1999 Land Cruiser wouldn't start so, I jumped it off and drove to the local AutoZone to get the battery checked. Battery health wasn't the greatest so I replaced the battery. Drove it home and around town a few days over the weekend. Since it isn't my daily driver I assumed that it was fine. It sat about two weeks and I went to start it up and it was dead again. Jumped it off thinking that maybe a kid had left a dome light on. It jumped right off and the alternator seemed to be charging somewhere around 14V. I let it run a while and all seemed to be good. When I went to shift it into gear, it died and zero juice to get started again. Again the alternator seems to be charging at 1/2 on idle, about 14 if I give it some throttle. So, now I'm not sure if the alternator is charging or if I have another issue all together. This is a new one for me. Any ideas?
Thought it was a battery (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Mark Smith
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- Thread starter
- #2
So, came back after thinking about it. Disconnected the battery to let everything reset. Jumped it off again and let it sit for a while running. After about 15minutes, I got in and it shifted into gear fine so I drove it around the block. Then around the neighborhood. Voltmeter shows that it is charging and the vehicle ran fine. Pulled it back into the drive in front of the garage and the stereo started cutting on and off while engaging the antennae but it was still running and idling smoothly. I shut everything down and attempted to restart, it turns over very weakly with not enough to start. I put the charger on it to slow trickle all night and tomorrow. Doesn't make sense for it to run as well as it does if the alternator isn't charging the battery.
REKCUT
SILVER Star
First thing go get a volt meter. You can buy a cheap one for less than $10. Check battery level with truck off (12.5+) and then check with truck running (14 more or less). Next step will depend on results
Sounds like bad grounds, check to make sure terminals are on nice and tight, and that your cables aren't messed up. Also just because it's a new battery doesn't mean it can't go bad, i've had batteries from advance go bad in a week with a bad cell.
Yeah IMO still feels like a bad battery
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- #6
I’ve got a volt meter and will check it in the AM. I cleaned all the terminals and connectors tonight and regreased them. The bolts are as tight as they’ll go with shearing them off. All connections are in good shape too.
I’ve had their regular and silver series batteries be bad but never the Gold. Hopefully that’s all that is wrong. The more I think about it, I don’t think the alternator is bad, I’d of never made it as far as I did we’re it not charging.
I’ve had their regular and silver series batteries be bad but never the Gold. Hopefully that’s all that is wrong. The more I think about it, I don’t think the alternator is bad, I’d of never made it as far as I did we’re it not charging.
At idle with AC and headlights on, you should see around 13.5 V. A-zone batteries are not very reliable.
battery voltage could be anywhere between 12.7 and 14.4 depending on where it is in the charging cycle with the truck on. look up some youtube videos about checking batteries and alternators. some out there very informative about all that.
something similar happened to me. 2 things that it most likely was.
1. loose battery lugs. just because the bolt is tight doesnt mean its making full contact
2. alternator could be on its way out.
3. bonus - yes check or replace grounds
something similar happened to me. 2 things that it most likely was.
1. loose battery lugs. just because the bolt is tight doesnt mean its making full contact
2. alternator could be on its way out.
3. bonus - yes check or replace grounds
- Thread starter
- #9
I checked it this morning after being on the charger all night and it was at 12.33V, cranked it up and it was holding at 14.4 for about 5minutes with no fluctuations, left to go do some work and came back and checked it around 1:00pm, it was down to 12.1V. Took the battery back and got an Optima Red Top. Put it in and cracked up, again holding at 14.4V with the engine running. Drove it around a bit and came back, checked it again 14.4V on the alternator, 12.35V with it off.
Hopefully it was just a battery issue. And I was mistaken, the old battery was an Auto Zone Platinum. The guy there said it wasn’t the battery but that’s the first thing to start with. I’ll check it again tomorrow.
Thanks for all the help.
Hopefully it was just a battery issue. And I was mistaken, the old battery was an Auto Zone Platinum. The guy there said it wasn’t the battery but that’s the first thing to start with. I’ll check it again tomorrow.
Thanks for all the help.
when your truck is running and you are metering any of the mains, you are looking at the voltage coming from the alternator, not the voltage of a sitting battery. 14.4 would be at the charging state which makes sense because 12.35 when the truck is off is low. it should be a little higher. once the alternator detects about 13.7-8 on the battery while you are out driving, the metered voltage will be about 13.7-8. turn the truck off and you will probably meter about 12.7-8 for a charged battery.
same thing happened to me. i replaced the battery with a bosch AGM and still had problems. my PO had the wrong terminal on the negative and wasnt fully making contact. after sitting for a week it was "dead as a door nail". i also swapped the no name reman'd alternator with a denso 100A. that and new OEM terminals and no problems since.
same thing happened to me. i replaced the battery with a bosch AGM and still had problems. my PO had the wrong terminal on the negative and wasnt fully making contact. after sitting for a week it was "dead as a door nail". i also swapped the no name reman'd alternator with a denso 100A. that and new OEM terminals and no problems since.
I'd make a safe bet the alternator is on the way out. Probably the voltage regulator dying or a diode going bad.
