howdy, ok i have a 1984 toyota pickup, just a plain ol shmo joe truck. well the dash boad, or anything lit up, flickers. it will still be on but just dim down and fluctuate from the normal brightness. i replace the alternator bc it was only puttin out like 48 amps when it should have been puttin out 60 something. well has anyone else had this problem. its really annoying and i done know if it will mess up my truck.

 

bad ground.

 

what has a bad ground? the battery or the alternator or what?

 

Battery most likely, but check them both, it's not like it's hard to check the ground...visual inspection is all it takes. If the dash is the only thing that flickers, check the dash ground, no I don't know where that is, find it yourself if you have a Chilton's or FSM.

 

The battery grounding strap is more likely... the hole for the bolt may be rusting out.

If you want to check your other ground wires inside the cab though, remove the kick panels and lower dash pieces.

On a 2nd gen vehicle, most of the ground points are on this 'A' pillar area (both passenger and drivers side) between the floor pan and the dash.
There is also another large ground bolted well in behind your dash, but you would need to remove the top dash piece to access that.

Dave.