i have a 88 4runner 22re that has been converted to carb..... any ways today i noticed smoke coming out from my hood poped the hood and my alternator was glowing red hot inside pulled the batt terminals and smothered it with gaterade....all i had....lol ..... watt would cause this too happen....also i noticed my lights inside and out side the truck will randomly get really bright for a bit then go back dim.....my lights do flicker when i turn on anything in the truck even when its running...... my guess is a bad voltage regulater..... but idk or could it be bad grounds somwere?

 

A shorted winding makes more sense. change the battery at the same time. I would also inspect the wiring too.

Not something to have to deal with twice.

 

same thing on my truck it pegged the meter so i got out bud lighted it changed alt on the trail been fine for over a year now

 

So you guys are thinking its a fryd wire some were ......should I still get the alternator checked ..... and any tips on finding that fryd wire...

 

Frayed wire? If the windings are shorted, that is internal to the alternator, you can get the alternator checked but I am 99% sure that it is a goner.

 

So your saying its something that broke in the alternator....and prob not a shorted wire along the truck....by the way thanks for the help guys

 

If you look through the vents on the alternator, you can see the windings, they are the copper wire. They are not supposed to contact each other, otherwise that is a short



The electricity is produced by a magnet spinning inside these copper windings, which produces alternating current.

 

Makes since they were lave red and smoking last night

 

Can any one tell me were the fusible link is supposed to be for the alternator?

 

Any one lol is it just the 80amp in the fuse box?

 

Yes, it should be the AM1

 

Depending on how they're regulated, a typical automotive alternator has the capacity to develop thousands of volts. No more amps, but enough volts to arc weld with. So if one of the components in the regulator failed, that might cause the volts to go haywire and could cause the symptoms you described. I agree with James that the alt is now probably a paperweight. The two components in the truck most vulnerable to extra high volts are probably the ecu and igniter, I think. They're both expensive, so hopefully they have survived. Good luck.

 

The truck has been converted to carb so would I still even have a a ecu? If so were would it be cause I have been going through the wriring and havnt found it on the passenger side behind the kicker pannel.

 

Also shouldn't I have gotten a charge light if the alternator was failing cause I never did by the way I got it tested ....its a paperweight..

 

Burned out charge light bulb in the instrument cluster?

 

Oops. Yeah, sorry, I read 'carb' and then it didn't connect. So, that's good - less potential damage/expense.

 

Ill test the bulb tonight and see if ita burnt out iv been slowly but surely goin through all the wiring and there is no sighns of burnt wires or smell but the previous owner sure did a hack job on stuff
.

 

That would scare the bejebus out of me.

 

You have no idea......there's random splices bundles of wires with nothing connected to them and open plugs of which I have no idea what or were they went

 

id trace all my alt wires in and out before i hook up a new one...cheap insurance.