flashing charge/brake lights hello, newbie to the forum here.
i have an 84 pickup 22R engine. i see this issue of

lower black plug wire by pass
flashing charge/brake lights has been discussed before and i got some good pointers so far but still the issue persists, cant say i thoughouly read every single thing or took notes yet. its a bit overwhelming to figure out and im hoping for some personalized advice. links to good/relavant threads would be handy too. this problem started about a year ago, was very intermittent, only on occasion, then slowly but surely has become more and more frequent until now it seems to do it reliably pretty much every time i drive after the vehicle is warmed up and either cruising @ very low RPM/idling/nuetral without headlights on. i been working through diagnostics with a mechanic friend and so far still still unable to solve the blinking/flashing charge and brake lights issue.

only happens below 2,500RPM, turning on headlights stops it that seems to be the 2 things that make it stop. i think the windshield wipers may actually affect it as well but cant remember if or how so.

when flashing it does have a bit of oscillation of up/down sound coming from the alternator that also makes the charge meter on dash board bounce just a little bit while blinking/flashing

so far, what has been done: the plug black lower plug as posted in pic below was welded together and overheated so it was opened, cleaned and otherwise looked good, a wire bypass was installed
flashing stopped for a couple days then started again. V meter read outs indicated overcharging battery @ 15.4 so we installed a new voltage regulator. my friend says all V-meter readings are good,
alternator charging @ 13.5 to 14.5
battery is 12.8

was going to install a new relay but i cant find a charge light relay to order anywhere, although i did locate it in the vehicle.

the alternator is maybe about 4 years old but not a ton of mileage on it. so have not gotten into dismantling the alternator or installing a new one plus the alternator appears to be in its happy place working fine with output of 13.5 to 14.5 though later we will be double checking to verify charge is not bouncing along with the flashing and occisllating noise my friend says last time it was holding steady and in optimal ranges.

dont know what to try next, terminals and connections all seemed good, cleaned some of them and still it persists. we are at a loss of what else could be causing it.

 

I would get rid of that cheese but connector. and probably that damaged connector for the alternator to start. also, start looking at the ground and fusible link connections near the battery.

 

Any power steering fluid leaking from pump into the alternator? That’s what caused mine to blink. The fluid causes a lot of wear on the rings and brushes in the alternator. You can pull it apart to check, clean it out with Brakleen or something.

 

ok, i will be looking at those soon! keep em coming and i will update if/when i figure something out!

 

This would facilitate monitoring charging voltage while driving.



Second this^^^
Furthermore, that round intermediate connector does not add value to the truck- just clutters it up. I wired my alternator wires "S" (white), "IG" (red) and "L" (yellow) as directly as possible.


Only the white, red and yellow wire on that connector belong to charing circuit. The black wire is ground for ignitor noise suppressor capacitor. Toyota must have put it on that connector to make assembly more efficient, not for us users.

Black wire does not belong to charging circuit



Just bypass that connector by crimping wires. Use "Parallel Crimps" not "butt-connectors". Parallel connectors put ends of both wires into direct contact with each other. Current does not have to flow through flimsy metal of the butt-connector.

I made my own parallel crimp connector