from a Camry or something. It shouldn't need to be this hard to get the alternator in and out once its unbolted from its bracket.

Those are nice! Thanks for the link.