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problem charging

Ben

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australia
ive got a problem with my truck, and need some help.

i drove it to a shop on monday and when i came out of the shop the battery was dead and the engine wouldnt turn over.

so after getting a jump start i drove home (about 30miles) and when i got home and turned it off, it then wouldnt start again.

so i charged the batteries over night, and its been ok the last couple of days going to work and back.

i took it to my local automotive shop, who offer free battery tests.

so they put the tester on the batteries and it showed that one battery was fully charged and the other was almost fully charged.

but when they did the charging test is came up as being low with a reading of 12.26volts.

so i was going to order a new alternator, but then i spotted they also sell engine voltage regulators. so i dont really want to spend £125 on a new alternator, when it could just need a voltage regulator.

how do i found out whats at fault? :)
 
Hi ben. First off, check your battery terminals - I found that my voltage regulator had gone but also that the terminals were loose/dirty causing similar problems. Make sure they're nice and clean and done up tightly.

Normally you would get overcharging problems if it's the regulator... with the engine running at speed and all lights, fans etc switched off what's the reading on your voltmeter? (even just the guage on the dash?).

It could just be that your brush box has worn out if you find you're not getting much charge through. These cost pence off ebay or about £15 from Toyota. To be honest though if you need to take your alt. out to do work to it you might as well give it a decent overhaul - for about £35 off ebay you can get a new reg, new diode pack and new brush box and they're all a piece of cake to fit, it's just removing the alternater in the first place that's the P.I.T.A.

Let me know how you get on and if you need me to I'll dig some part no's out for you.

Best o' luck
Jim.
 
Jimbo4x4 said:
Hi ben. First off, check your battery terminals - I found that my voltage regulator had gone but also that the terminals were loose/dirty causing similar problems. Make sure they're nice and clean and done up tightly.

Normally you would get overcharging problems if it's the regulator... with the engine running at speed and all lights, fans etc switched off what's the reading on your voltmeter? (even just the guage on the dash?).

It could just be that your brush box has worn out if you find you're not getting much charge through. These cost pence off ebay or about £15 from Toyota. To be honest though if you need to take your alt. out to do work to it you might as well give it a decent overhaul - for about £35 off ebay you can get a new reg, new diode pack and new brush box and they're all a piece of cake to fit, it's just removing the alternater in the first place that's the P.I.T.A.

Let me know how you get on and if you need me to I'll dig some part no's out for you.

Best o' luck
Jim.


the battery terminals arnt tight, as some one has fitted the wrong batteries at some point. so the terminals dont clamp properly, and the clamp that is meant to hold the batteries in place, doesnt as the batteries arnt tall enough! :evil:

i will wrap some lead flashing around the battery terminals, so that i can get the battery leads to clamp on tightly.

i dont suppose you have got any links to the bits i need off ebay have you please?

the alternator looks very easy to remove, on my 2.5l engine, as theres lots of space around it.

thanks for your help. :thumbup:
 
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Just occured to me that you may well have a different alternater to me. I can help you find the bits you need but I'll need the part number off the alt first. It will most likely be either a Toyota or a Denso part number. Sounds like you don't have air con and possibly have a different airbox to me if it looks easy to remove the alt - I had to take out the air box, air con pump, power steering reservoir, 2 cradles and disconnect the vacuum pump to remove mine :cry:

Get your terminals sorted before doing anything else though, that might be all it is.

Jim.
 
i got the terminals sorted and then took it to an auto electrician. on the way there a load of lights came on on the dash and stayed on.

the auto electrican said the alternator was knackered and also possibly the charging circuit regulator.

i then drove to milner's and bought a new alternator and also an new regulator. however the regulator isnt the proper one that should be on my vehicle, its had a different one fitted at some point, and the connector on the loom has been changed, so idealy i need to cut the correct connector off an lj70 wiring loom and re-connect it to my loom.

anyway, i got home and fitted the new alternator and re-fitted the old regulator.

the new alternator seems to be working, but all the lights have remained lit on the dash.

i would still like to re-build my old one Jim, but i needed to buy a new one as im away all this weekend on a laning trip and needed the truck to be fixed.

the old alternator is a toyota denso one, but its difficult to read the numbers as some of the sticker has worn away.

is it possible to reset something to stop all the warning lights from being lit? or could it be something else?

thanks Ben :thumbup:

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I would hazard a guess that the regulator needs changing. The warning lights will come on to indicate overcharging. Does the voltmeter (top right hand dial) go above the solid white "safe zone" when you rev the engine? If so this is a good indication of overcharging. Try switching on all the electrical things you can think of - headlights, fans and rear window heater all together may well stop the warning lights, this is what I did to get me home when my reg gave up the ghost.

