Greetings Fellow Toyota Enthusiasts,

I'd greatly appreciate some help determining which replacement alternator (and regulator) would work best for my 1983 4X4 Pickup. Battery isn't charging and truck shuts off when one of the terminals is disconnected, so am assuming replacing the battery cables, alternator, and regulator is the first logical step for an engine with 215K miles.

Two different types are showing up in my research (40 amp version and a 55 amp) but I'm

not sure which one to order. Will either one work?

Thank you.

 

Either one will work, but do you have extra lights, AC, and a stereo? If so then get the 55 amp one. I'd probably go with the 55 amp one anyway if it was me.

 

If you have a lot of items that draw a lot of wattage, you could go with a GM one wire or a CS-130 type alternator.

 

Thanks for the tip on this; I'm learning more about these more powerful alternators, but the CS-120 is showing only to fit post 1985 vehicles and there was no option for a pre-1985. I called that company and the person wasn't knowledgeable as to whether it would fit an 83 22R or not.

Any idea as to an alternative that would fit? I see there is a mounting bracket kit available to adapt other alternators but before going that route, was hoping for a plug and play situation, maybe a little too easy.

Thanks again.

 

If you can live with some down time, I'd take the alternator out and go have it tested at store. And if bad, there's only a couple things in there to go bad. Brushes and rectifier. Brushes are only a couple bucks. Some years of FSM have steps for testing alternator parts with meter, so you can check rectifier. The regulator takes a bit more work but can be tested. There is good chance your brushes are just worn.

 

For plug and play, I think you would have to stick with Toyota, but the amp draw is limited .For higher than 60 amps, the you would have use any of GM CS-130 style alternators, either 1 wire or 3 wire, but you will need to either buy a conversion bracket like what Trail Gear or LowRangeOffRoad or have one fab'd . Make sure that the mounting ears are at 12:00 and 6:00 positions and has V-groove pulley. Some have said that the 1 wire needs RPMs above idle to get it to start charging, the 3 wire doesn't. The 1 wire just needs a #10 wire run to battery. 3 wires is a little more involved. It's basically up to you and your needs.

 

As Cory said, the 83 FSM show how to test and replace worn parts, step by step. You can download the .zip file here, https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f114...wnload-261385/