VS V6 in 4 runner Altenator/charge probs

[dawg runner]

Hi,

I have a V6 Ecotech in my 85 4 runner and i have a problem with the charge. After swapping the unit out and still having same prob i thought there must be something more to it. Maybe some wiring i had stuffed up or something. The car is completely running off the battery because altenator is not charging. I have tested this with the terminals up tight on battery and i only get the voltage of the battery dropping bit by bit.

Here is what i have researched so far.

There are 3 wires coming off the back of the altenator.

1. Thick red one. (main power to battery).

2. Thin brown one. (Charge light).

3. Thin white one (Battery sense wire).

And i little black box on back of altenator about 10 mm by 20mm that has a wire running to a spade terminal on back of altenator.

Now the Battery sensor wire (white one) i have connected straight to battery. As it was in commodore.
I have the main power ( Thick red one) hooked into the battery and i have not used the brown one as i have a battery meter in the dash.

As a starting point i have pulled the altenator wiring out of car so i could check for damage. There is no damage but i did find that the main red wire splits into 2 wires before battery. Is one of them a feed for something or is it supposed to be hooked in to battery + parallel with the other one???

I have spoken to an electrician this morning and he thinks that becasue the brown wire is not hooked to anything there is an open circuit and he advised if i do not want a battery light to hook this into ignition 12 v and this should fix the problem.

There is also a little black box with a wire going to a spade terminal on the back of the altenator. What is this??? Could thie be causing the problem???

So a recap

1. Should the 2 red wires (splitting from the one main power supply from altenator) both go to battery or is one just a feed for something???

2. Does the brown wire (warning light wire) have to be hooked up to anything for it to charge??? Should i give it 12 v ignition as the auto electricain said or is there a wire in the 4 runner loom that this should be hooked into???

3. What is the little black box about 10mm x 20mm with a wire going to spade terminal on back of altenator. What does it do???

Any help appreciated as i am absoltely stumped.

Cheers guys

Dave

[chimpboy]

You should hook the brown one up and see if it helps. It is meant to act as a load to "excite" the alternator.

My experience has been that they work anyway, but take longer to start charging. But if you are having issues then it is something you should sort. It is essentially all the alternator has to tell it that the ignition is on and it should be charging.

[dawg runner]

thanks mate.

That is really helpful.

I will let you knoow how i go.

Cheers

Dave