Tacoma Alternator Light comes on intermittently

The alternator warning light comes on intermittently on this new (06)
truck, stays on for a few seconds, or a few minutes, goes on & off
erratically like that for anywhere from a minute or two up to 10-20
minutes - then goes for long periods without coming on at all. Happens
at idle as well as freeway speeds. So far I haven't had a dead battery
or any other problems, because it doesn't seem to last long enough to
affect the charge or the engine. Sometimes if it's cruising at
freeway speed & the light is on, it will go off it I touch the
accelerator a little harder, so it does seem to be a charging problem,
rather than just a simple problem with the light.

This looks like one of those electrical things that's going to be hard
to find. I'm wondering what to look for.

Any ideas?

"Rhett Starr" <blue000note@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1131859245.266670.325380@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
> The alternator warning light comes on intermittently on this new (06)
> truck, stays on for a few seconds, or a few minutes, goes on & off
> erratically like that for anywhere from a minute or two up to 10-20
> minutes - then goes for long periods without coming on at all. Happens
> at idle as well as freeway speeds. So far I haven't had a dead battery
> or any other problems, because it doesn't seem to last long enough to
> affect the charge or the engine. Sometimes if it's cruising at
> freeway speed & the light is on, it will go off it I touch the
> accelerator a little harder, so it does seem to be a charging problem,
> rather than just a simple problem with the light.
>
> This looks like one of those electrical things that's going to be hard
> to find. I'm wondering what to look for.
>
> Any ideas?
>[/color]

You are correct that it will probably be hard to find. Look for the Toyota
dealer where you bought the truck and let the pros fix it under warranty.
That problem could be anything from a bad voltage regulator, bad ground, a
short to the warning light, loose cable, loose belt, bad alternator.
--
Ray O
correct the return address punctuation to reply

I had something similar happen with my 84' Toyota awhile ago. It turned
out to be the alternator, it had to be rebuilt.

The problem was that the little brushes inside the alternator where
worn, and if you tapped on the alternator it would start working for a
short time.

Ken LaCroix wrote:[color=blue]
> I had something similar happen with my 84' Toyota awhile ago. It turned
> out to be the alternator, it had to be rebuilt.
>
> The problem was that the little brushes inside the alternator where
> worn, and if you tapped on the alternator it would start working for a
> short time.
>[/color]
Also, make sure the Big wire nut is tight.