Battery light on dash stays on?

The battery light on my 05 tacoma stays on the dash. I did a search on the post and found that my alt could be the culprit because its not charging the battery. Got that replaced and drove the truck for 2 days and now the battery light is back on.

Does anyone know what the problem may be?

 

I am having the same problem with my 2011 Tacoma. I had my battery tested and I was told it was fine. I recently installed OEM fog lights and a 52" LED light bar on the hood of the truck. I thought it could have been the way I wired it, so disassembled the wires so the fog lights and light bar had no power, thinking this could be the issue. Still my battery light is on. Another thing that is weird is that when I hit a bump in the road sometime the light goes off but then eventually will come back on.

Did you ever figure out your problem? Can someone please shed some light on my issue. This is driving me crazy that I cant figure this out.

 

Check the battery terminals. They are known for coroding and breaking.

 

i actually cleaned the termials with a wire brush earlier today and made sure the fittings were secure. the terminals dont seem to be loose at all. hmmm

 

Its your alternator. The battery light is telling you it's not being charged because of a faulty Alternator. I went thought this. Then one day the battery light came on and my electrical system started to die. First the stereo cut off, then the headlights cut off. Then the truck quickly lost power and the engine struggled to make power, with in 2 mins it lost all power and would not turn on.

 

Now is there any way I could have damaged the alternator myself by trying to wire up these fog lights and LEDs? i made sure to ground everything properly, and use the correct fuses and relays. Just curious. Thanks for the help.

 

You could have.. But if you wired them up correctly you should be good. First unplug the lights from the power source and see if the problem goes away.

If the problem still persists then go to an auto service center you trust and have them check the alternator.

FYI- When my alternator went, The first time the battery light turned on, it turned off after about 10 mins. Thought that's unusual... Then the second time (next day) it came on all hell broke loose.

 

Time to buy a Multimeter and learn to test things yourself

You can test the alternator output quite easy.

under load it should put out between 13.5 and 14.5 VDC

You might have opened a fuse if you had not removed the negative battery terminal

Quite possible you bought a bad rebuild I get the ones I don`t buy from Toyota checked before I leave the store.

 

i am pretty sure i left the ground on the battery the entire time i was wiring stuff up.

Oddly enough i drove home this moring from work(i work 3rd shift) and the battery light came on and then my entire 30min drive home was off. So it looks like i have some investigating to do this weekend. Good thing i have no plans.

 

Another vote for alternator here! My moms FJ cruiser with the 1GR-FE did this as well and it ended up being the alternator. Hers went out at 160k miles

 

I only have 46k on my 2011, isnt that a little young of mileage for an alternator to fail? Im still learning about this stuff.

 

Time to replace with a heavy duty alternater!

 

That does seem fairly early for it to be going out, but with mass production these days, every once in a while you get a dud that goes bad early. I would try to have the alternator tested to see if thats what it is. If you have a voltmeter, you can hook it up to the battery and see if it is charging whenever the truck is on

When the truck is off my battery sits at about 12.2-12.6v.
When its running but cold closer to 14.0v
When its running and warmed up anywhere from 13.1-13.6

 

ok. I really appreciate all this advice and im going to try everything and then get back to what the problem is. I honestly am amazed with the community here. i just made my account last night in hopes to get a least one answer.

 

Welcome aboard!

 

Welcome to TW ....hang on to your wallet