Good evening,
This is my first post on Ih8mud, please excuse me if this is the wrong location. First off hello Ih8mud community, I am very excited to be the new owner of a 1997 Champaigne Pearl LX450 150k miles.
I have been having a charging system issue for the past couple of weeks and after replacing the alternator for a second time I am stumped so need help. There is a big backstory so buckle up.
I purchased this LX450 in June of this year. Drove it back to GA from NY, no issues. Had it in GA for about a week, decided to change the oil before driving back up to Virginia where the car would sit for 6 weeks while I was at OCS (Military Training). Right after changing the oil and starting the car up, I noticed the voltage jumping up and the battery light would flicker on and off. Hooked up my multimeter and the voltage was ranging between 14.6 and 16.5v. (The truck has a new battery, installed by the PO). I first thought that I messed a ground up or something when changing the oil because it was my first time on this vehicle, but I didn't see anything loose in the immediate area. I talked to my former coworker who has been a mechanic for over 30 years and he told me that it is probably just the voltage regulator, and I likely didn't mess up anything doing the oil change. I was hesitant to take his word for it because everything was fine before the oil change, but I decided to replace the alternator. Due to the fact I had to check into OCS in 3 days and drive from GA to VA, I had no choice but to get a NAPA Reman alternator. I installed it that night and vehicle fired up, charging at 13.2v. Drove it up to VA and it was fine, when I passed OCS and drove home it was fine.
About 2 weeks later around August 12th, drove it back up to VA for school. Didn't notice anything abnormal.
3 weeks ago, I went to start it up and noticed it was charging at only about 12.2-12.4. However, never saw the battery light come on. Found a loose terminal and tightened it, and back to normal about 13.2v.
Last week I started it up and got ready to drive about an hour north and its only charging at 12.2v. I said screw it and kept driving (it was night with the lights and radio on) still no battery light on. As I kept driving I watched the voltage start creeping down slowly losing 0.1v about every 10-15 seconds. I decided to pull off to a truck stop because it got down to 11.5v. (Still no battery light on). I watched it go down to 10.9v, battery light finally came on, RPMs wouldn't effect the charging at all, finally decided to turn the car off and leave it for the night. (Had my GF pick me up) Came back the next morning drove it back to school about 15 mins on the highway, it was still losing volts but much slower because I had all the accessories off. Got it back to school with about 9v left. I concluded based on what I read on this forum that it was the NAPA Reman alternator already going out. Did a voltage drop test with my multimeter and found no issues so I concluded the NAPA reman had failed.
Yesterday I installed a Reman Denso OEM alternator from Toyota parts deal, a new fuse able link and had a friend charge the battery with jumper cables. When I started it up, I was getting 13.6 volts from the battery using a multimeter, I thought everything was fixed, however I started to watch the voltage creep down as the truck was idling. It was again losing 0.1v every 10 seconds or so and it would then level off around 12.6-12.9v with no accessories on. I decided that it was probably good to drive, and I am now thinking maybe the battery had gone bad. Drove it to autozone at night with the lights on monitoring the voltage from my scan gauge and it was showing 12.2v (no battery light on). AutoZone tester said the battery is good but needs recharge, it also said the alternator failed for voltage regulation. I know this can't be true because it's a brand-new Denso Reman and I hear those are good. Drove it back to school and now I'm here writing this up. Any ideas?
*** Important Notes
The engine was replaced sometime in 2020 by the PO with a similar mileage motor from a 97 Toyota LC.
The PO also has replaced the Lexus factory radio with what looks like a factory radio from a 80 series LC. I have a feeling this was improperly installed because it has a loud popping noise suggesting its getting too much power when I put the key in ignition?? Note: I have kept the radio off recently because I was suspecting that it was drawing too many amps, however I haven't noticed any abnormal voltage drop with the radio on or off.
I'm not a master mechanic, only 22 years old and I haven't grown up fixing cars, still learning this stuff, but I should be able to understand anything you guys throw at me.
Any help would be much appreciated.
