Dash lights on - charge, oil, A/T temp, etc - a definitive fix?

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Fusible links were all OK. Carefully cleaned all the connections on the positive side with no result. Took the alternator to a shop were they have an apparatus that can test it off the vehicle (driven by a belt, many alternator plugs to fit, etc - cool machine) and it failed even with the new brushes.

So we picked up a new alternator and stripped the new brushes back out of the core we gave back. Fired 'er up and got excellent charging on the guage and all the lights are off. Ol' Sven (vehicle's name) at 335,000 miles got new alternator, new belts, new power steering pump and high pressure hose, new big rad hoses and thermostat with a back flush and Toyota Red refill, a new blue hub fan clutch and an air filter along with an oil change and nice NAPA gold filter. Still humming right along on original head gasket, water pump, etc.

So, crisis averted. The old gal still rocks. Her straight six is just as smooth and quiet as mine. It's uncanny. Tranny almost shifts smoother than mine. Springs have definitely begun losing their strength now, but still no steering slack or underbody rattles. Toyota sure knew what they were doing with this series.

DougM

Thanks for all the combined tips, btw!!

(edited - hate typos..)
 
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Good to hear, Doug. I WAS positive that it wouldn't be the alternator itself. Just doesn't make sense, but then again I should have learned my lesson on trying to apply that kind of logic 100% of the time. Wierd.
 
Crap. I just got done buttoning everything up from the head gasket replacement (originally had it 180 degrees out, dang it) and now I got the pesky lights... immediately knew them as an alternator problem... I too installed new brushes in the alternator while it was out.
Now, the lights initially were not on. But when I was trying to crank the thing when 180 degrees out I killed the cheap battery. Went and picked up a yellow top.... the lights came on after about 10 minutes of the truck idling.

So, it's the alternator now? it's dead? Crap crap crap... I can't go with a reman from the dealership right now... I'll tap. tap. tap it and then if no go then I guess I'll pull it tomorrow when flushing the the radiator and oil from driving it around for 30 minutes after the HG...
Off the top of the dome, are the 3FE 80 series alts switchable to the 1FZE's? I doubt it, but I think I know where I can get a fairly recent reman'd one...
 
Luckily for me the hi-pressure hose "excited" the alternator into working. Funny though. I left it running while I sprayed, lights went off. Turned the truck off and then back on... lights came on. Resprayed while truck was running, lights went back off, so I drove around for 30 minutes. Noticed the gauge is reading more volts now. Now they're off...
I suspect my alternator is going to go soon, but this is holding me off a few more weeks until I can budget it.
 
Eric,

IMHO i think you are on borrowed time. I also tried the degreaser and high pressure hose cleaning. Worked for about a day.
 
concretejungle said:
Eric,

IMHO i think you are on borrowed time. I also tried the degreaser and high pressure hose cleaning. Worked for about a day.
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I think so too. As long as it gets me through two weeks, until I can budget it... this unexpected head gasket project continues to to dig in...

I had the same thing happen to Cattywampus and I sprayed it and it continued to last, but something tells me differently now.
 
I had the same situation. The root was the starter contacts sticking and after several minutes engaged after start, it burn up the internal voltage regulator in the alternator. I had the alternator bench tested with the same results as yours. The end result was a purchase of a new starter and alternator from CruiserDan. Remove the starter & rebuild it if it's salvageable and buy an alternator.
 
Huh. My cruiser is weird. New battery, new alternator, and the ammeter goes almost to the midline when operating all windows at idle.

And furthermore no lights came on when the last alternator died. And by died I mean seized up like a rock.

Is the lights-going-on feature only part of the FZJs?
 
Eicca said:
Is the lights-going-on feature only part of the FZJs?
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No, My 91 did them lights a few years back. The 3FE list calls them "Christmas Tree Lights" because so many come on...
 
I wonder if mine is broken somewhere. I don't think it's ever done that for any of the three previous alternators that have died.
 
Looks like this week was my turn to go through this...
I made it home and tested the alternator per the FSM, it failed miserably. Took the alternator off, disassembled and tested everything. The brushes were still in the good range (but I would change them anyway), the diodes were shot, and I planned on replacing the voltage regulator.
After a call to Toyota I discovered that it would only be $10 cheaper to replace the diodes, regulator and brushes than it would be to get a new (Toyota reman) alternator, so a new alternator was ordered.
The new alt. came in yesterday, and even though they ordered it by the VIN it was still wrong, the new part had a rectangle plug in the back, and my old one had a round plug. My truck is a '93 so I assumed that it used an earlier alternator (a carry over part ftom a '92). I had them go ahead and order one from a '91 - '92 and we will see what happens.
 
Firedog said:
True, then I just could have had the wrong one delivered from New Mexico.....
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Uh-oh. Better buy something from him quick, lest you anger the Cruiser gods...... :eek:

*moves away from Firedog*
 
Ebag333 said:
Uh-oh. Better buy something from him quick, lest you anger the Cruiser gods...... :eek:

*moves away from Firedog*
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Like Beno said, there is only one listed for the 1FZ, Dan would have sent that one and it would have been wrong. The manufacture date on mine is 12/92, I guess they were just getting rid of the left over parts from the 3FE and i was lucky enough to end up with one.
 
I have been digging all over the web and, from what I can tell, my truck has the voltage regulator and stamped tin cover from a FJ-80 (and the wire harness, boot, plug and possibly brush holder) with the 1FZ housing (solid on the pivit side)and double pulleys.
Everything looks origional, and it looked like it had never been pulled.

Its starting to sound like i will need to get the correct wiring harness connectors and rewire the harness to make it fit the alternator it calls for....I just can't imagine anyone that owned this vehicle taking the time to remake the harness end for the wrong regulator when it could have been half :censor: a whole lot easier...
 
Still trying to find the right combination of parts to install a factory alternator. My suspicions were correct, the voltage regulator plug on my '93 fits the voltage regulator on the '91, '92 model, but, as Beno pointed out, the alternators are completly different.
I decided to just get the correct harness end and fix it correctly for good.
Here are a couple of pictures. First, my '93's alternator with the "Correct" alternator for the '93. Then my alternator with the correct alternator for a '93, and a '92.
In the picture the shield around the voltage regulator on my alternator looks like it has been ground out, IDK, it didn't look that bad when I had it off in my hand, it sure would have been a lot of hassle to wire in an incorrect voltage regulator when all you would have to do is get the correct one...
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