Hi everyone,

Quick question... my pickups break light and battery light comes on simultaneously with a belt squealing it usually happens then shuts off and then kicks back on and shuts off... this happens every time I drive it. Also my bright lights are not working and my dims seem overly dim.

I use this truck a lot and it hasn't had much for maintenance over the years. It's got ~170K. The tranny seemed like it was slipping so brought it in to get the tranny fluid changed and a new filter/pan gasket. It still seems to be delayed when shifting into drive or reverse but it does shift and once in gear it seems to drive fine. They also replaced the battery because they said it was dead.

I bought a new alternator but before I was going to install it I thought I should checked the voltage with a voltmeter... all values (engine off, running and running with a load) seem ok. The power steering pump has been leaking fluid so the alternator was caked. Bought some degreaser and tried cleaning it up a little but the issue persists.

Any ideas or thoughts? How difficult is it to change the power steering pump? I'm no mechanic but I could change the alternator.

Could the tranny be related to the other issues?

Thanks for any advice/comments!

 

The brake and battery lights together are generally an indication of the alternator, battery, or associated fusible links. The squeal may well be a belt slipping when the alternator is under heavy load. Right after starting especially, but anything.

Power steering fluid dripping down into the alt will trash it eventually. I promise you that after having the one on my 87 pickup and 4Runner both having that problem. Once I got the PS leakage stopped, I stopped failing alts nearly so often.

Check and clean both battery terminals. Even a small amount of corrosion can have a big effect. Corrosion will get down inside the insulation of the battery cables. ALL of them. Ohm them out carefully, while flexing them. If you can, putting meltwall heatshrink on them will reduce the occurance of corrosion inside the insulation.
Clean both ends of every ground wire you can find, as well.
Pull the alternator's plug, clean it thoroughly, and put in a dab silicon dielectric grease. I use that stuff everywhere.
Pull the plugs off the headlights and clean the contacts. They get corroded badly. Again, grease em!
Take te covers off the steering column, and inspect/clean the headlight switch. The little contacts in it get corroded, and bend out of position over the years. They're right out in the open, and easy to see.

Let us know how things go
Pat☺

 

Thanks Pat! I really appreciate you taking time to share your expertise. Changed the alternator and haven't seen the break light or the battery light or heard any squealing... but still don't have brights and dims seem dim so I'll check the fuses, connections and give you and update. Seems too coincidental not to be related... but maybe it two separate issues.

Thanks again!
Shane

 

Like Pat says about PS fluid and alternator.
Even with new alt, best to understand.how system works:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116.../#post52401963

Re: Headlights, that system is flawed. Search the site.
Also google "convoluted path 4crawler".
After u do as Pat suggests, consider H4 conversion harness.

 

Hi Guys,

Quick update... changed the alternator and that fixed the battery light and break light. Replaced both headlights and that fixed that issue.

Unfortunately yesterday she got struck by lightning and it absolutely shredded the front passenger side tire. Now there is a fan constantly running while the ignition is off and all lights are off in this black box in the upper left corner (passenger side) of the engine compartment.

I'm not sure what it is... but I pulled the negative terminal off and the fan obviously shuts off but when connected it immediately turns back on.

The image below shows the box. Can someone help me identify this?!?

Thanks for all the help and expertise... really appreciate your time and thoughts.

 

That is some sort of aftermarket gizmo. I am not sure what it is. Are there any markings on it?

 

Hi, thanks for the response... no there really are not but one line goes to the throttle and another to the dash, one other somewheres down toward the motor.

There is cruise control on it... that's the only aftermarket addition I think it's got.

I'll keep doing some research!

Thanks for your input!

 

Hi, thanks for the response... no there really are not but one line goes to the throttle and another to the dash, one other somewheres down toward the motor.

There is cruise control on it... that's the only aftermarket addition I think it's got.

I'll keep doing some research!

Thanks for your input!

 

I was facing this problem. It won’t be in a position to activate the lights when the pedal is pressed, and due to this, the lights will not work.
I have checked via an obd scanner and it's indicationg U3003 code errors. That U3003 code means a generic communication problem with battery voltage https://theeffectiveguide.com/u3003-code/ . Here is the further details you can check.