I just got done replacing the alternator on the 89 4runner. I went into start it up and the charge light was still on, truck turned over, but couldn't crank at all. I took out my battery charger and tried to jump start it, did the same thing, then I took the battery charger off and the truck now has no power at all.

I am completely stumped, the alternator is brand new. The battery was charged over at walmart. I cleaned out the battery cables and connections to the alternator and even the ground wire. I was thinking it may have been the starter at first, but now that there's no power at all in the truck I am second guessing myself.

If anyone has any input, I'd appreciate it.

 

did you make all of your connections to ur alt?....just a thought, and if its a 5 speed push start it

 

I'd be able to push start it if it had power.

Everything is connected to the alternator, secured the ground wire and plugged the little connector to the back, I put some dielectric grease on the alternator prongs as well.

 

triple check all of your wiring/fuses. perhaps knocked something lose?

it turns over, so its either a spark or fuel issue.

 

turned over but couldn't crank ?

 

Make sure all five grounds are good on the truck.

If you have the 22RE, the grounds are in the following areas:
1. Alternator
2. Bottom of block,front passenger side, by oil pan.
3. Bottom of intake on passenger side to fender
4. Back of head on driver side that goes to the firewall.
5. Negative battery terminal to the inner fender.

Clean them all and rub with sand paper. You sound like your having a ground problem.

 

It doesn't turn over at all now, like the car has zero power. The dash lights don't even come on, and I am having a hard time understanding why.

I checked the ground wire on the alternator, it's on there pretty good, as for the other ones. I'll have to double check.

But, I am just completely out of whack here cause I have no idea.

 

The battery sounds like it's discharged. I would disconnect the negative cable (this is important!) from the battery and charge it overnight.

In the morning, use an ammeter to check for a parasitic draw by connecting the ammeter in series between the negative cable and battery terminal. An alternator can have a bad diode that will allow current to continuously flow through the alternator, even with the key off, rapidly draining the battery. If you have more than .25 amps or so, you have a problem. Try disconnecting the large, bolted-on wire on the alternator and see if you still have a draw.

If the draw goes away, replace the alternator (or the diodes). If not, start pulling fuses, one at a time, until the draw goes away. Troubleshoot that circuit.

If the engine won't turn over after a night of charging, you either have bad battery cables or a bad battery.

 

bugs1961 very good point

 

I would have to agree with Bugs1961... take a meter and measure your battery. It could have drained enough that it has no power. The multimeter will tell you the condition of the battery.

Search under ArielB1, I just resolved my alternator problem.

Truck starts with new battery, but if it sat for three hours, the battery would drain. I changed the alternator. Problem solved.

 

I don't think it's a battery issue. I took it out again, hooked up my jeep's battery to it and it still did the same thing. I took the battery that was in there back to the store, they told me it had a very good charge.

I most likely have a short somewhere. I am afraid I might have to take it to a shop because electrical isn't my specialty.

 

Did you have a corrosion issue on your battery? If so often that corrosion makes its way up the cable and by you moving things around you could have finally broken whatever connectivity it had.

Changing and alternator isnt going to kill the electrical system.

Try turning on the headlights on and moving and flexing the cables and see if you get connectivity and they come on.

I would try to swap the wires with another set even temporarily and see if that works. If so then obviously replace all your cables from the battery, including the grounds!

 

Go buy a multimeter. It'll be the best $20 you've ever spent. I have a healthy respect for electricity and a multimeter takes all of the guess work out of it. Just get one that can do resistance (ohms), voltage, and continuity, that's all you need. Nice if the continuity test has an audible beep sound.

And you can use it for everything not just cars.

Cheers

 

Ditto that!! I think Harbor Freight had a cheapie one for $5 and the damn thing had a 9v battery included. Even that will serve you well!

 

did you blow the main 80 amp fuse ??? check your fuse panel under the hood.

 

Im guessing it is your 80 amp underhood. I had to replace mine once and if I remember right that fuse you have to take the fuse block holder off of the fender and remove it from underneath. All the othe fuses can come out to the top. If you blew that fuse you got something wrong.

 

If I blew that fuse is the car done for good is what you mean? Your last sentence worries me.

 

No rigs okay .. Just means you grounded the power somewhere which blew the fuse. Thats why its there. Pull the ground, replace the fuse then try to hook up the ground.

 

rofl it was a blown fuse, it was a combination of little things actually. Bad battery cable, bad fuse, bad battery terminal. It was the ECM fuse that crapped out on me. Now she is back up and running, runs like a damn champ right now. Still needs work, but little bit at a time.