I have a real stumper right now and I can't seem to find the cause... I have a 1st Generation 1986 4Runner... Two weeks ago the Alternator light & brake light came on while I was driving home.. Got her to the house, did the normal alternator test... ie: took the positive cable off while it was running.. It of course killed the engine so I changed out the alternator... Problem fixed!! Or so I thought... A few days later, Thanksgiving coming home from my sis' I couldn't get the beast started... It would crank then act like it had a bad battery... so I roll started it... got it home... tried a differant battery, still no luck... after a while and many differant things tried... finally got her going.... She now has a new battery, ground & positive cable & alternator..... Wait... here comes the next issue... She ran like a dream... BUT!!!!! Now I have the alternator light flickering intermittenly... I have tested everything I can think of!!!!!! Can anyone help me with this issue???? I really am stumped....

 

clean and check ALL connections for the battery, alt & starter. what feels like tight usually isnt. check all ground connections as well, do the easy stuff first.

check out www.4crawler.com , lots of great tips and tech there.

lee

 

i second the checking the grounds they are all buggers and without them things can happen

 

Thanks guys.. I really appreciate the suggestions... Any other suggestions you can think of, please let me know....... I am going to replace the new hot & ground cables for the battery, they were cheapies that I had lying around... Then I am going to go over the runner from tire to hood... I will check all my connections again just to make double sure.... When I first bought the Runner my only thought was to wheel it... but it has become my daily driver.... I would choose it over my Chevy Blazer or my Dually anyday.... She is the most dependable truck I've ever owned, bar none!!!!!!

 

tension the belt or a parasitic drain while driving ?

 

mine too
i know if i had to choose, only 1 vehicle, it would be the toyota, and i would sell the bmw. bought my truck as a street commando/parking lot warfare (my company has micro-spaces and everyone has door dings ) and when i got this, i wrapped it w/full smitty built bumpers, best option ever !

now, i love the way the truck handles, drives and basically goes everywhere w/out worrying about its dings (*now everyone else fears my truck and i get plenty of girth on the freeways

love my truck

 

yea make sure your belt tension is good otherwise the alternator wont function unless the RPM's are up. make sure the ring that goes over the alternator grounding post is all the way down adn that the nut that goes over it is tight. If you did the alternator yourself double check the plug in the back. The plug i have is different then yours but one time i damaged it by pulling it off and eventually i had to replace the plug, it took me a long time to figure out that it was the problem.

 

Since I do not have my manual handy and I have the same problem. Can anyone tell us the proper deflection of the alternator belt. I checked mine and it seemed o.k. It dropped what I'm eyeballing as 1/2".

Bump for more information!!