Alternator not charging & Indicators not working -any clues?

[Gamith]

Hi all,

I am seeing these symptoms, not sure if they are related or not but any clues / suggestions would be appreciated.

 

I had a fun local trip yesterday, the Alphard started Ok (first time as usual) and seemed Ok until I tried using the indicators as there was no response at all. In the past I have come across this as possibly being a low battery so I kept an eye on things. 

A 10 min drive later I stopped for about 10 (picking up a dry cleaned rug - probably not related 🙂 ) and when I came to starting it up it was a little sluggish (I would be guessing it was at 11v maybe) but started thankfully.

About 2 mins into the drive the ABS and passenger seat belt indicators came on, which I haven't seen before. The engine started to struggle but then recovered and I removed the rug from the seat but the lights remained.

I got home Ok and parked up and tried restarting but there wasn't enough to even start a crank.

 

I took the battery out, recharged it overnight and put it back in again this morning. It was reading 13.6v before I connected it. 

 

I tried the engine (it started) and the indicators (they didn't work) and started going through the fuses. The battery was reading around 12.5v while running and, when turned off, this would be a little higher (12.8v or thereabouts - I suspect this might be to do with the battery top-up solar charger I fitted to the main battery) but I would have expected 13v to 14v.

 

The HORN-ALT 20A fuse in the large fuse box is fine, as are the others in there. The three fuses in the secondary engine bay box are also fine.

I looked through the manual at the drivers and passengers fuses boxes and I can't see any for the alternator or indicators. 

 

Currently stumped at where to go from here beyond giving it to the care of an auto-electrician. 

 

I must point out that this Alphard has been fitted with a leisure battery charging system and it's own solar charger via a controller. I have also fitted; GPS HUD, dashcam, swapped out the  2 110v ports for two twin USB ports and a second accessory socket. For these I have recently used fused spurs to give some additional fused connections from the passenger side fuse board - like this:

 

And before me:

  the radio has been swapped for an english unit (whose touch screen is no longer working), causing quite a bit of confused wiring behind the dashboard.

  A fog light switch has also been fitted

  and a twin port USB socket as well.

Hopefully I have given a full picture, but if there is anything I have missed please let me know.

 

Cheers

Paul

 

 

 

 

[BigNev]

Hi there!

My guess is the battery is dying. Voltage is not a full indicator of its condition.

Poor electrical health will cause lots of strange electrical communication faults on "new" cars.

And my other guess, on the low charge voltage when running, is that it had just been fully charged off the car, so the charging system may have "thought" it was good, so not pulling in the alternator. Could well be wrong on that.

If you try it again, then put the lights and all other electrical kit on, it should make the alternator work - or not - then you'll have a bit more info.

 

I've got an old battery from my work van, still holds a good voltage, but when tested its cranking amps are down at 550 from the rated 900. Still plenty enough for tests and a standby jump start for most cars though!

[Picasso]

Also get your alternator checked if battery not charging correctly 

[Gamith]

I have an auto-electrician booked for next Wednesday afternoon so hopefully he will be able to test both at least. 

[Gamith]

I am wondering whether, after almost 20 years, the alternator brushes need replacing.

 

It looks to be part number 27370-20130 (https://www.amayama.com/en/part/toyota/2737020130). 

Has anyone got any experience in changing an alternator brush?