62 electrical issue. I think! (1 Viewer)

[bitdan]

I'm driving home tonight and my 62 starts to "sputter". Seemed like a fuel issue at first. I could take it out of gear and get it to rev but not consistently. I glanced at my gauges and the voltage showed 0. It stalled and would not start. It was now acting lime a dead battery and the gauge would not go above 8-9 volts. So... bad battery? Alternator? Anythng else?

 

[MSK79]

Did u have low voltage before the studder? Headlights dim? Did it mange to idle fine after the studder?

 

[3_puppies]

open the hood and see if the belt is still on the alt. did you lose PS?

 

[mobydick]

open the hood and see if the belt is still on the alt. did you lose PS?

Or just check if the belt is loose. Running off the juice in the battery alone will not get you too far! Coil wire come loose? Alternator fried?

 

[bitdan]

Did u have low voltage before the studder? Headlights dim? Did it mange to idle fine after the studder?

I did not notice low voltage before the studder or headlights dim. I had just started it a few minutes before and it started with no issue. it idled rough. It ran best at higher rpm out of gear.

open the hood and see if the belt is still on the alt. did you lose PS?

I had to leave it since it was late. i will check that out.

 

[slcfj62]

That's exactly how I discovered my alternator was bad.

 

[bitdan]

open the hood and see if the belt is still on the alt. did you lose PS?

Or just check if the belt is loose. Running off the juice in the battery alone will not get you too far! Coil wire come loose? Alternator fried?

Belts are tight and in good shape.

I took a volt meter with me this morning and I get 12.2v from the battery. I'm confused now. Could it still be a bad alt?

 

[slcfj62]

If your meter is accurate, 12.2 volts is about 30% charged. So I'd say you have a charging issue. If your alternator is working, you should have somewhere around 13.5 volts as measured at the battery with the engine running.

 

[bitdan]

After a charge to the battery everything is working as it should. So I'm thinking either a bad battery or alternator that works intermittently which I would find strange. I would think that it's dead or alive. Any thoughts?

 

[slcfj62]

Mine didn't die all at once. If your battery took a charge, then it is probably OK. My guess is you need a new alternator. You can take your rig down to Autozone or a similar place and they can test the battery and the alternator. You will feel like a jerk, but don't buy one there. Those things are difficult to replace and you only want to do it once. Buy some oil or something from the place you get it tested at, and then buy an alternator from Toyota or other reputable source.