I've noticed over the past week that randomly when I hit the brakes, the radio would turn off quickly and turn right back on. I dismissed it as a lose connection in my radio..

Today while driving, i turned on the blower motor and the truck died, but immediately bump started itself.. All lights, radio, blower motor clearly stop for 1/2 second then come back when the motor kicks back on..

I am going to test the battery for volts at idle, and if its good, I'll bring the alternator into Parts Source for a free test..

Looking for some insight before I get my hands dirty, its pretty cold outside.

 

hmmm

sounds like maybe a bad alternator (or more specifically, a diode or the regulator in it)

any lights on the dash lit? like the battery and brake lights maybe?



most parts stores can load test the battery and alternator while still in the truck btw

 

i'll look into in-vehicle testing..

I wasn't sure if it was a voltage regulator in the alt, or if my battery wasn't handling the spikes well..

 

Check out the following thread and see if this might be your issue:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...rite-up-33526/

I know the thread deals with a 1995 4Runner V6, but it might be a way to check one more thing off the list during troubleshooting. The radio in my 2nd gen 4runner would cut out for a second or so when I hit the brakes. After doing the electrical connection improvement between the pos. terminal of the battery and the 80A fuse it did the trick. No more power loss during braking!

Hope this helps.

 

When I had alternator troubles out of my 93 the first symptoms were radio related. I didn't notice any specific correlation between the brake lights and the radio but the radio would always drop out when switching on the head lights, rolling down the back glass, or during any other kind of high amperage draw. The alternator was a World Class brand reman (on the truck when I bought it) and is but one of MANY World Class alts that I have seen fail.

 

Great link! Sounds exactly like what my truck is doing.
I will take a look at my truck tomorrow.

 

Here is what my cable looked like


Here is a closeup on the battery end.. Only 4 strands were holding on when I took it off, but they broke when I bent the eye connector back and forth twice..


At idle, I turned on all my lights, radio loud, and heater.. so far it's all holding together.. I won't know for sure till I go for a drive..