Voltage Regulator

[David70FJ40]

During the extremely cold weather and snow event of the past few days, my battery appeared to die. Only when I hit a patch of rough ice did I see the volt meter go from 10 volts back up to 14. The alternator is putting out 15.3 volts and the battery is strong so I believe the regulator is in trouble.

Can someone direct me to a replacement OEM quality regulator? The one I have in the truck now came from SOR and I am hesitant to purchase another one from them.

 

[Coolerman]

Only when I hit a patch of rough ice did I see the volt meter go from 10 volts back up to 14. The alternator is putting out 15.3 volts and the battery is strong so I believe the regulator is in trouble.
/QUOTE]

Your regulator is "probably" fine, What you may have is a simple loose/corroded connection somewhere in the charge wiring.
Things to check: Ground for the regulator and alternator, connections to the regulator/alternator, connections to the amp meter, connections to the starter from the battery, loose corroded fuse block connections, or loose corroded battery terminals.

 

[David70FJ40]

Thank you for the reply. One question, during idle, the volt meter shows 12 volts. At speed of 45 it is showing 16 volts with a battery that was charged on a charger for 12 hours.

 

[Landpimp]

OEM is about $25 for the regulator for your year, still available, got one last week

 

[David70FJ40]

Found one at Toyota Parts Deal but it was $95.

 

[Landpimp]

I know nothing about this outfit but they did have pics of the 2 types, one is 22 other 32......


58-72 Land Cruiser FJ40 45 55 Voltage Regulator OEM
71-77 Land Cruiser FJ55 Voltage Regulator OEM

 

[David70FJ40]

Thank you for the links. Don't know anything about this company but for $22 plus shipping it may be worth the effort.

 

[JohnVee]

Gotta go with Coolerman first, David. I agree that your symptoms sound like a bad connection. I'd break loose, clean and reconnect all of the connections he listed before spending money. I know you'll buy it anyway, but if you check connections now then you won't have to do it in 4 days if the new part doesn't fix it. Besides, you gotta take advantage of the warm weather we're having these next few days! Ya know, for us work-outside-with-no-shelter kinda guys who have worn out, arthritic hands. Hmmmm, that reminds me that I still gotta do my 40 brakes.

 

[David70FJ40]

I was going to check the connections before ordering just to make sure. With the warmer temps coming up, the 40 needs a bath to remove the road salt and work on the charging thingy.

I would help you with the brakes but that is far above my pay grade.

 

[Landpimp]

any good dealer(and we have a few here) can get that for you.

but I tend to agree with the others.

Thank you for the links. Don't know anything about this company but for $22 plus shipping it may be worth the effort.

 

[David70FJ40]

Thank you for the advice. Once I get into it deeper tomorrow I will report back as to what I find.

 

[Coolerman]

The 16 volts at 45 mph is a bit above the recommended setting for the regulator and will result in battery boil over if left that way for long periods. Just a note: The older points type regulators are actually adjustable by carefully bending "the adjuster arm". You can also clean the points when they get arc corroded. The FSM shows the procedure.

However it's much easier and safer to just replace it if it's old. It's possible the regulator points are worn and/or corroded and the hard bump you hit caused it to start sort of working again.

 

[Kyle Toyota OEM]

During the extremely cold weather and snow event of the past few days, my battery appeared to die. Only when I hit a patch of rough ice did I see the volt meter go from 10 volts back up to 14. The alternator is putting out 15.3 volts and the battery is strong so I believe the regulator is in trouble.

Can someone direct me to a replacement OEM quality regulator? The one I have in the truck now came from SOR and I am hesitant to purchase another one from them.

Hey David, I can get you a genuine Toyota unit if you need. I'll pm you pricing.

 

[David70FJ40]

I figured the battery would suffer if I allowed this to go on. So I cleaned the connections and made sure everything was secure. When nothing changed I called the local Toyota dealership and they found the regulator for me in new stock still available. I ordered 2 just to be safe. Rather then the $94 from Toyota Parts Deal it was only $23 each. Should be here in three days.

 

[David70FJ40]

Installed today. Rebuilt OEM regulator. Cranked up and the needle went to 14 and stayed there, at idle and fast RPM. The one I took off would jump up to 16 at 45 mph and down to 12 at lights. Managed to shine up the connections all around.

I want to thank all who responded. Your knowledge is incredible as is your willingness to help even with the smallest of problems.

 

[4Cruisers]

For those that haven't run across this yet, the "-84" at the end of the part number indicates a remanufactured part, a standard Toyota designation.

 

[David70FJ40]

Wondered about the additional numbers.

 

[Coolerman]

Good deal!
Thanks for finishing the thread. So many trouble shooting threads don't have endings, making finding solutions difficult through the search engine.

 

[Landpimp]

Good deal, glad it's working and you saved some bucks.

I tend to be of the buy 2 kinda person, one to replace and one spare (or more)

I often wonder just how reman the reman parts really are, because every reman I have bought looks brand new from Toyota.

Yes -84 is a reman, on most any reman part. Just saw a tundra 4.7 with 240,000miles on it with the original starter still in it

 

[stoshzack]

Thanks for this thread. I also had a problem with my dash voltage gauge bouncing/jumping around. Replaced the new aftermarket voltage regulator with a Toyota OEM as suggested above and that fixed my issues.