When it rains... it drains...

Corrosive

Corrosive

New member
The battery that is... or is it?

Here is the story.

Yesterday it began to rain quite hard and I leave my 4runner parked outside... no biggie. Well I got in it to move some furniture and when I went to start it up, I noticed that the battery light stayed on for a little longer than normal. (like 2 seconds vs 1 second)... not while I was driving or anything.

Today its raining again, started it up to go to work... same thing. Nothing else was wrong so I figure... eh... Maybe I will need to get a new battery soon or maybe its something to do with the rain.

Well the streets are starting to flood now and they sent me out to grab lunch. Lunch was about 2 miles away and I did not attempt to avoid puddles. I was splashing water everywhere but figured, no biggie... its a truck. Well I hit some big puddles right before having to make a turn into the parking lot when all of a sudden the battery light came on and it appeared harder to turn (almost as if the power steering had gone out). Once I was in the parking lot, the battery light turned off (was only on for about 5 secconds) and my steering was back to normal.

Its currently 80 degrees in houston (Cold weather is not a factor)

With that story... here are my questions.

1. Could water have come up and be causing something to short?
- My lights/radio/ac/etc were all working fine
2. Could my battery be on its way out?
- I am not sure if its the original but my runner is an 03 w 100k miles
3. Could the water be affecting something else... like pulleys?
- I know the alternator is run from a pulley... could that be slipping due to water or moisture in the air?
4. Could my alternator be on its way out?
5. Could the heavy steering feel been caused by driving through 3 inches of water while turning?

Whats up? Has this happened to anyone else? I did a search and came up with nothing like it.

Thanks in advance guys!
 
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The guy I purchased the car from (about 3 weeks ago) said he just replaced it because it looked worn. Could he have not tightened it enough? Could it need a little time to set? I drove the truck quite a bit over the holidays and there were no issues at all.
 
TechWrench said:
The serpentine belt has an auto-tensioner, nothing to tighten. If the belt is determined to be slipping/worn, only choice is to replace it.
Click to expand...

The tensioner can wear out and might need to be replaced. Even a worn belt will usually not slip if the tensioner is working properly.
 
Corrosive said:
The guy I purchased the car from (about 3 weeks ago) said he just replaced it because it looked worn. Could he have not tightened it enough? Could it need a little time to set? I drove the truck quite a bit over the holidays and there were no issues at all.
Click to expand...

Okay, so there's a new belt on the 4Runner already? First, check to make sure the new belt is the proper part number. It's entirely possible that the belt he installed is a little longer than it should be and the tensioner therefore cannot put the proper tension on the belt. One easy way to check this is to look at the position of the tensioner pulley. It should be somewhere near the middle of it's full travel (not fully up or down). If the belt is oversized (by a small amount) it may still have enough tension to operate properly when everything is dry, but when it gets wet it can start to slip.

If the belt is the right size, then the tensioner is probably shot. There's really nothing else it can be....it's a pretty simple system.
 
Regarding the battery, since you think it may be the original (7 years old... pretty good if it's the OE Panasonic), I'd have it load tested. I suspect that even if it tests ok you aren't far from a catastrophic failure so I'd replace it just because.
 
Nuke said:
Regarding the battery, since you think it may be the original (7 years old... pretty good if it's the OE Panasonic), I'd have it load tested. I suspect that even if it tests ok you aren't far from a catastrophic failure so I'd replace it just because.
Click to expand...

I did a search and read up on the panasonic batteries... I will check to see if its the original and if so... I guess I will plan to change that out pretty soon.

And thanks for the tips Jed; your a real life saver! If your ever in Houston... first round of drinks is on me.
 
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