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Info possibly useful to others regarding a previous thread (Alternator Removal):
I have a 1999 Land Cruiser. Just removed the alternator with some of the tips in a thread out the bottom of the vehicle ... it was a pain ... I can't believe that either of the 2 original small "rubber" hoses (which run towards the PS side of the engine and transition to 2 metal pipes under the alternator that I believe must go to the transmission) could handle being bent back over on itself with no apparent damage as I forced the alternator past them ... I expected that they would be "crunchy" feeling given their age, but they seemed soft and pliable. I did have to remove the 3 power steering pump mounting bolts and hold it up out of the way to allow the alternator to slide forward off the mounting stud. Regarding the electrical connector, it was impossible for me to remove it by hand after pushing in its release tab. I used a very small straight bladed screw driver and dug it into the shell of the connector a little, slightly below the level of the sheet metal cover that surrounds it and pried it up ... this was surprisingly easy ... it just started sliding up ... the small diameter screw drive put a very small dent in the sheet metal and the leverage point. I also unclipped the large radiator hose from a clip that is about halfway up the PS side of the radiator to allow it to move more easily towards the PS side. I also removed one bolt from the bracket that holds the 2 hard lines near the center of the cross member for some more wiggle room. Seems like there was another plastic clip holding some rubber hose to the center hard lines that I unclipped for more wiggle room as well. Then I forcefully pushed the alternator into the large radiator hose and bent the hoses going to the transmission (I suppose) all over the place and rotated and wiggled the alternator out ... no fun. Maybe taking off the air cleaner assembly and getting it past the power steering pump and out the top would have been easier but I don't know. The part numbers confirmed it was the 100 ampere version.
Now on to my problem ...
Symptoms:
BAT light illuminated on the outbound trip, then parked for a couple of hours.
On the return trip the radio and lights started to dim/flicker, then the engine died.
Background:
battery is probably at end of its life (Nov 2011 date code and it is now Nov 2016)
battery clamps were corroded somewhat
I took a new battery from a Honda Civic that is smaller in size that was fully charged and installed it in the LC. The voltage was ~ 13.1-13.2 Vdc. I then started the LC with that battery and measured 11.98 - 12.1ish at idle with everything turned off that I could turn off. So I told myself that it must be the alternator because I expected to see ~ 14.1 Vdc. So I proceeded to remove the alt as described above. I took the alternator to 2 different shops and it passed both tests on a machine that spins the alternator and checks various things ... but it didn't tell how many amperes it was producing (or essentially how much the alternator was loaded as compared to its 100 ampere rating - I called the manufacturer and was told the AmFor tester pulls 10-15 A). So I decided to check the resistance between the charging wire that runs between the alt and the positive battery cable clamp because I wondered if a fuse/link was open. The resistance was good (basically it just indicated the resistance of the leads I was using). I also measured basically a short between the negative battery cable and chassis and the engine mounting bosses of the alternator.
Questions:
1) Is the LC designed so that it doesn't charge the battery at idle with all accessories turned off? Hence when I saw ~ 12.0 Vdc on my meter at idle with everything turned off and thought that the alternator was bad that it was actually a normal condition and maybe I should have had my helper hold a higher rpm on the engine and then turned on some accessories before I should expect to see ~ 14 Vdc.
2) Before I measured the resistance between the charging wire that runs between the alt and the positive battery cable I started to check the fuses at the positive battery cable connector. I had difficulty pulling them so I just measured the resistance between there and the alt charging wire as described above and all seemed good. What I noticed is that there was 1 slot with no fuse in it and the cover indicated that this was the "MAIN 100A" fuse. According to the cover there should/could be 4 fuses: "ALT-S 7.5A", "MAIN 100A", "ALT 140A", and "J/B No.2 100A". I assume that this has nothing to do with my alternator issues since I didn't remove any fuses and everything seemed to be functioning properly prior to the car dying. I had just never felt the need to open that cover. Can anyone verify that this is normal for a '99 LC with heated seats, mirrors, rear defroster, and an electric sunroof?
Trying to decide whether to reinstall the original alternator (that tested good at 2 different shops) and just get a new battery.
Thank you.
