front end ticking/ discharge light

[mattdean]

Just bought my 03 T4R sr5 sport not even a month ago. everything was great until tonight.

I've got a consistent ticking from the drivers front wheel, sounds like something hitting the dust shield. But only going forwards, will not happen in reverse, and goes away when the brakes are applied.

I checked all the wheel weights by hand and they all seemed tight as well as all the lugs. I can't put the truck up as it's dark out. Felt around behind the wheel and around the disc but nothing seems obvious.


Also I was out driving. stopped for about a half hour, then came back out. As I restarted the truck the battery discharge light came on. The truck cranked fine and caught right away. No lights were left on. And I've never had this before.

Both problems happened at the same time. Not sure if/how they could be connected, does anyone have any ideas?

 

[JP4RNR]

I would say the ticking and discharge light are coincidental. You probably need to replace your alternator or check for bad or corroded connections between the battery and alternator. If you have a digital volt meter meaure the voltage across the battery with the engine running if you measure voltage under 13V you have a bad alternator.

How many miles?

 

[Mark86]

If the truck is still on its original battery, you definitely need to replace it. You usually get 4-5 years out of a good battery. How long did the battery light stay on?

 

[drmorbius]

Someone here recently posted with the same ticking sound and it ended up being a nail in his tire. The head was hitting the ground every time it went around causing a regular ticking noise. Hope it's something easy like that.

 

[mattdean]

well one problem solved. bad alternator, went out on me today. interesting that it happened 3 weeks after purchasing a toyota certified used vehicle.

 

[Mark86]

well one problem solved. bad alternator, went out on me today. interesting that it happened 3 weeks after purchasing a toyota certified used vehicle.

Wow, second alternator to go out on the board. Hope you weren't stranded anywhere. Did you buy this truck from a Toyota dealer? If so, goes to show you how serious they take the inspections!

 

[96dcmss]

well one problem solved. bad alternator, went out on me today. interesting that it happened 3 weeks after purchasing a toyota certified used vehicle.

Well, if it was 3 weeks after purchase of certified used car purchase they covered repairs right?

 

[mattdean]

actually toyota is trying to argue that they're not responsible for these repairs. that there's no way they could test for these problems. seems like I'm going to have a heck of a time getting them to cover it.