Battery Light!?!

[Mythica]

Well saturday i noticed that my battery was leaking out the side of the case. This caused the red battery light to display.

So i went and got a brand new battery and got it installed. No problem, except the red battery light did not go off.

I left the truck running and discoed the battery terminals to see if it was the alt, but the truck remianed running, so it doesnt seem to be the alternator.

I am starting to wonder if i have something else wrong, i am wondering if the battery got over charged and casued it to burst, the battery that was in there was only 8 months old.

Any ideas as what i need to check into?

Please help if you can.
thanks

[00regcab]

check your alt. fuse under the dash, and id almost bet its your alt anyway... despite that little 'test'

go to vatozone or something and get it load tested

[Mythica]

where do they hide the voltage regulators on these things?

could that have gone bad and cause the light to come on?

Typically when the alt is bad, the truck will die once the battery is disconected, so i figured the alt was ok.

[Mythica]

where do they hide the voltage regulators on these things?

could that have gone bad and cause the light to come on?

Typically when the alt is bad, the truck will die once the battery is disconected, so i figured the alt was ok.

Nevermind its inside the alt. So yeah i guess i need an alt, but the toy ones are pricey so i might as well get a bigger one
http://www.toyotacatalog.net/M1WebGear/ProductDetails.aspx?PartUniqueID=5E82077E-A6A9-45CA-9BAD-E1E914A2E7C4

[RedRunnertc]

Send yours off to Boyle future Tech to be rebuilt ...

[Mythica]

Thanks Red!

I am looking into them as well.

[Chalkie]

Did you do a test with a volt/ohm meter? If the alternator (and regulator) are working you should expect 13.6 - 13.9 volts across the battery terminals.

[Mythica]

I just went and had it tested twice at two autozones and it read 14.16 regulator.

They both said nothing was wrong with it, but i beg to differ.

I am kinda scratching my head. the stupid abs light i can live with, because i removed all the crap, but the battery light is bothering me to no end.

[Mythica]

ok so i tinkered with this thingall night. I want to hook up my arb but am reluctant until i get this battery light to go off.

I checked all fuses, all good.
Checked battery connections still good.
I have no aux stuff hooked up, no lights, no winch, no arb, nothing other than my stereo, and its been in there for a long time.


Could a short be causing this?
Could it be caused by me un hooking my rear locker or abs sensors?

Electrical issus drive me mad. i am running on empty here.

[Quick Draw]

Can I loan you a pair of wire cutters and a dash cluster wiring diagram?

[Mythica]

lol i am almost to that point ;)

[00regcab]

disconnect the battery for 15+min
remove the main FI/ECU fuse for the same duration

let everything reset itself and see if that changes anything.


It could POSSIBLY be a faulty ECU, while its not that common at all.... its not really un-heard of.

[Chalkie]

Looking at the manual, there also appears to be a 'Gauge 1' fuse that you should check.

[cr250mxer]

this happened to me as well but it was my alt causing it. As soon as I replaced it the light went off.

[Mythica]

Thanks everyone! I am going to go home after work and hunt down this problem, with your help.

I will let you know what i find out

[extremepaint]

i had the battery light come on when ever i would do some deep water crossing or hit some nasty mud. basically the brushes get hung up and all i needed to do was take off the back cover remove the brush holder hit it with some parts cleaner put it back together and it was fine. not sure if this is your problem but it always caused my light to come on and also cause the truck to run cold.

however this might not be the issue since your alternator is charging but its a thought

[RedRunnertc]

Ummm - have you had the battery tested?

The alternator might be throwing out 14V, but if the battery aint taking it, it could throw the light ...

[Mythica]

Holy Crap!!!

I was up nearly all night hunting down the problem. But i found it.

Thanks for all the help, i tried every one of these steps.

I finally ran across the problem. The wire loom that connects to the alt on the back, with the three wires. When the battery started leaking it evedently leaked down and stayed in the loop, where the loom returned back to the battery/fuse box. The acid that sat there ate through the plastic sheilding and then ate through a little white 22ga wire (i looked at the wire diagram, and cant figure out what that wire is or does) I spliced in some 16ga wire that i had and the light went off.

I am wondering if i need to get a smaller diameter wire to match the 22ga, or if my 16ga jumper will be ok. I dont know enough about electrical resistance to make that decision on my own.

Thansk for all your help everyone!

[mrdoug]

I was reading up on electrical stuff a few weeks back and found this site to explain some of that stuff

http://www.rallylights.com/useful_info/sensible_wiring.htm

[Don_G]

You can always replace a small wire with a big one, but not the other way around. I would only use solder connections to splice the wire you describe.