Hey all,
I've been reading the forums on this site for a while now, but this is my first post. I'm a complete noob to owning 2 FJ80s, and I need some help. For the backstory, see below. To jump ahead to my issue, scroll to the paragraph that starts: "Then I realized I made a mistake."
I recently purchased a 1991 FJ80 and a 1994 FZJ80 from a friend for cheap who was moving out of town and needed to get rid of them. I was aware that they both needed work, but how much was not clear. I realize that this was a risky choice, but the price was right and I had the cash. My first move was to take them both to a reputable shop to get an accurate list of what they both need. I will post more details about both rigs and will get them on the registry once I have the time to take photos.
The '94 FZJ80 was in good enough shape that it would run, but the shop I took it to for diagnostics told me it needed a new battery. I found this odd, because *I think* the battery had been replaced not that long ago. But, since a battery was the only thing it needed to start, run, and drive off their lot, I gave them the go-ahead to install a new one.
Then I realized I made a mistake. For the past two weeks or so I've been driving the truck around on occasion, and haven't noticed any issues. Until today. This morning, she started up fine. Drove fine for about a mile, then I noticed the windshield wipers were strangely slow. Then some dash lights came on, like the e-brake light, even though it wasn't engaged. A mile or so later, it seemed like we were in a system-wide shutdown: anything electrical was not getting enough juice. Worried that the spark plugs could stop firing, I quickly turned back home and was able to park outside my house. Before I switched her off, I popped the hood - no smoke, nothing irregular. Turned the ignition off, took a different car to run errands. Came back a few hours later, tried to start it, and now it won't turn over.
So before going any farther, I see two possibilities: either something killed the battery without me noticing, or the alternator is bad and needs to be replaced.
Can anyone give me some guidance on this? Am I correct in assuming that this is all the result of a bad alternator? Should I jump start the truck and test the alternator? Once we sort that out I'll be hitting up the vendor forums to look for replacement parts...
Thank you in advance!
I've been reading the forums on this site for a while now, but this is my first post. I'm a complete noob to owning 2 FJ80s, and I need some help. For the backstory, see below. To jump ahead to my issue, scroll to the paragraph that starts: "Then I realized I made a mistake."
I recently purchased a 1991 FJ80 and a 1994 FZJ80 from a friend for cheap who was moving out of town and needed to get rid of them. I was aware that they both needed work, but how much was not clear. I realize that this was a risky choice, but the price was right and I had the cash. My first move was to take them both to a reputable shop to get an accurate list of what they both need. I will post more details about both rigs and will get them on the registry once I have the time to take photos.
The '94 FZJ80 was in good enough shape that it would run, but the shop I took it to for diagnostics told me it needed a new battery. I found this odd, because *I think* the battery had been replaced not that long ago. But, since a battery was the only thing it needed to start, run, and drive off their lot, I gave them the go-ahead to install a new one.
Then I realized I made a mistake. For the past two weeks or so I've been driving the truck around on occasion, and haven't noticed any issues. Until today. This morning, she started up fine. Drove fine for about a mile, then I noticed the windshield wipers were strangely slow. Then some dash lights came on, like the e-brake light, even though it wasn't engaged. A mile or so later, it seemed like we were in a system-wide shutdown: anything electrical was not getting enough juice. Worried that the spark plugs could stop firing, I quickly turned back home and was able to park outside my house. Before I switched her off, I popped the hood - no smoke, nothing irregular. Turned the ignition off, took a different car to run errands. Came back a few hours later, tried to start it, and now it won't turn over.
So before going any farther, I see two possibilities: either something killed the battery without me noticing, or the alternator is bad and needs to be replaced.
Can anyone give me some guidance on this? Am I correct in assuming that this is all the result of a bad alternator? Should I jump start the truck and test the alternator? Once we sort that out I'll be hitting up the vendor forums to look for replacement parts...
Thank you in advance!
