Do I have an alternator problem?

Hi Gang,

I sure could use some advice.

I have a 2004 V6 TRD with 186K on it. Never had a single issue.

Last weekend I was towing my snowmobiles back from northern New Hampshire to my home in Massachusetts. Lots of big hills. The truck was doing a fair amount of downshifting and working hard.

I got to my home exit when different dash lights started coming on. The gauges then started to go out and I was losing power. When I gave it gas nothing would happen and then a few seconds later, I would get a little power back. Pretty sure I was on the verge of losing all power. Anyway, I coasted into a gas station and shut her down. She would not re-start. I thought it was the battery, but it was not. (I had it properly tested.) I then thought it was the alternator, but that checked out fine too.

The next day she started just fine and has been running normal since then.

The only thing that is different is that I was doing some towing up and back to New Hampshire. I would not think that this would cause the above issues, but I don't know. I don't tow very much, and this was the only thing that was different from my normal use.

I took it to my local garage and told him the story. He could not find any issues. (He checked the battery and alternator too.)

I am afraid it is going to happen again.

Appreciate any thoughts or input!

 

Was the check engine light one of the lights that came on?
A friend of mine has an '04 (3.4) and something similar to what you experienced happened to him. Turned out to be a bad spark plug when he took it to the dealer. Had new plugs installed, and no issues since.
He did have a check engine light on.

 

When i went out playing, my alternator stopped charging. I was able to limp it home on the battery. Drove it for roughly two days with no issues (seemed like the alternator started working again and i wasn't going to question it), then the battery light came back on and she started losing power. Took to the dealer because i had an aftermarket warranty. They said that when they lightly tapped mine with a wrench, it would lose all output, then tap it again and it would "wake up." So it could still be your alternator even though it seems to be operating normally right now.

 

Checked all of your belts? How about loose wires. I had a losing power issue a few months back after I changed plugs and valve cover gaskets. My radio would go out and truck would only crank intermittently. I thought it was a battery but that tested fine. Mine turned out to be a bad connection where I had some auxiliary connections.

 

Probably not an alternator problem, but could be a grounding issue. The gauges, power loss and intermittency suggest this.

The are 3 main ground connections you can inspect. One is from the firewall to the engine block (passenger side) and two off the negative side of the battery. There is a small 'chassis ground' wire running from the negative post of the battery to the fender and another larger ground wire going to the engine block on the driver side.

Inspect for corrosion at the connection points.

 

I will second the battery connection comment. Take them off and clean them. Does she have the factory style clamps with the stud or have they been replaced with the auto parts style where the wires are clamped via a plate and 2 bolts?

With a volt meter set on DC volts, anything above 13.2 is charging anything over 14.5 is too high

 

I have to say that there is nothing wrong with the alt charging at 14.5 volts. In fact, AGM type batteries like Odysseys or Northstars need at least that to get fully charged. I would agree with you if you had said 'sustained 15.0 volts or higher' are too high for traditional non-sealed starting batteries.

 

Thanks for all the great information guys!

I'm checking all the above suggestions.

 

Yesterday! Braaap!

 

An awesome day no doubt!!

 

I’ll second the grounding issues. I had all sorts of gremilns happen all at the same time intermittently that would come and go. It took me 3 damn weeks to figure out it was the intake plenum ground wire.

And i will say this... i’ve went through 8 alternators in two weeks on my old ‘04. Yes. 8. EIGHT. The original started making noise. The bearings were going bad. So i got another from the dealer. That one had noise worse than the OEM. They referred me to carquest where i picked up one and put it on in the parking lot. It had more noise than the other two. So i said screw it, give me the denso. That one didnt have bearing noise, but it backfed through my stereo and was unbearable to drive.

I went through several more until i finally told them i wanted a brand new one. No remanufactured shit. Got that one and it has been fine ever since. Turns out, when they reman, they never replace the rear bearings. Putting a pry bar on the alternator and putting your ear up to the handle, you could hear the grinding.

 

same issue here... found out it was a bad alternator for me... replaced it and no issues since then.