Ok so I have an 87 Toyota 4x4 pickup. Its got a 22R with about 8k miles. A few days ago I was going down the road and my charge light came on. I got home and didnt do anything further. I started it the next day and it was off but came back on. I figured that the alternator went out so I disconnected the battery with it running and it stayed running which ruled out a bad alt. Another weird thing is that it idles at about 1500 rpms and hesitates when I shift. The light isnt always on but does come on....if I turn the truck off while im driving and turn it back on sometimes the light goes off and sometimes it stays on. Im thinkin that the Alt is putting out enough power to run the truck and all the accesories but just not as much as it should and its tripping the light?

Any ideas? Thank you

 

usually the brake light comes on with the alt light if the alt is bad, but it can be. Change your charge fuse under the hood, it might be starting to go on you. I can't remember off hand if when that fuse is out both the alt and charge light actually comes on or not.

Also I had a issue like this a while back now that I think about it and I had some mud build up on the headlights plugs. Does this seem to only act up with your lights on?

BTW, mods don't take kindly to thread titles like that.

 

It happens any time of days doesnt matter whats one or off. and I know that my brake light doesnt have a bulb in it. Maybe I should put one in.

And there isnt any mud on my truck so idk what it is. And the fuse you're talking about is the exciter fuse right? Is that under the hood or under the dash? Because I pulled every fuse under the hood with it running and it never died.

And now I know about the title lol

 

I under the hood. I think it's labled CHG ???? Let me look at mine real quick.

And yeah maybe you should put that brake light bulb in. But I'd be willing to bet it's on and it's time for an alternator.


EDIT the fuse should actually say CHARGE and is under the hood. it's a 7.5 amp fuse.

EDIT #2: before changing the alternator, check your battery connections at the battery and the ground's as well as the connections on the alternator itself. Take them off, clean them and put them back on, don't just look at them.

Autozone or most other chain stores can also test your alternator as well, most of them while still in the truck. If it fails while it's in the truck, take it out and test it again, if it passes then you know somewhere in the wiring is bad.

 

Ok yeah tomorrow I will clean everything and put a bulb in that socket. Ill also run all the wiring and check for breaks or any lose spots. Thanks for the help.

Another question.....do you know anything about those GM Alternator swaps? Do they put out anymore power over a stock Toyota Alt?

 

Please use the search feature. There are many threads here on yotatech that involve alternator upgrades. And yes in future threads you post, please be more specific on the title. It will make it easier for others that could be searching for an answer similar to your problem.

Have your battery load tested. It may have some dead cells in it.

 

Your alternator could have a bad diode thats causing the charge light to come on, it may still be charging but its just a matter of time before the alternator dies altogether. I had this same thing happen on another vehicle i owned years ago. I replaced the alternator and that solved the problem.

 

hmmm well ill check everything over and see what happens. Thanks for the input guys. and sorry about the problems....im new to this forum. :/

 

This happened to me also and it turned out one of the wires in the wiring harness that goes to my tachometer was friend and caused my dash to smoke, but this didn't happen till a month or 2 into my light being one.

 

A Multimeter is a good investment.

It could be something as simple as a loose belt. I have already had loose belts that didn`t squeal

 

I fried my cheap 10 amp multimeter trying to test my alternator. So I wound up buying one of these on sale for $10 (mine is only 50 amps, but it's essentially the same)


http://www.harborfreight.com/100-amp...ter-90636.html

With this you can load test your battery, as well as your alternator, and even your starter.

 

Searching for the info on the alt swap works, kinda. I just did one and there was a lot I had to just go with the flow on. Yes its a good swap, going from around 60 amps to 108 is noticeable, and getting Chevy GM alts is easy. I should have done a write up for there is one out there but not detailed. If you wana spend the money do it, fix your alt problems now bc the toy ones are on weak status.

Supplies
1. Trail-gear Chevy GM bracket
2. Summit single wire 100 amp alt. Chevy, GM.
3. Big gauge copper wire (LOWS) 4 to 0 is fine. Your choice.
4. 175 amp fuse from Advance, wired in between the alt and pos + terminal.
5. A good means to connect it on the terminal. I just used a little adapter doubling as a terminal bolt.

General Procedure
1. Disconnect Battery
2. Take off fan shroud
3. Take off old alt and bracket
4. (Optional) Remove power steering pump and bracket.
You might be able to get away with not doing this but after a while of fighting the bolt where the top ajusting bracket will go I said screw it and just pulled it off. Made the job way easier.
5. Put on new bracket.
6. Put on new alt.
7. Put on top adjusting bracket
8. Do power steering
9. Assemble your single wire before you put it on. Do it right the first time. Make sure the connection is good and so you won't have to mess with it later.


should be.
Alt---------------wire---------------fuse----Pos + Bat terminal.
10. Put it all back together.
11. Enjoy more power (Tim Allen man grunt X3)

If you do it and have more ? let me know.