Uhh . . . .maybe that water was too deep

[LCyal8r]

so I was driving through some puddles that were about 12 or 14 inches in depth. splash water all about while I was ripping through them. Afterwards the battery guage was going on and off. The drive home was about 20 minutes and during that time the power guage went on off maybe 15 times. When it was on everything functioned normally. Windows, radio, etc. When it was off, only the lights functioned. No gauges, No accessories of any type. Got home, parked it, and it won't turn over now. The battery has power, and I get the red light next to the battery guage. But, no starter when I turn the key. No radio, no gauges, nothing. Fuses look ok.

Any idea where I should start? Water definitely got up on the hood, but nothing worse than a heavy rainstorm for sure.

Thanks in advance guys. Getting frustrated here.

 

[gbeltran]

When you say power do you mean 12 volts or just that light comes on? I'd check the battery, the all the connections. Sounds like you damaged the alternator.

 

[jwilliams]

Yep, sounds like the alternator is bad. You can take it out and have it tested at the local auto parts store.

 

[half k cruiser]

Will jumper cables get it started ? If so, first measure the voltage with the battery at rest, then measure after you've gotten the vehicle started to see what the difference is. Usually a good battery will be over 12 v resting and 13-14 volts when receiving proper charge from the alternator.

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

So, I would first remove your alternator and take it in for testing. The water won't so much cause the voltage regulator to die as much as the sediment carried in the water. Second check your fusible link. I am going to go with fried voltage regulator on this one. Only because something similar happened to my girlfriends Toyota pickup.

 

[LCyal8r]

So the visible link was fine. My first check. If the alternator was dead it should still start right? And the accessories would work right? Would a dead alternator affect only certain elements and leave the lights working?

Would you mind explaining more about the voltage regulator? I'll definitely have the alternator checked too.

 

[george_tlc]

Did you measure voltage at the 'output' side of the fusible links while attempting to crank? Not enough to just 'look' at them, your must test them. They can look ok on the outside, but still be broken.

What year 80? Add some info to your sig line so we don't have to guess what you have...

Alternator/regulator etc has nothing to do with not being able to crank assuming your battery isn't stuffed/dead.

*First step* here is to verify your battery is indeed charged and good. What's the open circuit voltage? Battery posts clean and clamps tight?
1/2kcruiser already asked if it will crank/start with jumper cables to a good battery - have you tried that?

Puddles of water aren't going to kill your alternator... Puddles of mud on the other hand...


cheers,
george.

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

Did you measure voltage at the 'output' side of the fusible links while attempting to crank? Not enough to just 'look' at them, your must test them. They can look ok on the outside, but still be broken.

What year 80? Add some info to your sig line so we don't have to guess what you have...

Alternator/regulator etc has nothing to do with not being able to crank assuming your battery isn't stuffed/dead.

*First step* here is to verify your battery is indeed charged and good. What's the open circuit voltage? Battery posts clean and clamps tight?
1/2kcruiser already asked if it will crank/start with jumper cables to a good battery - have you tried that?

Puddles of water aren't going to kill your alternator... Puddles of mud on the other hand...


cheers,
george.

Actually the alternator can cause it not to crank, that's exactly what happened with the GF's pickup. She went through some heavily silt laden puddles and then started having her voltage gauge act funny and things in the cab acting strange and then she parked it and couldn't start it. The voltage regulator had fried, burned the cover up on her alternator, fried the fusible link, but also the contacts on the ignition switch. I went to diagnose it and notices the fuse was fried, so I bridged it with the end of a piece of wire, smoke came pluming up from her alternator along with a crackling noise. Pulley the fuse, pulled the alternator and replaced both, charged the battery and it wouldn't crank still. Checked all the fuses and relays and everything pointed back to the ignition switch. Had to make a jumper harness with a momentary switch to test and sure enough, her ignition witch was shot. Replaced it and it started right up. Disassembled the old switch and the little copper plates were burned through at the contact points. Funny thing was that her lights still came on even with a burned main fuse. So yeah, a bad alternator can cause the truck not to start.

 

[george_tlc]

^ umm.... well the fusible links were fried... Cause and effect is one issue, a dead alternator (brushes worn etc) isn't going to stop things cranking. And I did say puddles of water versus puddles of mud. The OP said water.

Anyhow, he needs to determine if his battery is charged, if the fusible links are functional (not just visually), what year 80 he has and then we can proceed to fault find further. Just replacing the alternator and or regulator (built in) is not the first step in the debug process.

cheers,
george.

 

[LCyal8r]

Excellent. I have a 97 lx. It was water with silt in it. Maybe 14 or 16 inches deep. I'll check out the items that have been mentioned here and report back.

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

^ umm.... well the fusible links were fried... Cause and effect is one issue, a dead alternator (brushes worn etc) isn't going to stop things cranking. And I did say puddles of water versus puddles of mud. The OP said water.

Anyhow, he needs to determine if his battery is charged, if the fusible links are functional (not just visually), what year 80 he has and then we can proceed to fault find further. Just replacing the alternator and or regulator (built in) is not the first step in the debug process.

cheers,
george.

Definitely didn't tell him to replace the alternator. I told him to remove it and have it checked. What sense would it make to go pay Toyota $14 for a fusible link just to hook it up an blow it because of a messed up regulator? That way he ensures the alternator isn't the issue and doesn't waste money on a fuse. Then if he replaces the fuse and it works then he can rest assured his alternator is also fine.

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

Excellent. I have a 97 lx. It was water with silt in it. Maybe 14 or 16 inches deep. I'll check out the items that have been mentioned here and report back.

If your alternator checks out and your fusible link checks out I would look into checking your Started signal with a volt meter, if you have signal then have your starter checked.

 

[CruiseOrlando]

Sounds oddly familiar...

Here's my writeup on changing brushes and cleaning the alternator. You might find it helpful depending on your own diagnosis:

Alternator clean and rebuild