Battery light on

I had a battery light on mine back in December . Got it home load tested alternator and it was fine. July 4th weekend got the same battery light and voltage again right around 11.0-12.0. Eventually jumped back to 13.7 during the drive probably 20 min later . Didn’t want to press my luck 3x so had the dealer in Georgia replace it. Been fine ever since
I researched a bunch too and always came back to OEM reman

 

I just bit the bullet and ordered from my local dealer. Going to be cutting it too close to wait till next Wednesday from Rock Auto. I suppose we can't always pay the best price.

 

Buy once, cry once. It'll be a load off the mind when it's done.

 

I'd recommend a new serpentine belt, while you will already have it loosened. I like Continental or Bando brands. They are usually a nice soft compound that doesn't squeak.

Unless you have recently replaced the belt of course, then reuse yours.

 

I just checked my repair history and the last time I replaced my belt was in 2020 about 95,000 miles ago. I bought a Gates belt at the time from Amazon. Can’t believe it’s been that long and those many miles.

how often should they be replaced? Assuming there are no cracks in it?

 

Absolutely change it haha.

Edit: damn you drive a lot of miles per year.

 

Since you’re at it, what other maintenance items can you think of for me to do lol?

i’m gonna have to lube those stupid yolks before I leave on my trip. The thump always seems to come back every 10K miles.

 

What Dave said, it's about time anyway and you have to mess with it regardless to do this job.

 

- Diff and T-case fluids every 30-50k
- Spark plugs
- Power steering fluid flush, easy and cheap
- Cabin air filter, Engine air filter
- Brake fluid flush

 

Since we are on topic for maintenance items, I did my front brakes about 60K miles ago. The pads aren’t worn, but I have a slight pulsation over the last 20k miles or so.

Is pulsation par for the course with these trucks or is that something that is eliminated when people upgrade to 5th gen calipers and rotors?

sometimes I wonder how much more money I wanna put into this truck considering how many miles I have on it.

 

- Spark plugs were done with head gaskets about 25k miles ago.
- Power steering flush was done my 60k ago.
- Cabin filter, about 100k ago.
- Air filter was recent.
- Brake fluid flush was never done.
- Front and rear about 60k ago
- Tcase about 90k.

 

Check the idler and tensioner pulley bearings while you have the serpy loose.

Break flush might be good to do at this time. Just be very, very sure you don’t let the fluid in the MC get low and let air get into the system. I’ve never bled a Taco, but if you get air in at the MC, it might need a power bleed to get it out. If uncertain, skip it or get a good mechanic to do it.

 

thanks for the reminder about being careful with the master cylinder. I’m going to get my better half to give me a hand and go old school. I will remove the majority of the old fluid from the master and replace with new. From that point, I’ll bleed each wheel cylinder going from the farthest to the nearest using the old brake pedal method.

 

Mightyvac is your friend.

 

which one? This is the one that I have which I will use for the master cylinder.

$40 Mityvac MVA6851 7oz Fluid Evacuator Extractor and Dispensing Syringe, Lightweight, Easy to Clean, 7-1/2" Flexible Tube, Non-drip Cap, for Master Cylinders, Transaxles, Power Steering and Coolant

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MPQ8RBG

 

I’ve only used the type with a handle to pump vacuum. But I expect any will do. Hard telling what the brake fluid would do to the innards of your pump though.

 

I got the alternator done today. I picked up a reman one from my local dealership. I had a hell of a time changing it. For the life of me I couldn't get the alternator out of the engine bay. I had the battery out and harnesses moved out of the way but for some reason I still struggled. I also had a hell of a time getting the serpentine belt back on. I know the fan was off last time I put it on, maybe having the fan off is the way to go. I also lost one bolt in the engine bay off the support bracket above the alternator for the intake manifold. I guess this wasn't my day today.

 

v6 I presume?

 

Yes

 

Gotcha. Mine is the 2.7 4 cylinder so not sure on yours.