Southeast Overland
Get lost! Go explore!
The wife and I were out on a little trip today 1 hour from the house when the battery light came on on the dash.
I checked voltage at the battery with the engine off and it was 14.2. With the engine on it was 13.7. The voltage didn't fluctuate with an increase on RPMs. Hmmm...
So we went inside, had Indian for lunch, and then drive to Pep Boys to have a charging system test. While eating I searched the interwebs and didn't find much about stock alts going out.
At the FLAPS it was confirmed the alt was out. This happened today, 7/4, and all 3 local Toyota dealership parts depts were closed. Argh! Even Pep Boys couldn't get an alt until maybe Fri, probably Monday, and I wanted a stock or Mean Green alt anyways.
Props out to the guys at Pep Boys in Greenville SC on Laurens Rd. They wouldn't charge me, even after I insisted, because they couldn't fix the problem.
So we had Pep Boys top off our battery and we headed home. A 1 hour drive.
Soon after we left our dash started lighting up.
The ATRAC, TRAC, etc tree first lit up. Then it started raining so the lights and wipers were turned on. Soon after the brake light came on. Turning the lights off made the brake light go off for a few minutes but then it came back on.
Also, we had two routes home. One on the interstate and one back roads. We chose the interstate because it would be faster and less chance of traffic jams. We were wrong. Hello stand still traffic and about a 15-20 minute delay.
We had two Cruiser heads on stand by in case we broke down. Thanks Trollhole and Lenny.
At 1 hour the back light on the radio and radio text turned off. It came back on a few times when I hit the brakes but then it was off for good.
At 1 minute out from the house the clock started fading out. Uh oh...
We pulled into the house and the dash looked like this. I think my FJ is trying to tell me something. Now the airbag and open door lights are on.
As a test I cut the truck off and tried to restart - not even a click.
I have a couple extra batteries in the garage so I'm going to switch the low one out and head to the shop in the morning.
OEM alts run around $500 retail and Mean Green alts about $400. Mean Green claims to put out 200 amps. I might just go with that. I have a 21.5" LED bar on the bumper and a 41.5" bar and 2 pods awaiting install, winch, CB, ARB fridge, and currently only a single battery. A Piranha dual battery kit is awaiting install but hasn't happened yet.
More to come.
I checked voltage at the battery with the engine off and it was 14.2. With the engine on it was 13.7. The voltage didn't fluctuate with an increase on RPMs. Hmmm...
So we went inside, had Indian for lunch, and then drive to Pep Boys to have a charging system test. While eating I searched the interwebs and didn't find much about stock alts going out.
At the FLAPS it was confirmed the alt was out. This happened today, 7/4, and all 3 local Toyota dealership parts depts were closed. Argh! Even Pep Boys couldn't get an alt until maybe Fri, probably Monday, and I wanted a stock or Mean Green alt anyways.
Props out to the guys at Pep Boys in Greenville SC on Laurens Rd. They wouldn't charge me, even after I insisted, because they couldn't fix the problem.
So we had Pep Boys top off our battery and we headed home. A 1 hour drive.
Soon after we left our dash started lighting up.
The ATRAC, TRAC, etc tree first lit up. Then it started raining so the lights and wipers were turned on. Soon after the brake light came on. Turning the lights off made the brake light go off for a few minutes but then it came back on.
Also, we had two routes home. One on the interstate and one back roads. We chose the interstate because it would be faster and less chance of traffic jams. We were wrong. Hello stand still traffic and about a 15-20 minute delay.
We had two Cruiser heads on stand by in case we broke down. Thanks Trollhole and Lenny.
At 1 hour the back light on the radio and radio text turned off. It came back on a few times when I hit the brakes but then it was off for good.
At 1 minute out from the house the clock started fading out. Uh oh...
We pulled into the house and the dash looked like this. I think my FJ is trying to tell me something. Now the airbag and open door lights are on.
As a test I cut the truck off and tried to restart - not even a click.
I have a couple extra batteries in the garage so I'm going to switch the low one out and head to the shop in the morning.
OEM alts run around $500 retail and Mean Green alts about $400. Mean Green claims to put out 200 amps. I might just go with that. I have a 21.5" LED bar on the bumper and a 41.5" bar and 2 pods awaiting install, winch, CB, ARB fridge, and currently only a single battery. A Piranha dual battery kit is awaiting install but hasn't happened yet.
More to come.
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