Battery light on

Just started driving home and the battery light is on on my dash. I have my OBD scanner plugged in and I’m seeing about 10.8 V. My limited experience tells me that it is not a battery issue and that I have an alternator problem.

Is that correct?

I am driving home now so I’m not sure if I will have a problem making it there.

 

How many miles home? If your alternator is toast it will use battery till it dies

 

About 20 miles.

 

You’ll most likely make it without issue.
How does steering and air conditioning feel ?
I’d first check the accessory belt.

 

Those are fine. I just turned the air conditioner off as I assumed they might have a negative effect if my alternator or battery has a problem.

 

I’m going to stop by family members house halfway home. I’m down to 10.3 V. I’m guessing as soon as I turn off the truck it’s not gonna start.

 

10.3 its not charging, it will likely stall on any drive.

 

I just stopped by my mom’s house. I tried to restart the truck and it started. It sounded weak. I don’t have a voltmeter but I assume what the OBD2 scanner is reporting should be the same as measuring across the battery terminals itself.

I don’t think I should drive it home as I don’t really have a place to work on it. I’m probably going to leave it here.

Can I assume it is the alternator at this point? If not, what can I check?

If it is an alternator, I am going to have to order one as I am going on a road trip in 8 days. Maybe I am getting ahead of myself, but where should I go to get an alternator? I assume I won’t be going oem for this specific part.

 

Get a Toyota brand rebuild at the dealer, they don't make them "new" anymore. Mine was about $220 for my 2.7. Zero issues with it. A fairly simple task to swap

 

So stay away from aftermarket or new ones?

Looks like Rockauto sells rebuilt and new ones. The new ones are not Toyota oem though.

 

Historically I've had hit or miss with rebuilt aftermarket ones, though never had to do one on a Toyota before. I figure if Toyota rebuilt one at least it's basically the same thing as new.

 

Most likely an alternator, given the year of the truck and unknown mileage.

you can do a simple test with a multimeter if you have one, to check if the alternator is working correctly.

Essentially measure battery voltage static with the car off, and then measure again with the car running.
You should see at least 13 V with the car running.
If the voltage is the same or only a few tenths higher than the static battery voltage, charging system is not functioning.

AutoZone has an article running through as well.
https://www.autozone.com/diy/alternator/how-to-test-the-alternator-and-charging-system

 

Just a fast search on the Google machine

https://www.oemgenuineparts.com/oem-parts/toyota-alternator-270600p02084

This is the factory Toyota rebuilt one for the V6. My 4 banger was about the same $$ earlier this year. The local dealer might well have one on the shelf or be able to pull one in a day or 2 tops. Best option all in all if you ask me.

 

I do have a multimeter, unfortunately I don’t have it at the moment. I loaned it to a friend a few weeks ago. Maybe I will try to get it back before picking an alternator up. The truck has been good to me, so I don’t want to complain, but man this is a bad week for this to be happening. So much crap going on at the moment. I suppose there’s never a good time for problems though lol.

 

Someone’s law somewhere says that if something will go wrong, it’ll be the worst thing at the worst time.
I often sind that true with vehicle repairs hah!

worst case they are cheap at hardware stores, or an auto store would probably let you borrow one if you drove the truck there / know the guys well enough

 

Vatozone can test alternators. When mine went out on my ‘07, I went on eBay and bought one from a wrecker out of a 2015 with 30k miles. Brought to Vatozone to test before I installed it. Was good.

Also, Denso makes the alternators for Toyota. No clue who remans them, but doubt it is Denso.

 

Just called my local Toyota dealership. Price is $303 plus tax for a reman one. Not including the core charge of course. New ones are not available even if you want it.

Is there any difference between the reman at Toyota vs a reman Denso from Rock Auto or Amazon?

 

No. Toyota doesn't reman them.
They buy them from someone else, just like you will

 

Many people have used Denso and are happy with them. I would have no problem using a Denso reman too.

 

Dealer can get one by tomorrow for $303. Rock Auto for $160 delivered won’t arrive until Tuesday night. Both excludes core charge. Big difference in price between the two assuming they are equal. Not sure if I can wait till Tuesday evening to get one though. Will need to see.

Not sure about Amazon. Haven’t checked yet.