I was driving home from Lowes last night when the charge light, at oil temp light, and brake light lit up on my dash.

I pulled the truck over and stopped the engine. After I sat there for about 10 minutes, I thought that I could manage to make it home at least. I was wrong. About 10 minutes into my drive, my headunit went out, and my headlights gotdimmer, dramatically. Another 5 minutes later, and even the indicator lights on the dash were really dim, but the truck still ran. I figured I might make it home. Nope. Left me sitting about 5 miles away from home. There was no restarting it this time.

I recently got my truck back from my college after having my frame straightened, and when I picked it up, they said the alternator relay was bad.

Could this be the cause of my problems? The plastic covering over the alternator was broken off, so it had to be replaced anyways. I am waiting for the 80 amp relay from Toyota.

I hope it works. Any thoughts, input, or other things it could be? all comments are appreciated! Thanks!

 

sounds like the alt. take it to autozone and have them check it. don't but autozone alt. they suck.

 

So you were driving it with a bad alt relay? I'm not sure what that relay controls exactly but I'd guess that going without it would be your problem.

 

Ok, looking at my wining diagram you must be talking about the 80 amp alt fuse. If that fuse is blown or missing your battery will not be charged, even with a good alt.

 

Its in the black fuse box in the engine bay by the battery. It is simply labeled, "ALT Relay 80 A". The school here (Penn Tech) diagnosed it and described it as the alternator relay. I am not sure if its the fuse or the relay.

I have an intermittent starting problem sometimes. It just clicks, like a relay would, instead of the engine turning over. Not sure what it is, but it's an 8 dollar part for the relay itself. I've searched here and what I got is engine fuse, but my conditions don't quite match those, I don't believe. For now, I am going to swipe the battery from my lawn mower and hook it up so I can at least get it home.

When my part comes in on Friday, hopefully it will fix the problem, but I am open to any diagnoses! Thanks for the input so far!

Clint

 

any ideas?

 

Don't ever let somebody who knows nothing jump start your vehicle, though it was unknown to me.

80A alternator fuse, and my alternator, burnt up. Destroyed my battery too.

Denso alternator: 240
Battery: 75
Fuse: 8

Costs me money when people switch the jumper cables around...

 

ouchhhh! i feel your pain man!

my 4runner has the same lights up on the dash... i wonder why the at oil temp light and the brake light come on too?

at oil temp
charge
brake

on my truck i have determined it is a bad alternator. i might have to check that fuse first tho!

ttyl

 

Oil temp light only comes on when your fuse is blown. If just the alternator dies, only the charge and brake light come on.

 

that sux man
if you know you alternator is gone there is no point taking it to a quick lube place or autozone because all they will tell you is that its junk so you will need to buy a new one........hey and since you are already there they will be happy to sell you one. imagine that

 

id assume that fuse is under the hood? or is it in the cab?

thanks!

 

All three of those lights came on in my 87 4runner, and only when I would accelerate. There are two cables running to the positive battery terminal. It turned out that one of them had broken off.

 

Yeah, I replaced the fuse, but I still only had a voltage of 11.7 on the battery, then after running the engine for a few minutes with a lot of electrical load, the voltage dropped to 11.3. I then took it to a garage, and got me a new Denso alternator (Toyota Dealer said don't go Delco, they have problems with those...). I want to do a few more voltage checks though to make sure the kid that did that didn't fry my voltage regulator.

My service adviser at the stealership said that those three lights come on when the truck is receiving no charge from the alternator, as there is a diode on those three lights that remains open as long as there is a charge from the alternator, but when it loses the charge, it lights those up. It was the next thing after the "alternator" light on the dash. Or so he says...

 

this ended up helping me out in the process! thanks!

is your truck all squared away now? meaning no idiot lights and good charge?

 

Yep, seems to be A-Okay, no problems thus far. The headlights haven't dimmed, and the battery is taking charge from the alternator. Didn't blow any fuses either, so good to go.

 

good to hear!

thanks again!

 

well, that was def. the cause and the solution to this problem. just wanted to close up this thread haha.

 

Hey MIKEMOKAS, I was look'n at your pix on myspace through ur link... where do you go wheel'n here in Fl?

Sorry to hijack the thread, lol.

 

its chill, you own a yota.

 

huh?