Hello everyone. I am trying to iron out some electrical issue in my 11/72 FJ40. This has the original in-line 6 in it, with an externally regulated alternator.
Here is the story:
Vehicle was recently moved states. It was at my father in laws house before we got it, and he would start it up and drive it around but it wasn’t driven long distances and not at night. When it arrived here, it was nighttime, and it started up but with the lights on it would not stay running unless you kept the idle high. I thought it might be some carb issue as it rose about 4,000 feet in elevation. I messed with the air/fuel screws just a hair the next night, seemed to be running better. Drove it around for a bit, and then came to a hill, with lights on. When I let off the gas to shift it died. Turned the lights off, jumped it, and was able to get home with the lights off.
Here is what I’ve checked:
Pulled voltage regulator apart to look for any damage. Visually it looked okay.
Battery is new as of 11/21. So 8 months old. I put the battery on the trickle charger over night. That temporarily solves the problem, I can run the lights, it fires right up, does not stall when the idle drops. It seems to fix the problem, until you drive for long enough and the voltage in the battery drops enough.
With the Fj40 idling, I have no change in voltage to the battery. I tried running the RPM’s up, and voltage still remains the same. No change.
I figured it could potentially be a bad alternator. Father in law had never replaced it in 10 years of ownership, so figured it could be time. Purchased an alternator from napa that is externally regulated. Voltage at battery did the same thing.
Engine fuse is good. Battery voltage was 12.4 when I did these tests, and I have 12.4 Volts to the IGN wire running to the voltage regulator. I cleaned out the grounds for the voltage regulator, pulled the bolts and shined them up. I pulled the grounds from the battery cables to the frame, cleaned them up.
Positive battery cable was able to wiggle free with my hand. I thought that might be the ticket, however no dice.
I ordered a new OEM voltage regulator from VintageTEQ. Japanese part, figured if it didn’t fix the problem it could be my spare as many of the posts I have read about this have suggested. It arrived today, and I was so hopeful that would turn this thing around. I fired it up, and still no change at the battery voltage while idling, or while revving it up. Voltage on battery was 12.1 today, and voltage remained 12.1 at all RPMs.
I also verified that I had good voltage on either side of my fusible link. Speaking of fusible links… I am wondering what some of you might think of this setup. To me, this wire looks too big to be a fusible link. I thought the rule was to have a wire less than 4 inches long and 4 Guages smaller. I attached a photo below.
I have noticed on the ammeter that it is always ticked slightly to the negative side. When I turn the lights on, it ticks a little further left. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I thought that for the battery to be charging it needed to be slightly positive.
Thanks
The black wire is what I determined to be the “fusible Link”. The second small red wire runs to an aftermarket radio someone installed into the jockey box.
A Photo of the voltage regulator that came off of it.
new alternator
Here is the story:
Vehicle was recently moved states. It was at my father in laws house before we got it, and he would start it up and drive it around but it wasn’t driven long distances and not at night. When it arrived here, it was nighttime, and it started up but with the lights on it would not stay running unless you kept the idle high. I thought it might be some carb issue as it rose about 4,000 feet in elevation. I messed with the air/fuel screws just a hair the next night, seemed to be running better. Drove it around for a bit, and then came to a hill, with lights on. When I let off the gas to shift it died. Turned the lights off, jumped it, and was able to get home with the lights off.
Here is what I’ve checked:
Pulled voltage regulator apart to look for any damage. Visually it looked okay.
Battery is new as of 11/21. So 8 months old. I put the battery on the trickle charger over night. That temporarily solves the problem, I can run the lights, it fires right up, does not stall when the idle drops. It seems to fix the problem, until you drive for long enough and the voltage in the battery drops enough.
With the Fj40 idling, I have no change in voltage to the battery. I tried running the RPM’s up, and voltage still remains the same. No change.
I figured it could potentially be a bad alternator. Father in law had never replaced it in 10 years of ownership, so figured it could be time. Purchased an alternator from napa that is externally regulated. Voltage at battery did the same thing.
Engine fuse is good. Battery voltage was 12.4 when I did these tests, and I have 12.4 Volts to the IGN wire running to the voltage regulator. I cleaned out the grounds for the voltage regulator, pulled the bolts and shined them up. I pulled the grounds from the battery cables to the frame, cleaned them up.
Positive battery cable was able to wiggle free with my hand. I thought that might be the ticket, however no dice.
I ordered a new OEM voltage regulator from VintageTEQ. Japanese part, figured if it didn’t fix the problem it could be my spare as many of the posts I have read about this have suggested. It arrived today, and I was so hopeful that would turn this thing around. I fired it up, and still no change at the battery voltage while idling, or while revving it up. Voltage on battery was 12.1 today, and voltage remained 12.1 at all RPMs.
I also verified that I had good voltage on either side of my fusible link. Speaking of fusible links… I am wondering what some of you might think of this setup. To me, this wire looks too big to be a fusible link. I thought the rule was to have a wire less than 4 inches long and 4 Guages smaller. I attached a photo below.
I have noticed on the ammeter that it is always ticked slightly to the negative side. When I turn the lights on, it ticks a little further left. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I thought that for the battery to be charging it needed to be slightly positive.
Thanks
The black wire is what I determined to be the “fusible Link”. The second small red wire runs to an aftermarket radio someone installed into the jockey box.
A Photo of the voltage regulator that came off of it.
