Ques: battery..altenator

I have a 1990 toyota -runner. Recently went out to start it and found the
battery completely dead. It started up right away with a boost. I put a
trickle charge on it over night..but the battery will no longer hold a
charge. It is still dead with just the dash lights barley lighting up.
Previous to this I noticed fluctuation in the voltage guage when using
signal lights, and more noise than usual coming from te non-factory radio.
Is this a sign that the altenator is fried too? I changed both the battery
and the altenator 4-years ago. Or is this fluctuation due to the fact that
the battery was weak and it was just getting power from the altenator and
then the battery just died completely? What is the best home method for
testing an altenator? Is it better/cheaper or even possible to have the
altenator rebuilt?

Any thoughts on this?

Cheers
Jason
Greely, Ontario, Canada

On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 05:46:34 -0500, "Jason" <tailtunz@hotmail.com>
wrote:
[color=blue]
>I have a 1990 toyota -runner. Recently went out to start it and found the
>battery completely dead. It started up right away with a boost. I put a
>trickle charge on it over night..but the battery will no longer hold a
>charge. It is still dead with just the dash lights barley lighting up.
>Previous to this I noticed fluctuation in the voltage guage when using
>signal lights, and more noise than usual coming from te non-factory radio.
>Is this a sign that the altenator is fried too? I changed both the battery
>and the altenator 4-years ago. Or is this fluctuation due to the fact that
>the battery was weak and it was just getting power from the altenator and
>then the battery just died completely? What is the best home method for
>testing an altenator? Is it better/cheaper or even possible to have the
>altenator rebuilt?
>
>Any thoughts on this?
>
>Cheers
>Jason
>Greely, Ontario, Canada
>[/color]


IMHO:

Batteries fail. They generate heat, might have poor QC, etc, etc.....
So your battery could have failed, like a cell shorted. But nothing
can be accuratly guessed unless you actually do some tests with a volt
meter. Have you?

As for the altenator, you keep playing around with this car, you will
kill your alt. Here is the situation. The battery goes low or dead.
The alt will pump up voltage in hopes to recharge it, the battery
never recharges(since it failed) and overworks your alt. Your alt
dies. So imho, quit screwing around, and if you think the battery is
dead, and act.

hth,

tom @ [url]www.FreelancingProjects.com[/url]

I suspect you only need a battery. Normally, you would charge your battery
up overnight, test its voltage which should be around 12v and then start the
car and test it again. If the alternator is charging correctly the battery
voltage should be up to 14 or 15v, something like that. In that your battery
is not accepting a full charge (trickler should have charged it) I would
just buy a new battery and do this simple test.
jor[color=blue]
>[/color]
"Jason" <tailtunz@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1110278709.102b466cdeff012b938a7c5f2b4bc259@teranews...[color=blue]
>I have a 1990 toyota -runner. Recently went out to start it and found the
>battery completely dead. It started up right away with a boost. I put a
>trickle charge on it over night..but the battery will no longer hold a
>charge. It is still dead with just the dash lights barley lighting up.
>Previous to this I noticed fluctuation in the voltage guage when using
>signal lights, and more noise than usual coming from te non-factory radio.
>Is this a sign that the altenator is fried too? I changed both the battery
>and the altenator 4-years ago. Or is this fluctuation due to the fact that
>the battery was weak and it was just getting power from the altenator and
>then the battery just died completely? What is the best home method for
>testing an altenator? Is it better/cheaper or even possible to have the
>altenator rebuilt?
>
> Any thoughts on this?
>
> Cheers
> Jason
> Greely, Ontario, Canada
>[/color]

Thanks guys ..Thats what I wanted to know. I will be picking up a new
battery and checking the voltages with a meter after install. I just dont
want to kill my altenator..and was curious about the battery
situation...seemed strange that the battery just failed.

Cheers
Jason

"Jason" <tailtunz@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1110278709.102b466cdeff012b938a7c5f2b4bc259@teranews...[color=blue]
>I have a 1990 toyota -runner. Recently went out to start it and found the
>battery completely dead. It started up right away with a boost. I put a
>trickle charge on it over night..but the battery will no longer hold a
>charge. It is still dead with just the dash lights barley lighting up.
>Previous to this I noticed fluctuation in the voltage guage when using
>signal lights, and more noise than usual coming from te non-factory radio.
>Is this a sign that the altenator is fried too? I changed both the battery
>and the altenator 4-years ago. Or is this fluctuation due to the fact that
>the battery was weak and it was just getting power from the altenator and
>then the battery just died completely? What is the best home method for
>testing an altenator? Is it better/cheaper or even possible to have the
>altenator rebuilt?
>
> Any thoughts on this?
>
> Cheers
> Jason
> Greely, Ontario, Canada
>[/color]

Thanks for the info on testing the altenator. I installed the new battery
and got 12.38 V on the battery with the engine off, and 14 V with it idling.
So I guess I am good to go.
Furtunately a had previuosly purchased a battery with a 9 year warranty and
the new one only cost me $45 Can . with full warranty restored. 3 year full
replacement and 9 year partial warranty. When you own a toyaota you will
take advantage of warranties like this. I also in the past had the muffler
replacement for free because of good warranties like this. I guess it
sometimes pays to own a vehicle for that long.

Yahoo !!
Cheers !!

Jason


"Jason" <tailtunz@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1110278709.102b466cdeff012b938a7c5f2b4bc259@teranews...[color=blue]
>I have a 1990 toyota -runner. Recently went out to start it and found the
>battery completely dead. It started up right away with a boost. I put a
>trickle charge on it over night..but the battery will no longer hold a
>charge. It is still dead with just the dash lights barley lighting up.
>Previous to this I noticed fluctuation in the voltage guage when using
>signal lights, and more noise than usual coming from te non-factory radio.
>Is this a sign that the altenator is fried too? I changed both the battery
>and the altenator 4-years ago. Or is this fluctuation due to the fact that
>the battery was weak and it was just getting power from the altenator and
>then the battery just died completely? What is the best home method for
>testing an altenator? Is it better/cheaper or even possible to have the
>altenator rebuilt?
>
> Any thoughts on this?
>
> Cheers
> Jason
> Greely, Ontario, Canada
>[/color]