Flashing battery light

[slicecbr]

Hi All,

 

New Vellfire owner here (2008, 2.4L).

 

So when I bought the car it had a new alternator and battery fitted - around 4 weeks ago so will ring the garage next week.

 

If I leave the car overnight and start the car I get a flashing battery light for around 5 minutes when driving.

 

The Android dash shows me that the battery is around 12v during this time then hits 14.3v and is fine all day, going to the shops etc.

 

Then the same happens the next day.

 

So far I replaced the battery with a more powerful one, put the Android dash to 'sleep now'.

 

I have to wait for the next morning or tonight to test again, but the only other thing I could try is rev over 3k when the alternator doesn't seem to charge to see if that starts it charging - which could mean a faulty alternator...

 

I've checked the connections and belt tension and nothing seems obviously wrong.

 

Any thoughts would be great. 

 

Many thanks

 

[Gamith]

I would recommend finding an auto-electrician and get a diagnostic, hopefully you will get a good idea of what the issue(s) could be.

After all you may have:

  a constant drain due to something that has been added incorrectly,

  a faulty earth,  

  a sensor that's reporting incorrectly

  who knows.

 

I once has an alternator (or was it a dynamo?) that had a damaged diode so that it was putting out 12v but at half the amps needed. I was able to solder a repair on that one, but cars were simpler then.

 

 

[slicecbr]

Thanks for the reply.

 

I'm semi certain there isn't a drain on the battery as the voltage was 12.4v in the morning prior to starting.

 

The alternator fitted to the car is 130a. Can anyone confirm whether this is the same as in theirs? 

 

Restarted after 4 hours non use and started to charge almost instantly. So waiting until morning to do a restart and check voltage and increase revs to see if that kicks the charging to begin...

 

Checked the fuses in the engine and passenger side and all had continuity.

 

Many thanks

[Gamith]

>Can anyone confirm whether this is the same as in theirs? 

The alternator on my 05/2005 should be a 130A one so that's correct.

(https://www.amayama.com/en/genuine-catalogs/epc/toyota-japan/alphard/ANH10W/36377/engine/1903)

[slicecbr]

Thanks, not sure if it changed for 2008 onwards, on reason I asked is 150a ones came up as replacements 

[slicecbr]

18 minutes ago, slicecbr said:

Thanks, not sure if it changed for 2008 onwards, on reason I asked is 150a ones came up as replacements 

Thanks for the link to the parts checker that's great. 

 

I'm going have to find the same model as mine on there as a quick scan of different models for the vellfire shows 150a and 180a alternators so far, so need to be sure as that could be an obvious issue.

[Gamith]

Yes - if you don't already have it you will need the model info on the sticker on the passenger door frame and the manufactured date to make sure you are looking at the right parts.

I find Amayama really handy as you can click on an area in the picture and it will show the part (together with the cost - which can be scary!) that you selected.

[slicecbr]

1 hour ago, Gamith said:

Yes - if you don't already have it you will need the model info on the sticker on the passenger door frame and the manufactured date to make sure you are looking at the right parts.

I find Amayama really handy as you can click on an area in the picture and it will show the part (together with the cost - which can be scary!) that you selected.

Thanks for your help with this.

 

So my car is the ANH20W-NRXSK and according to amayama and partsouq it should have a 12v 150a alternator. 

 

So first thing to do would be to put the correct alternator on the car.to see if that corrects the issue....just trying to find one seems a mission 🤔 

[Gamith]

Yes, you are correct - it's 150A alternators for yours.

 

These are the numbers to look for:

From:

(https://www.amayama.com/en/genuine-catalogs/epc/toyota-japan/alphard/ANH20W/40416/engine/1903)

 

I have done a search on Autodoc for those:

27060-28340  -- https://www.autodoc.co.uk/cv-psh/14434388

27060-28341  -- https://www.autodoc.co.uk/denso/13673415

Surprisingly the Denso one is the cheaper of the two.

 

Anyway, you know what to look for now - you can get 2nd hand ones from ebay if you like but I would suggest that if you are planning on keeping the Alphard for some time then getting quality parts (Denso is considered quality) is worthwhile.

 

Good luck.