Be warned that constant overcharging will fry your batteries.

BTW your alt. is very much different to mine (and your airbox is non-standard). Any toyota dealer should be able to tell you the correct part no. for your alt if you give them your reg or chassis number. If your local one isn't very helpful (some can be a little arsey) try Johnsons in Wallasey or Lindops in Queensferry, you'll find their numbers on the toyota website and they've always been able to help me out.

Good luck
 
Jimbo4x4 said:
I would hazard a guess that the regulator needs changing. The warning lights will come on to indicate overcharging. Does the voltmeter (top right hand dial) go above the solid white "safe zone" when you rev the engine? If so this is a good indication of overcharging. Try switching on all the electrical things you can think of - headlights, fans and rear window heater all together may well stop the warning lights, this is what I did to get me home when my reg gave up the ghost.

Be warned that constant overcharging will fry your batteries.

BTW your alt. is very much different to mine (and your airbox is non-standard). Any toyota dealer should be able to tell you the correct part no. for your alt if you give them your reg or chassis number. If your local one isn't very helpful (some can be a little arsey) try Johnsons in Wallasey or Lindops in Queensferry, you'll find their numbers on the toyota website and they've always been able to help me out.

Good luck

no it is still in the safe white zone, but is quite high.

ok thanks i will find out the parts numbers, because i would like to rebuild my old one as a spare. :thumbup:

the airbox isnt standard, its a "pipercross venom" induction kit. i couldnt use the original airbox, as the snorkel i bought it supposed to be for a proper 70 series, with the 4.2 derv engine, and comes through the wing in a different place.

i really need to find some one breaking one of these now, because i need the wiring and connector for the charging regulator, as some one has obviously cut the connector off my loom and changed it at some point.

the proper toyota one is a round connector, but my one is square.

the joys of owning old vahicles, that other people have molested! :lol:
 
thanks Steven. :thumbup:

ive been driving it today and the warning lights coming on seems to be intermittent.

which makes me wonder if it is anything to do with the charging circuit at all.

the warning lights went off when i turned the heater off, then came back on later. then when i was indicating, they were flashing in time to the indicators. also some times its just the 2 turbo lights that are staying on, with the filter light and red warning light being off.

im wondering if ive got a short circuit some where.

any ideas?

a totaly seperate electrical fault thats being annoying me is the pre heat light doesnt always come on, and some times i have to turn the engine over a few times in the morning to get it to start.

would this be the pre heat regulator or does it just need new glow plugs?

thanks Ben :thumbup:
 
ben said:
the warning lights went off when i turned the heater off, then came back on later. then when i was indicating, they were flashing in time to the indicators. also some times its just the 2 turbo lights that are staying on, with the filter light and red warning light being off.

Sounds like a bad earth to me
 
Birder said:
ben said:
the warning lights went off when i turned the heater off, then came back on later. then when i was indicating, they were flashing in time to the indicators. also some times its just the 2 turbo lights that are staying on, with the filter light and red warning light being off.

Sounds like a bad earth to me
Ditto :)
 
any ideas where the bad earth may be, or what or where to check?

sorry for all the questions but electrics arnt my strong point and electrical faults are my pet hate! :roll:
 
If yours is the metal type dash just try running an earth to a dashboard mounting bolt from the neg side of your battery. On my mates Surf when we had this problem we took out the charge fuse in the fusebox inside the engine bay. This stopped all the lights coming on and the buzzer going off. He then drove home with everthing switched on to stop cooking the batterys. Thats how we found out that the regulator was fubarred.
On the problem with the reg connector, is there any way your auto electrician could supply and fit a matching plug for your new reg?
 
i fitted an earth leed from myy battery to the metal dash, but unfortunately this didnt fix the problem.

i then un plugged the charging regulator, and bingo, all the warning lights went out!

so im now thinking it must be the charging relay?

its strange because it is charging the batteries, and the voltage moves slightly on the gauge, but always stays in the safe white zone, so i dont think its over charging.

the charging regulator milners sold me is of a daihatsu, but has a similar connector to the one currently fitted to my truck, but it wont quite fit.

i think i will exchange it for the one thats meant to be on my vehicle, and then see if i can get a connector to fit it.

i will call a few people on ebay who are breaking them and see if i can get hold of a charging regulator, with connector and wires still attached. :thumbup:
 
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