Battery Light On...

J

jstutz101

New member
I have a 2003 4Runner with 80,000 miles on it. My wife calls today to let me know about the battery light being on. I can't find much information on what causes the light to come on other then what the manual says. Sounds like it generally comes on when the battery is not being charged. I was curious if anyone else has had the same problem? Being it is really cold out and I need the car fixed quick I dropped it off at the dealership tonight instead of tinkering with it myself. Hopefully it will be fixed by this time tommorow. I am sure it won't be cheap!

Jeff
 
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Hopefully you just need a new battery, that's a lot cheaper than a new alternator.
Can't imagine the alternator going out at 80k miles though...
 
runner6m said:
Hopefully you just need a new battery, that's a lot cheaper than a new alternator.
Can't imagine the alternator going out at 80k miles though...
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My bet is just the battery also. In almost 1 million miles with 6 Toyotas, I've only had to replace 2 alternators; 1 at 115,000 miles and the other at 210,000 miles.
 
Most likely the alternator. If it was the battery the truck just won't start or labor trying to start.
 
The verdict : Bad Alternator. The "stealership" claims that salt water got into the alternator from the recent snow storms. They also claim that the "newer" 4Runners come with a protective plate that keeps the water out. So I guess the moral of the story is if you have a 2003 4Runner dont drive it in the rain or snow cause it might break down! By the way, the cost to replace the alternator/plate/serpentine belt is $805.00!! Merry Christmas Toyota!!
 
HO HO HO! I think Santa ripped you off, sorry to say. Alternators, although it's not good to get crap in them, are designed and wound such that they can get wet. Especially being in a vehicle that is often taken off-road, they KNOW to install an alternator that can handle the elements. Both my '90 and '00 have seen water up to the tops of the tires.

I'll be driving thru Kankakee tomorrow on my way up Rt. 57. You can flag me and look at the one in my '08. LOL
 
Spider5 said:
... If it was the battery the truck just won't start or labor trying to start.
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Not true. With sufficeint power remaining, the battery can easily start the truck and probably run it for quite some time. Other than the idiot light, you might be astute enough to notice the voltmeter indicatoing lower than usual. Just don't shut the car off before you get home because it won't start after running off the battery for any length of time. Been there...
 
Nuke said:
Not true. With sufficeint power remaining, the battery can easily start the truck and probably run it for quite some time. Other than the idiot light, you might be astute enough to notice the voltmeter indicatoing lower than usual. Just don't shut the car off before you get home because it won't start after running off the battery for any length of time. Been there...
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Only a bad charging system will turn on the light.
 
jstutz101 said:
The verdict : Bad Alternator. The "stealership" claims that salt water got into the alternator from the recent snow storms. They also claim that the "newer" 4Runners come with a protective plate that keeps the water out. So I guess the moral of the story is if you have a 2003 4Runner dont drive it in the rain or snow cause it might break down! By the way, the cost to replace the alternator/plate/serpentine belt is $805.00!! Merry Christmas Toyota!!
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Alternator and belt about $120 the rest is serious gouging :awais:
 
Spider5 said:
Alternator and belt about $120 the rest is serious gouging :awais:
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Maybe from Autozone... But still, even the parts from the stealer shouldn't have been more than $300.
 
I you don't have any warranty left stay far far away from any stealership service Dept. They will rob you blind and it's legal.

Find a nice Auto/Truck shop who buys there parts from other then the brand OEM. NAPA give great warranties on their products.

anytime you deal with your stealerships service Dept. and it's not covered by the warranty your at HIGH risk.:(
 
You mean like the MAF for my '00 that the steealer wanted $450+ for that I got from Autozone for $69 and had installed in 10 minutes?
 
Nuke said:
You mean like the MAF for my '00 that the steealer wanted $450+ for that I got from Autozone for $69 and had installed in 10 minutes?
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I think everyone who has owned autos and Truck over the years has had their stealership give them the royal shaft.:mad:

I know I have so I really always have this feeling that all of them are not 100% trustworthy.

I got a real honest answer from a service manager at my local Toyota Dealers service Dept. I was discussing my past Kia Sorentos 10 year 100,000 power train warranty. And how Kia did everything to not honor their warranties.

He told me not to expect Toyota to do things any different, If Toyota can get around a warranty claim they also will do it. So far I can't answer if this is true.;):
 
jstutz101 said:
The verdict : Bad Alternator...
They also claim that the "newer" 4Runners come with a protective plate that keeps the water out...
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This is true (there is a TSB out there on it if someone can find a copy and link to it) but you still got bent by the stealer.
 
Found this thread after doing a search, not to many alternators going bad, guess we're just lucky. Ours just went out on our '06 V8 with 61K mi. I was quoted $427 for the alternator plus a couple hours labor for the install. Sucks, not what I would expect from Toyota.
 
vando45 said:
Found this thread after doing a search, not to many alternators going bad, guess we're just lucky. Ours just went out on our '06 V8 with 61K mi. I was quoted $427 for the alternator plus a couple hours labor for the install. Sucks, not what I would expect from Toyota.
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Welcome to the bad alternator club!! I went ahead and had the serpentine belt replaced at the same time, one less thing to do in the future.
 
For the prices you guys are quoting for a new alternator, I'd rather go and get an alternator rebuilt for serious high output for that amount alone! It's not exactly easy to replace, but not that bad either. Just gotta remove the battery (which you should do anyways) and fenagle the thing out from there.
 
What a huge rip off.

Alternators are not complicated, easy to rebuild, and most likely the only part the went "bad" on it is the AC to DC converter... a simple arrangement of chips. I wonder if you can buy the inverter assembly separate from the housing.
 
Electrical Surging

vando45 said:
Found this thread after doing a search, not to many alternators going bad, guess we're just lucky. Ours just went out on our '06 V8 with 61K mi. I was quoted $427 for the alternator plus a couple hours labor for the install. Sucks, not what I would expect from Toyota.
Click to expand...

HELP?
Background:
2006/2007 4runner, 4.7L V8 auto
I get in a lot of mud going to work (remote gold mine). I also do a lot of washing of the undercarriage, but times have occurred where the mud sat. Perhaps overheating something?

This winter my dash suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree. It would come and go. And as temps warmed it became less common.

It reduced to only the charge / battery light and is intermittent.

An Autoparts store battery test showed it was good

Voltage will surge up to 16-17 volts

I replaced the alternator and cleaned battery connections. Still have the random charge indicator and pulsing headlights when the voltage surges.
I commute 900 miles a week (1 push) and am worried I'll be stranded in the desert.
Any ideas

I have been told by a dealer that the ABS system can cause some strange electrical issues. On another post a guy paid 2K for the booter/ABS assembly, 600 for install and didn't solve his electrical gremlin.

I'm going to check the chasis ground now- I know its not loose, but..

Ideas???? I leave Tues night:shrug:

Voltage regulator 2006 2007 2008 2009 surge flicker spike
 
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