Charging/Electrical Quirks on BJ74 (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Threads
37
Messages
261
Location
S. Surrey, BC
Hi Mates,

A week ago, when it was just pouring rain here in Vancouver, I was driving around with wipers on, fan on full blast, headlights on, fogs on, stereo, etc. I drove for a considerable distance, stopping a few times.

Finally, when I went to restart, I heard the dreaded slow engine turnover and then click, click. Nothing. Both batteries in the 24V system were new last March, the posts are clean. The battery warning light did not come on. I tested the batteries and they showed 12.6 & 12.3 volts. I had the vehicle jump started and I was off. No probs, except that I had to reset my dash clock.

The next day, when I left for work, she started fine. But the dash lights were dim and the stereo lights seemed to "flicker" then after a few seconds all appeared OK.

All has been fine until this morning. (Last night it rained like mad and I was out driving in it.)

Vehicle started fine. But, the dash lights were dim, and the dash voltmeter needle was at the very bottom of the white zone (it is normally in the middle). After a minute, the needle all of a sudden jumped back to it's usual position and the dash and head lights brightened.

Any ideas? Could the alternator belt be slipping? It appears tight and no screeching noises. Could it be my voltage regulator?

Thanks in advance for your input,

Bruce in Tsawwassen
 
Bruce, clean the battery posts and led cable connectors. Check the fluid in all teh battery cells, top up if nec. trickle charge both batteries overnight. Reconnect, and you should be fine. Also check your alt output to be safe - and alt belt to make sure not slipping.

Regards
 
Bruce:

Give me a call.

FWIW...my regulator is a bit slow in my BJ74. It's always taken about a minute before the needle on my dash voltmeter jumps up to the usual position. I usually just idle it for a minute or so, taking my time to warm up the engine and making sure everything is lubed up anyway, especially when I'm going to be turning accessories and headlights on right away.

It could be several things. Hopefully we can figure out what it is fairly quick and that it's not too big a deal to fix. Maybe a voltage regulator?

Stone
 
check this

I have a 1987 Troopy with a 3b. Check the 24 v regulator. I had a wire come loose in it was giving me an intermittent charging problem
 
Thanks everyone.

Allstone called and he notes correctly that I have a blue block and that my voltage regulator is part of the alternator.

I hope this does not complicate the matter if replacement is necessary...

Bruce
 
Stone said:
Bruce:

Give me a call.

FWIW...my regulator is a bit slow in my BJ74. It's always taken about a minute before the needle on my dash voltmeter jumps up to the usual position. I usually just idle it for a minute or so, taking my time to warm up the engine and making sure everything is lubed up anyway, especially when I'm going to be turning accessories and headlights on right away.

It could be several things. Hopefully we can figure out what it is fairly quick and that it's not too big a deal to fix. Maybe a voltage regulator?

Stone


Looks like we have the same problem stone. I would like to get to the bottom of this as well. It has not affected me yet but don't want to find out while on a trip.
 
BURGER said:
Looks like we have the same problem stone. I would like to get to the bottom of this as well. It has not affected me yet but don't want to find out while on a trip.

Hey Burger:

I don't necessarily think it's a problem though...seems fairly common. I remember Sheldon's BJ70 had the same quirk. When it becomes intermittent, then that would be a problem.

Stone
 
Stone said:
Bruce:

Give me a call.

FWIW...my regulator is a bit slow in my BJ74. It's always taken about a minute before the needle on my dash voltmeter jumps up to the usual position. I usually just idle it for a minute or so, taking my time to warm up the engine and making sure everything is lubed up anyway, especially when I'm going to be turning accessories and headlights on right away.

It could be several things. Hopefully we can figure out what it is fairly quick and that it's not too big a deal to fix. Maybe a voltage regulator?

Stone


Same thing here with my HJ 61...
 
Check the connections on the fusable links.
 
Only a problem in my head. Little things like that drive me nuts. :) :)
 
expat said:
Same thing here with my HJ 61...

mmmm - I will check mine tomorrow morning when I go to work. What would a "normal" gauge read?

