BATTERY LIGHT ON EVEN WHEN NEW BATT. IS IN

Hey everyone, so the Battery light came on yesterday and I checked it and it was low. So I took it to Pep Boys and had them replace my battery with another Bosch Premium Battery 27F.

They ran the test "No Load" and "Loaded" and everything passed. The serpentine belt was fine and the alternator was fine. We all stood there scratching our heads as to why the Battery Light would not turn off.

The guy at Pep Boys told to drive it around all day and see if it turns off, if not bring it in tomorrow. He said it could mean either two things, the alternator is about to go bad or there's a wire screw with the light.

Does anyone have any ideas to what else may be the cause of the light not turning off? Is there a way to reset it? If I do need a new alternator, where and what is the best one to buy? And how difficult would it be to do it myself? I'm not feeling the price tag of $700 for parts and labor.

Any help would highly be appreciated! Thank you.

I have a 2007 TRD 4X4 Access Cab Tacoma, V6- 4.0L DOHC

 

Have the charging system checked. They should be able to do this at any parts store in the parking lot for free.

I suspect you have a no charging or low charging problem either caused by a bad cable (unlikely) or the alternator.

 

Charging System, ok, sound good. I will give Ol'Riley's Autoparts and see if them can do it for me. Thank Why J!

 

/\ What he said.

 

What would testing the Charging System tell us?

 

It will tell you the health of the charging system, both at idle and under a load. They can also tell you if your alternator is providing a high enough charge to charge the battery and if you are getting any bleed off of AC on to the charging line.

They can also test the battery.

 

Among other things, it'll tell you if the alternator is going bad.

@Why J beat me to it.

 

my wife's escape is doing something like this also

 

So, they did run a charging test with the No Load and Loaded and everything came out fine...I believe these are the results?

 

Maybe your battery light is stuck?

 

That's what I was thinking, but how the $@*! so do i reset that if that is the case?

 

This is the this is the only related thread I could find, but admittedly, I didn't look for very long. Not sure how you tested yours.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/battery-light.144814/

 

What is happening is the IC regulator in the alternator is grounding the Charging LED in the combination meter.

Gauge Fuse >> Charge LED in Dash >> IC Regulator >> Ground

When the alternator is charging normally the IC Regulator prevents the path to ground. If the regulator is not getting enough current to charge or a semiconductor in the regulator fails it will cause the charge light to come on.

Either get a new Alternator or get yours rebuilt with a replacement regulator. ( the regulator is built into the alternator ).

 

What was the solution?