I had to jumpstart my 4Runner so I drove it to O’Reilly’s and they said my battery was good and the voltage regulator failed.
I drove home, charged my battery to full, cleaned the terminals that were filthy. This morning it struggled to start but I was able to get back to O’Reilly’s. A different person told me the battery was bad. It’s over 3 years old so I put in a new one.
Then they tested the alternator again and said the voltage regulator still failed. I went home and used a multimeter and got the following numbers.
With 4Runner off 12.78V
@idle No lights 13.46V
@
2000
rpm no lights 13.55V
@idle with lights 13.42V
@idle with headlights, radio, and AC on high 13.36V
I’m supposed to drive to MT tomorrow and I don’t really want to put in a cheap remanned Ultima alternator from O’Reilly’s. Based on those numbers the alternator seems to be working. And I don’t hear a whine.
It’s a 2008 V8. What are your thoughts? Should it be closer to 14V?