Info possibly useful to others regarding a previous thread (Alternator Removal):
I have a 1999 Land Cruiser. Just removed the alternator with some of the tips in a thread out the bottom of the vehicle ... it was a pain ... I can't believe that either of the 2 original small "rubber" hoses (which run towards the PS side of the engine and transition to 2 metal pipes under the alternator that I believe must go to the transmission) could handle being bent back over on itself with no apparent damage as I forced the alternator past them ... I expected that they would be "crunchy" feeling given their age, but they seemed soft and pliable. I did have to remove the 3 power steering pump mounting bolts and hold it up out of the way to allow the alternator to slide forward off the mounting stud. Regarding the electrical connector, it was impossible for me to remove it by hand after pushing in its release tab. I used a very small straight bladed screw driver and dug it into the shell of the connector a little, slightly below the level of the sheet metal cover that surrounds it and pried it up ... this was surprisingly easy ... it just started sliding up ... the small diameter screw drive put a very small dent in the sheet metal and the leverage point. I also unclipped the large radiator hose from a clip that is about halfway up the PS side of the radiator to allow it to move more easily towards the PS side. I also removed one bolt from the bracket that holds the 2 hard lines near the center of the cross member for some more wiggle room. Seems like there was another plastic clip holding some rubber hose to the center hard lines that I unclipped for more wiggle room as well. Then I forcefully pushed the alternator into the large radiator hose and bent the hoses going to the transmission (I suppose) all over the place and rotated and wiggled the alternator out ... no fun. Maybe taking off the air cleaner assembly and getting it past the power steering pump and out the top would have been easier but I don't know. The part numbers confirmed it was the 100 ampere version.
Now on to my problem ...
Symptoms:
BAT light illuminated on the outbound trip, then parked for a couple of hours.
On the return trip the radio and lights started to dim/flicker, then the engine died.
Background:
battery is probably at end of its life (Nov 2011 date code and it is now Nov 2016)
battery clamps were corroded somewhat
I took a new battery from a Honda Civic that is smaller in size that was fully charged and installed it in the LC. The voltage was ~ 13.1-13.2 Vdc. I then started the LC with that battery and measured 11.98 - 12.1ish at idle with everything turned off that I could turn off. So I told myself that it must be the alternator because I expected to see ~ 14.1 Vdc. So I proceeded to remove the alt as described above. I took the alternator to 2 different shops and it passed both tests on a machine that spins the alternator and checks various things ... but it didn't tell how many amperes it was producing (or essentially how much the alternator was loaded as compared to its 100 ampere rating - I called the manufacturer and was told the AmFor tester pulls 10-15 A). So I decided to check the resistance between the charging wire that runs between the alt and the positive battery cable clamp because I wondered if a fuse/link was open. The resistance was good (basically it just indicated the resistance of the leads I was using). I also measured basically a short between the negative battery cable and chassis and the engine mounting bosses of the alternator.
Questions:
1) Is the LC designed so that it doesn't charge the battery at idle with all accessories turned off? Hence when I saw ~ 12.0 Vdc on my meter at idle with everything turned off and thought that the alternator was bad that it was actually a normal condition and maybe I should have had my helper hold a higher rpm on the engine and then turned on some accessories before I should expect to see ~ 14 Vdc.
2) Before I measured the resistance between the charging wire that runs between the alt and the positive battery cable I started to check the fuses at the positive battery cable connector. I had difficulty pulling them so I just measured the resistance between there and the alt charging wire as described above and all seemed good. What I noticed is that there was 1 slot with no fuse in it and the cover indicated that this was the "MAIN 100A" fuse. According to the cover there should/could be 4 fuses: "ALT-S 7.5A", "MAIN 100A", "ALT 140A", and "J/B No.2 100A". I assume that this has nothing to do with my alternator issues since I didn't remove any fuses and everything seemed to be functioning properly prior to the car dying. I had just never felt the need to open that cover. Can anyone verify that this is normal for a '99 LC with heated seats, mirrors, rear defroster, and an electric sunroof?
Trying to decide whether to reinstall the original alternator (that tested good at 2 different shops) and just get a new battery.
Thank you.
