Hi there, greetings from sweden.

I have a 1985 toyota Model-F gl.
One day the warninglights for charge,oil and water came on.
No fuses where blown and no wires seemed to be loose.
The battery was not being charged, and there was no power at main terminal at alternator.
The repairguy found the alternator broken and exchanged it for a new one.
The car worked perfectly for a couple of weeks then
the 3 lights came on again.
Now the main wire from the alternator was burned off
right at the alternator.
The repair guy fixed the cable (looked worn),and checked the alternator, it was ok.
Now its charging but the 3 lights are still on.

Also; in the buch of wires leading over to the alternator are a two wires in a small tube of their own.
They end in a round connector witch is not connected.
The connector was shorted with a piece of wire that was loose.
I seems to make no difference if it is shorted or not, and there are no empty connectors that it could belong to.

The wire that burned was held in place by a metal clamp
attached to the alternator, i think in may have cut into the wire and caused the short.
In that case; what else can have been damaged?
A diagram of the electricsystem would be nice ,
but it seems that not even toyota in sweden have these =(

- (#5126) Mats Svensson, 16 Aug 02

Mats,
Sounds like you do not have the correct alternator fitted. It may fit and work as far as charging goes, but you should have a socket for the round plug to go in!
Take it back to the repair guy.
- (#5292) Clive, 29 Aug 02

The patchwork on the loose socket was old and
there before the alternator was changed.
The alternator fitted was the same as the old one
and is suposed to be the right for this car.

Now finaly they have a electric diagram,
and say that it is the regulator that is broken,
and that it wasnt built in to the alternator, but
located under the dashboard.
And of course the two faults has nothing to do with each other, so i should pay for this repir to...
I get the feeling im getting screwed!
- (#5293) Mats Svensson, 29 Aug 02

I can understand your concern Mats but in this case your mechanic could well be right. 9 times out of 10 the charging problems with these lie with the regulator rather than the alternator (and should be cheaper to fix). In later models the regulator was built into the alternator and I think more reliable as a result.

In this case I would see the problem through and let your man change/repair the regulator. Make sure it's the same mechanic though, then he can't go blaming the alternator just in case he has his diagnosis wrong.

A pity I didn't pick this post up earler, I could have sent you wiring diagrams and diagnostic procedure. Still you seem to be nearly sorted now. Please post back if not.

- (#5296) Ian Dunse, 29 Aug 02

Mats, I still think it's the wrong alternator. I had an 89 Model F and the regulator was on the alternator using the round plug. I don't know if that was so on earlier models but as you have the plug I assume so. If you do have a regulator in the dash it will still need to be connected to, unregulated power output may be the cause of burnt wires. Take your VIN details to Toyota and find out the alternator type, Nippon Denso part number. Then get the repair guy to cross reference with the one fitted. If it is wrong get him to change it, if correct hold out your wallet.

- (#5297) clive, 29 Aug 02

Yep im getting screwed...
The repairguy was going to get back to me about the price.
Then he called me and said it was fixed.
(No price was agreed on, i had stated that i already payed for that to be fixed once and didnt feel like being doublecharged ontop of all the trouble this had caused me)
When i got there he wanted >2000 Swedish kronor (over 200 euro) for
a secondhand regulator + work.
Witch is almost as much as i already payed for getting
the new alternator installed .
Left without the car, as didnt have that much cash with me.
Total cost is now about 4500SEK + it took almost 2 months for him to get it right (hopefully!)
Getting a new alternator and a *new* regulator installed at a real toyota dealer only costs 4000SEK
And i would probably not have had to go half summer without a car either.

He still claims that the faults;

1. The alternator not charging.
2. The burned off cable on the newly changed alternator.
3. The regulator that was broken after the cable burned.

Has nothing to do with each other.

He claims that the cable burned of at the alternator
because it was corroded.
I think its strange that they didnt notice that when they changed the alternator, it melted right at the
terminal on the regulator.
The warranty on a newly changed part should include
that it stays connected for more than 2 weeks, i think.
And if the loose cable is what killed the regulator,
they should pay for that too.
Especialy since they already charged me for what they said was a combined alternator/regulator.

I missed out on alot of things
i was going to do this summer because of this crap!
I guess it would have been ok if it was done either
cheap and slow OR expensive and quick.
But its not ok to pay top bucks to have some clown
tinker blindly with my car.

Oh well...

- (#5431) Anders, 6 Sep 02