Alternator help for ‘80 Saudi FJ43

[Widow61]

Noticed on my drive to work this morning that my battery voltage was slowly dropping. Made it home all right but voltage was well below 10v when I parked. I’m assuming it is my alternator not charging anymore. The battery is about a year and a half old.

This 1980 FJ43 came from Saudi Arabia last year and definitely has some middle eastern wiring issues. I need help finding a replacement alternator. The alternator mounts to the left side of the engine below the intake.

There is a sticker on the alternator labeling it as a Hatec HC-27020-xxxxx. The back half of the label is missing. Do I need to replace the voltage regulator too? Any ideas on finding a replacement? Any help is greatly appreciated, Scott

 

[charliemeyer007]

Maybe you only need the voltage regulator. It could also only need the contacts cleaned.

For me, I just bought a GM one wire 105 Amp alternator off Amoron for $70. I'll monitor the voltage instead of amps.

 

[devo]

Can you have the alternator bench tested to make sure it is functioning properly?
My 1981 FJ43 has the alt in the same place and I haven’t thought about what to do if a replacement is needed?
I replaced my working voltage regulator just for the heck of it because it was from 1981. Toyota sells new exact replacements.
If you want you can have my working OEM VR for the price of shipping. Let me know.

 

[JohnnyC]

Looks like the earlier model setup … my 74’ is in that location

Later went in the pass side

 

[cruisermatt]

More likely you have a wiring problem an actual component fault - however, you should do some actual diagnostics - don’t assume. Assuming is just guessing.

 

[TheBussman]

wiring at the 3 pin connector at the back of the alternator looks pretty rough, if one of those leads has a bad connection it will not charge. I would want a new connector with new pins crimped in or spliced in with waterproof heat shrink regardless if it fixes it or not.

 

[3_puppies]

Looks like the earlier model setup … my 74’ is in that location

Later went in the pass side

this is Saudi spec, most of the world market kept the alternator in that area, along with it being externally regulated

 

[Widow61]

Just to close the loop on this. Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions. This thing definitely has some wiring issues. Lots and lots of bare wires twisted together with maybe a piece of tape slapped on it. I went to check the voltage regulator and two of the wires pulled right out of the harness on that.

First thing I did was rewire the regulator harness with a six pin deutsch connector. While doing this I traced each wire back to where it was supposed to go to make sure the wires were good and going where expected. Started it up and still not charging.

Thanks to JohnnyC's comment about his 74', I was able to track down an alternator with the right mounting lugs and the right three pin connector on the alternator. Ordered this from rockauto for about $60 delivered. When this came in i swapped it in and the three pin wiring plug disintegrated. I couldn't track down a replacement plug so I wired in three flag connectors that fit the spade terminals on the alternator. Started it up again and now we were successfully charging.

However, when driving it I noticed that my voltmeter I had installed was showing a constant 17.8 volts. Quick web search found remanufactured Toyota voltage regulator for $37 delivered which was cheaper than aftermarket ones. Two days later I had a new regulator installed after I rewired its harness with the same style deutsch connector I had previously installed in the wiring. After this was installed, test drive shows a nominal 13.7 volts consistently.

I definitely have a bunch more rewiring to do all over this thing. I saved the removed voltage regulator because I saw in a thread you could adjust them by gently bending a tab until it was at the right voltage. Thank you again to everyone for giving me some options to check and what to look for!