Clutch playing w/ electrical gauge?

[ryan_daugherty]

I need a bit of educating..
I did some searching w/ google and w/ this forum's search function and nothing helpful turned up.

I one question. I own a 1990 4runner. I've had it since 2000, it has 270k on'er and overall runs really well. However a few things have changed in the past 6 or so months.

1. When stopped, and i press the clutch my electrical gauge drops.. however i noticed when i give it a bit of gas, while still holding in the clutch, the gauge returns to neutral. It only goes down while the clutch is pressed. What could be causing this?

I'm no mechanic... when explained i can understand most of what i'm told.. but as for diagnosing issues.. its way beyond me..

thanks for the help.

since its my 1st post on here, i'll attach some photos of my rig.

 

[drmorbius]

I need a bit of educating..
I did some searching w/ google and w/ this forum's search function and nothing helpful turned up.

I one question. I own a 1990 4runner. I've had it since 2000, it has 270k on'er and overall runs really well. However a few things have changed in the past 6 or so months.

1. When stopped, and i press the clutch my electrical gauge drops.. however i noticed when i give it a bit of gas, while still holding in the clutch, the gauge returns to neutral. It only goes down while the clutch is pressed. What could be causing this?

I'm no mechanic... when explained i can understand most of what i'm told.. but as for diagnosing issues.. its way beyond me..

thanks for the help.

since its my 1st post on here, i'll attach some photos of my rig.

So you are saying this is something it never did before?

 

[ryan_daugherty]

Re: Re: Clutch playing w/ electrical gauge?

So you are saying this is something it never did before?

yeah it started doing this not too long back... I have had it parked for the fall - it did this prior to being.

I haven't noticed any change in its performance either. Still starts fine, clutch is smooth etc.

 

[the_dingman]

When your engine is idle, your alternator is spinning at a lower RPM, and therefor generating less power. When you rev the engine back up, the extra speed on the alternator causes it to generate more voltage.

There is a possibility that your alternator is starting to wear out, and it's no longer generating much power at lower speeds. It could be an indication that your alternator needs to be replaced, however the chances are that you'll be fine for quite some time.


If you were to take a volt meter across your battery with the engine off, you'd get a reading of about 12 volts, with the engine running, you should see about 14-15. If you try this, and still read about 12v at idle, but higher at high RPMs, you may want to test the alternator.

 

[ryan_daugherty]

*snip* [/B]

Thanks a ton!.

 

[zombie]

The Dingman is probably onto something there. It might just be that your idle is a little low, or it goes down a hair when your clutch is pushed in. Just enough to cause this effect. Do your headlights dim at the same time as your gauge drops? This would be another symptom.

 

[ryan_daugherty]

The Dingman is probably onto something there. It might just be that your idle is a little low, or it goes down a hair when your clutch is pushed in. Just enough to cause this effect. Do your headlights dim at the same time as your gauge drops? This would be another symptom.

you know i haven't checked that, I'll be sure to tonight and report back.

 

[the_dingman]

You also say it's only when the clutch is in, does the gauge go back to normal when you put it in neutral and let the clutch out?

 

[ryan_daugherty]

You also say it's only when the clutch is in, does the gauge go back to normal when you put it in neutral and let the clutch out?

no it does not go back to normal when the clutch is out but in neutral.

and i checked, the lights stay consistent when i give it gas as well as when its idling.

thanks for all the help!

 

[zombie]

Sounds like your simple garden variety evil spirit then, a small controlled fire and a priest and you should be good to go.:bugeye:

 

[the_dingman]

I would ignore it.

Or, correction, I am ignoring it. My '87 has done that since I got it, mainly when the radio is cranked (it takes a bit of power). Every time I stop at a stop sign my gauge goes down, but when I rev the engine it goes back up... It's not caused me any problems.