cloudder Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Guys, Got the car out for a run in the sun today. Ran fine. Switched off. Switched on again and the oil leval light came on. Switched off and chacked level, all OK. Started the car again, this time Oil level, cat temp, battery and rear light warniing lamps on and central warning triangle on!? What the heck! Anyone any ideas where to start looking? Cloudder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyson Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 Alternator on its way out or a loose earth connection ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloudder Posted February 17, 2013 Author Share Posted February 17, 2013 Hi, Thanks for that. Do you think that would cause the other lamps to be on as well? Is there a simple check to see if the alternator is OK? Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyson Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 not 100% on this but I think if you run a volt meter across the alternator it should be producing 14 volts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay200bhp Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 dry solder joints on the display module in the upper dash try a resolder with flux matey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyson Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 dry solder joints on the display module in the upper dash try a resolder with flux matey If it was dry solder they wouldn't show up at all, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreaseMonkey Posted February 17, 2013 Share Posted February 17, 2013 (edited) Sounds Like the Alternator to me as well, as have seen/ had these symptoms before, which was caused by/ turned out to be the rectifier diodes in the Alternator which had burnt out, I was seeing between 11v - 12v approx with the Engine running, and the same/ similar warning lights symptoms as you describe. The Rectifier unit, Brushes and Voltage Regulator parts were £200 altogether approx from Toyota and that the Alternator itself is only availible in bits, not a complete unit anymore. Check the Battery (no electrical load/ ignition off) standard Voltage, as per the Toyota repair manual, should be 12.5V - 12.9V. To Check the Alternator is charging, using a good Electrical Multimeter, set to Volts DC and put the meter probes on the + & - Battery terminals. With the Engine running, as per the Toyota repair manual, between Idle and 2000 rpm no Elecrical load (i.e lights/ radio/ wipers) should be 13.2V - 14.8V, if not as specified or less than, check the following: 12V Battery Terminal and Ground/ Earth on the Alternator and The 12V Battery terminals for corrosion/ poor contact or condition. Check the 120A ALT Fuse and 7.5A ALT S Fuse in the Engine bay. If they are both ok, then the fault will most likely be with the Alternator unit. The Reason that the lights you see coming on when the alternator fails is that they are connected on similar/ same circuits within the combination meter and tell tale indicators either side of the combination meter. Edited February 17, 2013 by GreaseMonkey (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digsy Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Same symptoms as I had when my alternator died. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloudder Posted February 18, 2013 Author Share Posted February 18, 2013 Guys, Thanks for the great advice! I will attempt to check these out in the next few days (car at paremts house). My uncle took a quick look under the bonnet and noticed the tell-tale on the battery was clear. When I connected the battery on saturday (I usually leave the -ve off) it was green. This may also give an indication of the alternator not charging? I'll keep you good folk posted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloudder Posted February 24, 2013 Author Share Posted February 24, 2013 Hi, I managed to get 1/2 an hur with the Supra today. First I checked the voltage of the battery it was 12.2 volts. The battery condition indicator still showed clear. Ithen fired it up and let it warm up for about 15 minutes, then with all possible items switched off that could put a drain on the charging system, I put the idle to 2500rpm and measured 11.7volts at the battery... does this conclyde a deffinate alternator issue or are there other simple checks I can do using a standard multimeter? I dont have the toyota manual so am stuck. Any comments? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Digsy Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 Still 99.9% sure its your alternator, but here is the relevant service manual section.ALTERNATOR_AND_REGULATOR.PDF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
straightsix Posted February 24, 2013 Share Posted February 24, 2013 11.7 volts at the battery with the engine running would certainly indicate the alternator is not outputting a charge. As Digsy said - odds are your alternator is shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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