This is my first post on Ih8mud, please excuse me if this is the wrong location. First off hello Ih8mud community, I am very excited to be the new owner of a 1997 Champaigne Pearl LX450 150k miles.
I have been having a charging system issue for the past couple of weeks and after replacing the alternator for a second time I am stumped so need help. There is a big backstory so buckle up.
I purchased this LX450 in June of this year. Drove it back to GA from NY, no issues. Had it in GA for about a week, decided to change the oil before driving back up to Virginia where the car would sit for 6 weeks while I was at OCS (Military Training). Right after changing the oil and starting the car up, I noticed the voltage jumping up and the battery light would flicker on and off. Hooked up my multimeter and the voltage was ranging between 14.6 and 16.5v. (The truck has a new battery, installed by the PO). I first thought that I messed a ground up or something when changing the oil because it was my first time on this vehicle, but I didn't see anything loose in the immediate area. I talked to my former coworker who has been a mechanic for over 30 years and he told me that it is probably just the voltage regulator, and I likely didn't mess up anything doing the oil change. I was hesitant to take his word for it because everything was fine before the oil change, but I decided to replace the alternator. Due to the fact I had to check into OCS in 3 days and drive from GA to VA, I had no choice but to get a NAPA Reman alternator. I installed it that night and vehicle fired up, charging at 13.2v. Drove it up to VA and it was fine, when I passed OCS and drove home it was fine.
About 2 weeks later around August 12th, drove it back up to VA for school. Didn't notice anything abnormal.
3 weeks ago, I went to start it up and noticed it was charging at only about 12.2-12.4. However, never saw the battery light come on. Found a loose terminal and tightened it, and back to normal about 13.2v.
Last week I started it up and got ready to drive about an hour north and its only charging at 12.2v. I said screw it and kept driving (it was night with the lights and radio on) still no battery light on. As I kept driving I watched the voltage start creeping down slowly losing 0.1v about every 10-15 seconds. I decided to pull off to a truck stop because it got down to 11.5v. (Still no battery light on). I watched it go down to 10.9v, battery light finally came on, RPMs wouldn't effect the charging at all, finally decided to turn the car off and leave it for the night. (Had my GF pick me up) Came back the next morning drove it back to school about 15 mins on the highway, it was still losing volts but much slower because I had all the accessories off. Got it back to school with about 9v left. I concluded based on what I read on this forum that it was the NAPA Reman alternator already going out. Did a voltage drop test with my multimeter and found no issues so I concluded the NAPA reman had failed.
Yesterday I installed a Reman Denso OEM alternator from Toyota parts deal, a new fuse able link and had a friend charge the battery with jumper cables. When I started it up, I was getting 13.6 volts from the battery using a multimeter, I thought everything was fixed, however I started to watch the voltage creep down as the truck was idling. It was again losing 0.1v every 10 seconds or so and it would then level off around 12.6-12.9v with no accessories on. I decided that it was probably good to drive, and I am now thinking maybe the battery had gone bad. Drove it to autozone at night with the lights on monitoring the voltage from my scan gauge and it was showing 12.2v (no battery light on). AutoZone tester said the battery is good but needs recharge, it also said the alternator failed for voltage regulation. I know this can't be true because it's a brand-new Denso Reman and I hear those are good. Drove it back to school and now I'm here writing this up. Any ideas?
*** Important Notes
The engine was replaced sometime in 2020 by the PO with a similar mileage motor from a 97 Toyota LC.
The PO also has replaced the Lexus factory radio with what looks like a factory radio from a 80 series LC. I have a feeling this was improperly installed because it has a loud popping noise suggesting its getting too much power when I put the key in ignition?? Note: I have kept the radio off recently because I was suspecting that it was drawing too many amps, however I haven't noticed any abnormal voltage drop with the radio on or off.
I'm not a master mechanic, only 22 years old and I haven't grown up fixing cars, still learning this stuff, but I should be able to understand anything you guys throw at me.
Any help would be much appreciated.
