On the 1986 toyota 4wd pick up (22R carbureted), I pulled the exhaust manifold to put a new gasket set and a heat shield in place so it will pass the visual smog check when I smog it in a month or so. I also pulled the alternator and cleaned it off with some diesel fuel to get the greasy gritty mess off of it. I pulled the back part and checked the brushes (they were pretty worn, but still worked).

I got it all back together tonight, but now it wont charge. It charged for the first few minutes of running, then the charge light came on on the dash. I pulled it apart again, and the contacts and brushes look clean. The connections on the truck look clean as well. So all I can figure is its the integrated regulator, that cant be repaired. I have a spare off a parts truck I have, but I don't want to chance ruining that one also (the regulators on these seem to be really easily damaged). How hard would it be to put a GM 100 amp alternator on one of these?

 

Is it common for the alternators to go on these?

 

All alts work pretty much the same way... just gotta mount it and find out which wires to splice into..

 

Just went through an issue like this, but I switched from external regulator to the internal thats giving you issues.

 

if your brushes are worn replace them first , the no charge light is common when the brushes wear out and it is only $9 bucks for a set

 

I will look for a electric motor rebuild shop tomorrow to get the brushes. Is there a way to test the regulator?

 

Did you check the charge fuse?

 

Charge fuse is still good.

 

Took it over to Kragen auto parts to have it tested (they didn't understand what I was talking about when I said I checked the windings for continuity, and inspected the brushes, and only needed the regulator tested). They "tested" the alternator on the idiot proof "alternator tester", and they said there is nothing wrong with it. So it must be the truck wiring.

 

I reinstalled it and it works, go figure.

Now I just need to figure out why the timing is so off...

 

all of my wierd alternator issues in the past have been bad cables.right before i paid 200 bucks for some mechanic to figure it out for me. i bought a cable to replace it but i let him work on it. and 3 days later he said it was a relay under the dash. i was like what! so i spent days looking for this "relay". and upon further inspection all he did was double up the cable going from the alternator to the battery. i was pissed. moral of the story check your cables!!!

 

Second moral, don't trust mechanics. Always ask for the old parts that they replaced. If thry don't produce the part then call the cops. OK off my soap box.

Yes a GM alternator will work and if you search for CS-144 you will find a few that have done it. To summarize though, it can be connected using just the wire going to the charge light and the wire to battery. I had to add an extension to the tensioner but that was no big deal. By putting a larger alt in though you want to upgrade the charge wire to the battery as the stock 2 wires is quite wimpy. I also ran a ground from the alt case to the wheel well and upgraded the ground on the battery. The electrical is so wimpy in this gen2, my next project is to bring better power into the cabin for the lights and accy's. If I turn the radio up the dome light dims and that's just the deck, no amps, no subwoofers. Even the stock radio did that though.