spokane.yota.man

Alright guys. I need some help! I’ve been dealing with the charge/brake light problem for 10 years now and I really want to get it figured out, it’s driving me insane!@#$!@#$. 87 pickup, 4wd, 22r. The short version of the story is this (I know it doesn’t look short but I have lots of history, sorry). Bought the truck 10 years ago and the two lights were always on, for a few years, I got use to it. Then one day they went away, for a few years. Then last summer I swapped my weber for my rebuilt stock carb and upon first start up they came back (coincidence?). This time the lights came and went throughout the day. After some research I replaced the brush assembly in my alternator with a Toyota oem one. Still happened, different pattern of flashing on/off dim/full. Well I just finished rebuilding my motor (runs great!) last weekend and put on a new alternator in the process since my old one was just too ugly to put on a shiny new motor. I replaced the brushes that came with the new alt with the Toyota set that was only a couple months old. Guess what, the lights were still coming and going. But in a different pattern then last time. I have a autometer voltmeter gauge and I kept an eye on it and it changed quite a bit. It would vary from 12v (no charge) to 16v (too much charge). However the lights could be on when it was too high or too low. I also noticed that my wipers seemed slow and I noticed my lights dim a few times so it became clear something was wrong and needed fixed. I suspected it was being caused by my dual battery setup. I put that in years ago and had had the light problem both before and after so I wasn’t too confident. So I took that out on monday. The battery, the isolator and I re-wired the alt. since I had to re-wire I got a good look at all the alt wires, all looked good. Started it up tuesday, no lights all day, voltmeter right at 14 all day. wednesday, I thought I saw a tiny glimpse of them wanting to come on a few times but not positive on that. Then thursday start it up, guess what? The charge light (no brake) is lit up about half way. Voltmeter right at 14. That was when the choke was on. started to drive and it went it away. At a stop light a while later, the charge light is flashing (half lit) with my blinker. Voltmeter still at 14. So Thursday I tear into it again. I moved ground wires and I played with the fuse block. I did find a male spade connector that was loose so it wasn’t fully engaged in the fuse (main big one). On Friday no lights in the morning, after work, some dim lights coming and going. Today started it up, about half way to work….. both lights back on, full bright. This time when they start to come on they flicker, at the same time my voltmeter is jumping all over the place, including up to 16amps. Then once they stop flashing and stay lit the gauge is 12. When they go away a few minutes later, gauge is back good at 14. This pattern is yet again, different from the rest. It does show me that the lights are in fact signaling a problem, the guage reflects what the lights are doing. Sometimes punching gas or hitting a bump will cause it to change, not always. They never stay on long enough (this time around) to have someone watch the lights while I mess with wires.

I haven’t been going through batteries much over the years so it hasn’t been bad enough to ruin batteries. I haven’t drove the truck on a regular basis in over 5 years though, and a few times it sat in storage for 6+ months. So what battery problems I have had were more related to that (I think). Now that I painted it (last summer), lost all the off-road mods that I don’t use to make it a better dd and rebuilt the motor I want to start driving it more but this light thing is killing me. Please help! Everything I read about this problem usually leads to the brushes/alt. I know that’s not it. It’s not my dual batteries (any more), so what does that leave? A short? Loose connection? Is there a relay or something that could cause it? I’ve poked and prodded every electrical thing I can think of but I haven’t found the cause of the problem. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks! (sorry for the long post, lots of details, I know)

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

First have you upgraded your ground cables to something thicker then stock also newer???

The wire coming off the alternator B terminal and running up to the fuse block in the engine compartment.

I have seen this become so brittle and burnt over the years from the alternator end and the heat from the exhaust manifold.

That they can cause a problem like yours.

Also the plug on the alternator I have seen become corroded even though the new alternator has nice shiny new contacts.

I am sure you ruled out something as simple as a loose belt or cracked bracket.

The lights will come on for low voltage as well as High voltage or they should

spokane.yota.man

Hey someone made it through my ridiculously long post, thanks! I haven't tried upgrading the ground cables yet, I'll try that. I just did a full rebuild so the bracket and belt and such is good. When I removed my dual battery setup I got a good look at the alt wires, they looked good. I replaced the main large alt wire with a new one. I'll take a closer look at the harness again. I did remove a few switches and relays and that from stuff I longer longer have on the truck, from lights and stuff. 10 years worth of mods and aftermarket stuff left a mess of wires. Maybe cleaning up that stuff helped, lights didn't come on this morning. But I'm not too optimistic. Ha ha.

haddock01

i had a similar probolem on my 89 under the drivers fender there are wires that run from under the hood to the cab outside the engine compartment. mine were frayed and messed up from wheeling fixed that section of wires and everything worked just fine made me mad cause i had just replaced my battery, altenator and bunch of relays and fuses and it turned out to be that.

spokane.yota.man

Thanks. I'm thinking too its got to be bad wires or a loose connection somewhere. I'm going to start following wires to see if I can find something. The hard part is that since it always comes and goes, for days (or years) at a time I won't really know if its fixed. I've already "fixed" it about 5 times, it just comes back in a new form. Ha ha.

Mr.Utah

Just finished with the same problem, replaced alt., problem fixed. Try pulling the plug behind the alt., if both light stays on, problem with wiring. If light goes out, problem with alt. If you find its bad wiring, there is a relay behind the jocky box that sometimes get loose or needs replacement. Some people have opened up the relay and soldered the loose parts back in. Hope this helps.

spokane.yota.man

FIXED!!!!! i think, ha ha. i'll believe it in a year or two. after lots of anger and frustration i found that a stupid, worthless, purely aesthetic piece was causing my problem. it's an adapter that was between the harness and alternator. (photobucket is having site maintenance going on two days now, i'll post a pic when they fix their crap). well i suspected this a few weeks ago and went to the dealer to get a new one. they couldn't find anything like that in system. that threw me off cause i thought it was a factory item, it was on the truck when i got it. after lots of searching i only found one thing online that mentioned this piece. it was on this forum, someone mentioned it was a piece aftermarket alternator rebuilders would use to cover a damaged plastic plug housing on reman alts (https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...rnator-101541/). well once i read that i remembered my old alt was chipped on the plastic housing where the harness plugs into. so i looked at this adapter closer and it was just a piece to cover it up. i tossed it and plugged the harness directly into the alternator and no more lights, good voltage. i couldn't believe it. i assumed (i know what they say about assuming) the alt that i had was stock and i thought that adapter had more purpose, some internal electronics or converted a spade terminal into a different direction for different models or something. i should have looked at it closer. regardless, that was my problem, the female spade terminals looked loose so it was what i suspected all along, a loose connection. so moral of this story if you have this brown adapter, THROW IT AWAY! its wortheless and purely aesthetic.

spokane.yota.man

here it is...




anyone else ever have one of these on their alt? the bottom wen't into the plug housing and the top was for harness. what a pain. well now its all good.

scroungecat

did you try replacing your alternator charge and bat light were on i my moms yota 85 2wd the lights would come on and off swithced alt they only went on with koeo key on engine off