alternator bad?

[mytoysgoboom]

Leaving for work yesterday, my 2002 started up fine, though had a new turbo-like whine . got to work fine and while driving ran a full scan and nothing popped. coming home, started up fine again, but halfway into my drive home all of the accessory electronics shut off, battery light flicked on and off and the battery meter in my little USB port started reading: 11, 9, 8, then the whole engine died.

got towed home, checked the battery with a multimeter and only showed 11.45 volts. replaced the battery and the car started fine, though the idle was rough and a little low. shut it off for 5 minutes to move the minivan that I had used to grab parts and when I restarted the cruiser it starts up fine and then immediately stalls and dies. I was able to get it back up my driveway by revving the engine as I start it because as long as I keep the throttle up it will stay running.

I'm assuming its my alternator (original AFAIK, 190k+), but a friend seemed to think it was potentially my fuel pump since it cuts immediately after starting. i have not had a chance to get under and test the alternator with the multimeter, but I was hoping someone has seen this and had some guidance. i also cannot imagine it's really the fuel system, since it stays running if I give it gas.

i searched a bunch but most of the posts about starting and then dying seem to say the car runs for a few seconds. mine literally cranks, starts, and then shuts off.

 

[FrankieJoe14]

Did the battery light illuminate? That's usually your sign for alternator.

If not, you are right to check fuel and or fuses that charge the battery. You'll need to get the multimeter out to verify and id do that before dropping money on the alt.

 

[excessive]

what voltage are you seeing at the battery with the engine running ?

 

[nissanh]

Probably battery and or the alternator. If you have the OEM alternator, just rebuild it by installing OEM toyota brush kit $15.

 

[mytoysgoboom]

Did the battery light illuminate? That's usually your sign for alternator.

If not, you are right to check fuel and or fuses that charge the battery. You'll need to get the multimeter out to verify and id do that before dropping money on the alt.

battery light flicked on for a second right before the engine cut out the first time yesterday. not popping on now, but I cannot get it to idle at all when restarting it with the new battery. if I give it gas to keep it running, there's no battery light and the little charger port i installed says it's sitting around 13.3-13.7 (@1500 RPM).

I'm still guessing it's the alternator and I'm going to try and test it tonight

 

[mytoysgoboom]

what voltage are you seeing at the battery with the engine running

Engine will start but i cannot keep it running at idle. if I give it some gas and hold it in the 1500 RPM range, it's reading between the middle line and the 3/4 line on the dash gauge. a small USB charger port I added says it's reading 13.2-13.7. no OBD codes at all on my reader.

 

[mytoysgoboom]

Probably battery and or the alternator. If you have the OEM alternator, just rebuild it by installing OEM toyota brush kit $15.

i picked up a NAPA reman one, in case it is the alternator. this is my DD so I need to get it running again. but I'll eat the core charge and get this one rebuilt and hang on to it.

 

[mytoysgoboom]

So it drives me nuts when people don’t post the conclusion so here it is:

It was the throttle body.

Ending up talking to one of those online Toyota mechanics for $20. He said it very well could be the alternator but what I was seeing didn’t really match up. Since the battery had fully discharged he said “the ECU and throttle might be out of sync for lack of a better way to explain it.”

Got in and cleaned the throttle body and the MAF while I was in there and admittedly both were more gunked up than I should have let them get.

But damn if it didn’t start up and idle just like it should once I buttoned everything back up.

It’s still running rich, but according to him that’s normal for the next week or two. Otherwise it idles and appears to be charging and everything as it should.

tested the alternator and it's still showing signs that it is on the way out but was not actually the primary issue here.

 

[squidmotion]

thanks for a conclusion post. that drives me nuts as well.
i’ll catalog this for a future event.