Possible Headlight/electronics issues...and Round eyes headlamp question

I just had a passenger side stock headlamp burn out, so that needs replaced.

And there is something else funky going on, sometimes the lights will get brighter and the A/C blower will increase its force and speed for about 30 seconds and will stop and the lights will go back to their normal state.

I haven't had a change to check how much the alt is charging recently, but about a month ago it was perfect.

Is my alternator taking a shit and momentarily overcharging the system?

Could the over-voltage have burned out my headlamps?

And I emailed round eyes about these lamps:
http://www.roundeyes.com/Toyota_Headlamps-Rectangular_Toyota_Conversion_Headlamps.html

And they said they wont work on the 95-97 Tacomas...but there have been members on here who have ran them...

This is what the round eyes guy said when he emailed me back when I asked if they fit on 95-97:

 

bump?

 

Not positive what he means by "complex reflectors", but when I upgraded my '93 S10 from sealed beam, I had to Dremel out the center of the headlight bucket.
The bucked fit the sealed beam, which only had the 3 connectors on the back, but it wouldn't accept the 3" diameter mount for the halogen lamps.

But it was quick work with a Dremel to open them up and reinstall.

Overcharging alternator can absolutely toast your lights (and other things).
I'd figure out a way to temporarily mount a voltmeter and plug it into the lighter socket and monitor your voltages when the lights brighten.
Should remain below 15v.

 

will I toast anything super important if it is overcharging?

I have work for the next 3 days, 10, 16, and 10 hour shift.....

 

I always thought the round eyes fit 95-97

 

How long has it been acting like this?

You CAN burn out every light and piece of electronic equipment in the truck.
If it's been doing this for a while, then your electronics are probably pretty safe.

 

yeah that is why I was confused with their response...lol..especially the thing about "complex reflectors"

lol..

 

It been doing it for about 3 days...has done it in the past but it was an isolated thing.

Pretty much everything is protected by a fuse though, right?

 

Fuses protect against overcurrent, not overvoltage.
You can slam an electronic device with 20,000 volts and not exceed the current rating of it's fuse, but the high voltage will arc internally and blow the device before blowing the fuse.

The fuse rating and device design are based on the design of the electrical system, which for a vehicle is 15 volts or less.
Yes, there is some tolerance, but once you get above design spec, all bets are off on how long it will last.

 

poop....

 

I know this guy has aftermarket headlights. I saw them in the 1st gen section and they are not the round eyes. not sure what they are
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/members/ilove_taco_ma.html

Page 607
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1s...ne-your-tacoma-today-1st-gen-edition-607.html

 

The stock headlights in my truck are indeed sealed beam GE's...

I will probably go with the round eyes.

Thanks for the good info man!

And it actually does it only while driving...but its completely independent from the engine RPM's...just kinda does it randomly...

Now will I jack up everything electric in my truck if I drive it to work for the next 3 days?

 

Probably not, but no guarentees. My dad drove a s10 blazer that was overcharging at 16+ volts. It cost him a battery in addition to the alternator that he needed already. You have computers, he didn't..... the computers are probably designed to shut themselves down before they fry.....but I don't know for sure. Undercharging is a different story....might just run the battery down while driving and then you're walking.

I'd stop by NAPA and ask to have the charging system checked. Then at least you know where you're at.

 

Good catch, but I've never noticed a difference in lighting brightness or blower force from the idle speed bump.

Ditto. I never did upgrade my '94, but the H4 upgrade was the first mod on my '93 S10 Blazer. Stock sealed beams I couldn't see shit!

As mentioned, I did have to open up the center of the buckets to clear the reflector.

What year? The S10 Blazer came out in '83 and they dumped the 2 barrel for TBI in '85.
Not much of a computer, but the TBI did have an ECU and the basic OBD system... OBD-I was (somewhat) standardized by '91.

 

It was an 85 GMC S15 Jimmy. 2.8V6 It had a carb on it. I can remember manually moving the throttle and watching the accelerator pump squirt gas into the carb. It did have some plugs on it, so I believe it was a "feedback carburator" with a primitive computer. The type of computer that could fry, and you'd never know until smog time, no check engine light.

 

Ok, so I had my charging system tested today at autozone, and the alternator tested fine...so the light flickering/overcharging is intermittent for sure...or its something else causing it.

Tonight on the way home it was acting really funny...the lights would literally get bright for a second, go back to normal, brighten, then dim, brighten the dim, then be fine for minutes..then do it again...like someone was flicking a switch. It would do this at idle, and while driving. All the lights get bright when it does it (dash lights, corner lights, and as far as I know the tail lights).

It is completely independent form the A/C compressor kicking on or the engine RPM.

And today my sunpro tach quit working. It got really hot and the needle went on the fritz...but after cooling off its fine. But its the ONLY thing that is being affected (unless it is coincidentally going bad, and is unrelated)

The battery isn't getting hot or bulging/leaking or anything. And usually the battery is the first thing to fry if the alternator is overcharging, right? As a matter of fact the battery only tested at 12.98v when they testing the system.

 

12.6V is a fully charged battery. Sometimes they can be a little high right after driving. That's called a surface charge, and all the parts store testers I've seen instruct the parts guy to have you turn your lights on to remove that surface charge. If it's not just a surface charge, then the battery is overcharged.

This is starting to sound like a voltage regulator issue. That should be part of the alternator. I know this is the internet, and it's hard to diagnose things from here, but I would be getting ready to swap that alternator out. How many miles on your 15 year old truck? Might just be that time. This is where an actual volts gauge would be nice. For some reason these trucks don't have them.

 

Its got 176,000 and some change...

 

Sorry I didnt read all the posts..

But I am using those round eyes and they are 1000 times better. They work i dont know why the guy said they dont work but I have them and they fit fine.

Mine took forever to get here, mostly due to the tsunami at the time. But i would highly recomment replacing both lights with them. This was you can convert them to HID as I plan to do or just throw in some PIAA bulbs if you really like.

If you interested shoot me a pm or something and I can get you some pics.