My alternator just died

Sad day folks. 2006 Taco 175k miles and my alternator just took a shit. Everything was fine used the truck this morning no problems. Went to take the wife out to dinner and got in battery light. Took the wifes car instead but got back and started diaging and the alternator isnt putting out anything just getting battery voltage. All my fuses are good and tested with a different battery and everything is the same starts at 12.5volts and slowly degrades, remove the pos cable and it dies instantly.

So now Im in a dilemma I can buy a reman from autozone tomorrow for 180 or I wait until monday and try and make it to work (22miles 40min drive) and I can get one free though work off a used truck. Might have to swap batteries on the way in though

 

An alternator is one thing I won't buy reman from a parts store, I've bought enough of them that were junk right out of the box. Go to the dealer and get a new one that will last.

 

I just killed mine about a month ago. Just trickle charge it overnight and you'll be good for at least that day. I did that for 5 days I think deciding whether to go oem, aftermarket, or an oreillys type of place. I just didn't run the radio or lights, anything that would drain the battery. I got a 130A one from oreillys for $150 I think.

 

evile Removing the battery cable while the car is running can damage electronic components. On the older cars it wasn't a big deal but newer cars are subject to damage. I would get a rebuilt unit or get mine rebuilt ....good luck

 

Have a local electrical shop rebuild yours, assuming you live in a metro area that would have a shop that does such things. It's not a hard job, should cost less than a parts house bit and be better quality.

 

Never. Ever. Do this on an ECU controlled vehicle.

Unless you're just a 'do you feel lucky' kind of guy.

 

Mine died about a month ago. I'd let my daughter and her family borrow it while their car was in the shop. It completely died in the next town over, about 20 miles. My SIL was able to coast into a parking lot and called me to come and get them. Cost me $100 to have it towed back to the local shop I use. The battery was gone too, not just dead, but something fried inside. It was only 2 years old.

My insurance reimbursed the $100 for towing, but $107 for a new battery and $355 for the alternator. But after 10 years and 180,000 miles that is about all she has needed. I ain't complaining about the truck. Not happy about the battery

 

Most of the time the only thing wrong with an alternator is the brushes wear out. They are cheap (around $20) and easy to replace. Never done it on a Tacoma, but have on a pre Tacoma. There are threads and videos on brush replacement.

 

An alternator is kind of like a water pump, if it hasn't failed by 150k, you might as well go ahead and replace it ahead of time and save yourself a headache.

 

I learned the hard way in wife's ES350k that the battery idiot light is a joke. It comes on, if at all, when the battery is seconds from death and may not get you home. I've put voltage readers in all our car's power ports. They average $8 and you can get models with a usb port(s). Have to teach the driver how to read them: voltage should be 14 +/- 1 volt when running; 12+ when off.

 

I'm going to have to look for one of those. That's one complaint I have about the Taco, no volts or oil pressure gage. I hate idiot lights.

 

Exactly... it's pretty easy to change in our trucks, so might as well. Good insurance.

 

......sub'd

 

Made it to work. I have an obd2 Bluetooth adapter so I was able to read my battery voltage never dropped below 11.4v I had everything off which sucked because it's 98* outside. Got a replacement on order through my parts department, perk of the job won't cost me anything but my labor, won't be a new one but can't complain for free.

Borrowing a fully loaded 2016 platinum f150 for the day

 

BTW, installed a high output alternator from eBay vendor BNR. They supply the alternators for TW vendor BamaToy for his kits. Free shipping and no core charge.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2015-Toyota...or-4-0L-High-Output-HD-High-Amp-/282438060617

 

Ultragauge, my friend..has both.

 

Very cool. Will the stock wiring and fuseblock handle that much current?

 

Buy Auto Zone reman starters/alternators if changing out these units every 6 weeks is something you enjoy doing.

 

Nay. It's not the wiring that will suffer the most if you don't upgrade it, it's the alternator; it will overwork pushing current through OEM wiring. You need to upgrade the wiring from the alternator to the fuse block. Or, simply, run a 2nd wire from the alternator to the battery. Problem is, the hot wire connection at the alternator is very small; the bolt is too short to add a 2nd connection. I upgraded the OEM wire to 1 AWG (from about 5 AWG); ran it to a power block, then to the fuse block and battery solenoid, as I have a two-battery system. But on my daughter's Corolla, which I replaced 80-amp alternator to to 160 amp (also from BNR folks), I did same thing using 2AWG from alternator to power block, then connected OEM wiring to the block and ran a 4 AWG wire (with fuse) from the block to the battery.

 

Actually it doesn't show oil pressure, it does show voltage though. My understanding is that the oil pressure sensor/sending unit is basically an on/off switch, if it's got some oil pressure it turns the dummy light off. If the dummy light comes on you have basically no oil pressure... it's too late.