Need some help with my upgrade. Its an 89' 4runner 3vze 4x4. I had replaced my altnernator two + years ago with autozone cheap. Two weeks ago my battery died so i took it in to get a new one. The new batt lastest another week and died. So i looked into the CS 144 upgrade.

CS144 upgrade; Everything went great. Spaced the top bracket with washers to line the pulleys up and extended the lower adjustment bracekt to reach the lower bolt hole. The CS144 unit is about twice as large as the stock alternator so i had to re-route the air intake hose that goes to the silencer box. I moved it directly to the large intake hose about 6 inches from the throttle body. So everything is lined up and the truck runs great.

However i have wiring issues. The stock wiring harness to the alternator is three wires; Red, Yellow and a larger gauge white/green strip. Red - ignition, Yellow - Lamp, White/green is Sense wire. Both the red and White wires have a 12v current, Yellow has no current. So simple splice into the three wire pigtail for the CS144 right? wrong. There is three wires on the CS144 pigtail, two smaller gauge and one larger gauge. Large wire is 's', middle small wire is 'f', and end wire is 'L'. I connected the s wire to the white/green, the f to the red, and the L to the yellow. I put a brand new 4g wire from the b+ post to the 80a engine fuse and also tried bypassing the fuse and connecting directly to the batt + terminal. On my dash the brake and charge light are faint, but when i put the E-Brake on they both light up more brightly.

Heres the issue: With everything hooked up by the book, i am not getting a charge on my battery. engine off i read just about 12v at the battery. Turn the engine on and i read about 11.8v at the battery. Correct me if i am wrong, but i should be reading 13.5v + at the battery with the truck on?

Has anyone put a CS144 into a 3vze? does anyone have advice as to how i can remedy this issue?

 

Yes, 14+ volts is about what it should be reading. Go back and search old threads. I know somebody posted a wire diagram on how to re wire the plug. 1 wire from the Gm plug does not get used, but I dont remember which one. Dang I just saw that thread yesterday, and I meant to print it out!

 

I wired it orginally per yotatech write ups!! I tried the three wires directly into the yota harness... no progress. I tried wiring the 'sense' wire from the cs144 pigtail directly to the b+ post on the alternator... still nothing. I guess the real question is what else in my charging system could be fubar'in it?

 

Check the alternater output at the terminals? Bad alt? Bad voltage regulator? Something in the wiring is unplugged or ungrounded. If possible I would remove the alt harness and check all the wires for breaks and continuity. If I remember right, the 87 alt wiring is the same as the88 3VZE

 

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f115.../#post51274972

hope this helps with the wiring. 14.7 is ideal charge but believe it can be a volt or so lower don't remember the exact.

 

And check "L" circuit for resistance to ground, should be 35 -300 ohms , if its lower install a resistor in series or you will damage the alternator. I think that is why some others here have had problems.

 

would this information be the same for my '92 3vz?

 

Resistor or a light.

http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthrea...hreadid=207958 I'm pretty sure the wiring is the same after all Toyota likes to keep things simple. Here is a write up on the 3rzve with a cs130. Hope it helps.

 

The idiot light may or may not add enough resistance to the circiut, you have to test it.

 

Even so that is a concern when adding a sense to a vehicle that was previously single wire or generator powered.

Hold the phone OP did you have the old alternator tested? I could be that the the alt was fine but that you have an issue elsewhere in the charging circuit. Just trying to help isolate the problem.

 

I have not had a chance to add a resistor as work had been killin me all week. Adding a resistor is the one thing i have not done and makes sense. When i have everything wired per-yotatech write ups, my charge light and brake light are on, but dim. I found another write-up on pirate that a guy added a 100 ohm 1/4 watt resistor, but it was for a celica not a 4runner. I know how to test the reistance and will be doing so tonight, but how do i know what resistor to use? If i dont hear anything back i will attempt with the 100ohm and get back to ya'll. I will be posting pictures and doing a little write up over the weekend to help others. appreciate all the insight you guys have given!

 

Mudd - i bought the cs144 from napa for obvious reason. If the reistor doesn't help, then that leaves me with a faulty alternator unit. It was not orginally a single wire generator. 3vze alternator wire harness has a yellow, red and white with green strip. Yellow is light, Red is ignition, and white is sense. I wired the new pigtail sense wire directly to the b+ post on the altnernator... with the asumption that my harness had a ground or fault. the only other connection that is required for the altnernator to function is the excite wire or the Yellow from the harness. b/c i am not getting any charge to the battery and have a faint charge light on constantly (truck running or not) i must assume that it is a resistance issue. I am not good at or a fan off electrical issues so this has been frustrating as hell trying to figure out.

 

if u wired it like the diagram it should work or you may of got a bad alternator always have it tested even if its new

 

I'm just curious as the wiring of the GM alt is easy enough. That's why I asked if you had the old alt tested. I don't think it is your wiring skills just wondering if there's a wiring issue someplace it your harness. Did you clean and check all your grounds?

Could be the resistance.

 

It will still work without the resistor even if the resistance is to low, but will eventually damage the alternator. Measure the resistance , if its in the range its fine. If not add what ever size resistor to make uo the difference.
You could have a bad diode/diodes, that would explain your faint light and low or no charge. Is your battery running down? You can test for a current drain by putting an ammeter in series with the battery or using an amp clamp( a bad diode can cause a battery drain with the key off).

 

Turns out it WAS A BAD ALTERNATOR. Lesson learned, make sure to have your NEW alternator tested before you leave the store. I followed the write ups on Yota and Pirate to the T. Everything should wire directly into the Yota wire harness. I will get some pictures of the mod i had to do to the air intake. Thanks for all the input and happy trails!