Thnx
 
A2B in a TLC said:
Allstone called and he notes correctly that I have a blue block and that my voltage regulator is part of the alternator.I hope this does not complicate the matter if replacement is necessary...Bruce

No, we can get them through our rebuilder at a much better price point then Toyota wants. If it ends up going here, let us know.

gb
 
BURGER said:
Looks like we have the same problem stone. I would like to get to the bottom of this as well. It has not affected me yet but don't want to find out while on a trip.

I am not so sure this is a problem. Mine takes a little bit to start regulating too, after intital startup. Perhaps it is a simple delay built in for some electrical reason. I dinna kin...

Your's is charing fine Petra. Never did notice if it has the delay though.

gb
 
My 74 has the same delay on the gauge but has always been like this.Cheers Stephen
 
Stone said:
Bruce:

Give me a call.

FWIW...my regulator is a bit slow in my BJ74. It's always taken about a minute before the needle on my dash voltmeter jumps up to the usual position. I usually just idle it for a minute or so, taking my time to warm up the engine and making sure everything is lubed up anyway, especially when I'm going to be turning accessories and headlights on right away.

It could be several things. Hopefully we can figure out what it is fairly quick and that it's not too big a deal to fix. Maybe a voltage regulator?

Stone
My 88 BJ74 Does the exact same thing. I guess it is more common then I thought.
 
The delay in starting to charge after engine start is not isolated to BJ74's. It's common to lots of vehicles. My '95 Powerstroke takes 30-45 seconds to start charging after start up. So did my '98 VW Jetta. And all my Cruisers too. Look carefully at other vehicles in your fleet. I bet you'll see the same thing.

I would be interested in knowing why this is... is it something designed into the system to allow the engine to spin easier while starting (the alternator is not trying to charge the batteries while the starter is on) or is it a result of the desing of the common alternator... maybe there's a collection of capacitors or something that need to get charged up before they engage the field in the alternator? Does anyone know?

As for why your batteries drew down in the first place while driving in the rain, clearly you were simply drawing more power than your alternator could feed back... they're only about 40 amps I think. between headlights, fans, wipers, radio, and a rear defrogger - definately near your capacity.

And the other thing to remember is that testing a weak battery with a volt meter is not always meaningful. You need to see the voltage under load to know if a battery is REALLY good or not. A battery tester is a bit of a clunky thing to carry around, though... don't quite fit in the glove box.

Peter Straub
 
Behemoth60 said:
And the other thing to remember is that testing a weak battery with a volt meter is not always meaningful. You need to see the voltage under load to know if a battery is REALLY good or not.

Peter I'm with you .. check not only the batt under load, also the hole electrical system ..
 
Behemoth60 said:
I would be interested in knowing why this is... is it something designed into the system to allow the engine to spin easier while starting (the alternator is not trying to charge the batteries while the starter is on) or is it a result of the desing of the common alternator... maybe there's a collection of capacitors or something that need to get charged up before they engage the field in the alternator? Does anyone know?Peter Straub

Good question. And nope...

Behemoth60 said:
And the other thing to remember is that testing a weak battery with a volt meter is not always meaningful. You need to see the voltage under load to know if a battery is REALLY good or not. A battery tester is a bit of a clunky thing to carry around, though... don't quite fit in the glove box.Peter Straub

25amps is the stock 24V alternator in many applications (BJ42, BJ70, etc) if you can believe it. This translates into 50amp in the 12V applications. There are applications with slighty higher numbers, however these are the norm for our stuff. This is one of the reasons I do not recommend going over a 20 amp 12V converter.

Yes, the lesson of the voltmeter not telling all was brought home to me last year when a buddy had a charging problem on his exploder. I walked through a series of tests, alternator out and checked at a shop, and we could find no reason for it overcharging. The last ditch idea to have the battery checked resulted in a trip to the local battery shop to load test the battery. It showed little umphh under load, even though it was showing over 12V when sitting. A new battery and he was off the races.

hth's

gb
 

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