Hi everyone, great forum here, I've already learned a lot about my yota. I have a 2wd 86 22R carb pickup, and about a week ago I started it up in the morning and noticed two problems. The charge (and subsequently brake) light was on, and I couldn't get it to idle down. It's idling faster than normal at startup, and after I drive it a bit the idle increases even more, very noticeable at stop lights. Visual check revealed a power steering hose leak that soaked the alternator, so I can certainly see that as a problem, but would that also affect the idle speed? Whether related or not I checked a few simple things like all fuses, HAI diaphragm, CMH relay (but not the CMH itself yet), pcv valve, all fine.

Also I noticed the front pcv hose is soaked in oil, what would cause that?

I have almost no experience working on vehicles but I have a Haynes manual and I'm reasonably mechanically inclined.

How safe is it to continue driving? I bought a battery booster so I wouldn't be stranded when that is drained, will probably only need to drive it one more day before I tear into it.

I plan to pull the alternator and clean/check everything on it, but was just curious if there's anything else I should be looking at while I'm in there...

Thanks!

 

Obviously, the alternator is the reason for the battery light. But, it sounds like the entire accessory drive might be whacked, i.e. the accessories are not pulling power from the engine, causing it to idle higher. Not sure on the brake light, unless your brake fluid is low.

The power steering leak could be the major cause of it, but it does also sound like more than that. Hopefully the alternator is salvagable.

 

Thanks for the input. The brake light is slaved to the charge light, so it automatically comes on (slightly fainter) if the charge light is on.

 

Charge/Brake Lights- Come from alternator Being out

High Idle- Comes from the alternator not charging, thus no power can be drawn, thus the high idle

My Suggestion- Rebuild or replace the alternator

PS the oil on the front PCV hose is caused by blowby. Its a sign the PCV valve needs replacing. If the valve is new, or clear, the engine is simply wearing out and oil on the hose should be no cause for immediate concern.

 

yeah the charge/brake light means your alt isnt putting out power, you might want to replace the brushes when you have it out. thats usually what fails in these alternators. as for the high idle, i have no idea on that one. driving around with a bad alt is fine for a day or 2, but i would try not to drive at night as your headlights will drain your battery rather fast, but you should be ok for a day or 2.

 

before you replace the alternator, check the fuse panel... on my 81 there is a lil POS 15a fuse thats labeled "engine" that was the source of my headache for weeks. charge light was on, if you pushed it to 5k rpm it would 1/2 go out and volts come back to 14v. fixed the fuse, and that issue went away.

 

^ yeah that engine fuse can lead to some major problems, check it out. Mine wouldn't idle due to that fuse.

 

Thanks for the tips everyone.

Yeah Tofer I actually found your original post about the fuse earlier and checked mine, thanks again for the heads up.

 

Wow my alternator was really toasted. Took off the cap and saw a lot of grease:



Took off the orange cap and found what looks like corrosion, smells like gunpowder...



This does not look good... These are the brushes right?



I wasn't able to get the pulley off, will have to see if a parts store will put an impact wrench on it I guess. The plastic housing that holds the IC regulator is partially melted, as well as the plastic housing that holds the brushes. This is not the stock alternator (back in college my stoner room-mate tried to jump his car with mine, and hooked up the cables backwards). But I think it's a later version NipponDenso as the side plate says ND. So I think I'm going to try to get a new regulator / brush assembly. Tempting to just get a rebuilt one, but it's been fun tearing this one apart. Kind of a redemption for me since the first time my alternator had to be replaced back in college I tried to extract it myself, but without a manual or internet access I gave up and paid out the you know what for the dealership to do it.

 

Charge system controlls the automatic choke, so the choke does not come off and motor runs rich and idles high when not charging

 

Cool, thanks for the explanation!

 

I'm at my end of options to try. I have a '86 Toyota 22R with automatic choke to a 2 barrel Weber carb. The charge light came on a couple weeks back. I figure i've replace the whole alternator as I replace the brushes already last year. I aslo replaced the alternator belt. I also change the 7.5 Engine fuse. I brought the rebuilt alternator from Autozone and the first one was bad, I'm running of the second one. When I tested with the old battery, I was getting about 14.7 through the meter. I since change the battery from the original 425 to 600 CCA. The problem went away then it came back...from my understanding this year truck has the builtin regulator within the alternator. Do you think Autozone gave me another bad alternator or something else? Any help is welcome!

Thanks!

Yigolo86

 

I replaced my alternator, the charge light went out for awhile, then came back on, though slightly fainter than it was before.

I ended up taking mine to the dealership and they fixed it, it was some kind of electrical connector problem. I hated doing that but still cheaper than having them do the whole thing.

 

Thanks for the reply. Do you know if they replace the Internal Regulator plug wire or the O-ring hot wire?

Thanks!

 

Sorry for the late reply, I honestly have no idea. They acted like they didn't even know what they did, which I why I'm not going back there again ;-)