I searched around and didn't find any threads on this yet so here it goes....My wife owns a 94 4runner with the 3.0, the other day we were driving home with the wipers, heater, and radio going along with the lights on. At stop lights the radio would die, the lights would dim and the voltmeter on the dash would dip down below the half mark. When we got home I checked the output with my Multimeter and found with the brights, heater, radio, and wipers on the battery was below 12 volts even when revved to 2000 RPM's. I told my wife she needs an alternator and how much it is and she told me to find another way because we can't afford it with Christmas coming up. I then decided to find a used one, but I couldn't get ahold of the only person on craigslist with one for sale, so on to plan 3, replace the brushes in the alternator, its not hard to do, I did mine in about an hour with removal and install included.

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Remove the rear cover by removing the 3 8mm nuts and the 10 mm nut on the plastic boot. When you get the cover off below is what you will see, the red arrow shows the brushes in the holder assembly, the blue points to the 2 screws that hold it in.

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After you remove the brushes, you have 2 options, replace the assembly as a whole from Toyota ($21) or solder in new brushes from an auto parts store. I chose the Toyota unit because its not much more and will let me rest easy that I wont be rescuing my wife on the side of the road. The image below shows the old brushes the closest one was worn down to where it had no more travel, thus not making good contact.

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And finally the new brushes.

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After installing the alternator, it is at 14.6 volts at idle. I used part #27370-35060 for $21 from the dealer. Like I said, it's not hard to do and easier on the wallet than a reman alternator from the parts stores or the dealer.

 

if mine ever dies, im putting in the big 'ol GM alternator with the trail-gear kit. lights, compressor, winch, stereo etc....

 

What would you have done had it not been the brushes ??

What if the regulator had failed?? last I checked they were more than half the cost of rebuilt.

I am glad it worked for you.

 

Well on a truck with 170,000 miles with an original Toyota alternator that has not been driven through a river as far as I know, I tend to lean more towards the mechanical than electrical causing the problem. In my opinion, electrical components are far more reliable than mechanical components. When I asked the parts guy at Toyota if the brushes are a common problem, he said they were which is why he had them in stock. I have had problems with auto parts store alternators in the past and would rather stick with stock. If the regulator did fail, than I guess I would have just gone to the pick n pull and grabbed one there and swapped the regulator. It all came down to a loss of time or an expense I wasn't willing to pay, plus I feel more accomplished replacing the brushes compared to just picking up an under performing (IMO) auto parts store rebuild.

 

Maybe if it were my truck, but for my wife's 4runner, it doesn't get upgrades, other than the electric fan I put in, but that was to save money also, the fan bearing went out and Toyota wanted like $700 for it.

 

1996 Toyota 4Runner 3.4 Auto Trans 4X4


There is an alternator rebuild shop nearby. Is there any tips on building out an alternator for higher output, better bearings, heavier duty regulator.

There is something about buying an alternator off the shelf and not knowing any spec's other that it might fit, doesn't set well with me...............

Who sells performance alternator parts..............

 

I am not so sure on building a stock one for more output, but I am sure once you got all the parts to do it, the price would overshadow the performance. Trail Gear sells a bracket to hook up a GM alternator for like $40, I read about "Mean Green" in my Toyota Magazine, but they are expensive.

 

a gm cs-144 out of a 95 cadillac deville bolts right up with a few washers and some wiring it puts out 100amps at idle vs the stock 40 or what ever it is

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/c...nstall-209649/

 

My son's truck has over 220k miles, if the alternator goes bad, I will at least take cover off and check brushes..If questionable, I will replace them too....