Landcruiser 2H - Charge Light Fail

[vanzbrown]

Have had a few problems with charging of battery, where it seems that at times the volts to the battery are up around 14, but at idle and and with low beam lights on, can be as low as 12.6...

Have checked brushes in alternator, seem fine, next step was to replace regulator (external). Im not so good with auto electrics, and fumble around like a blind man in a dark room with my multimeter.

One thing that was pointed out to me today, is that my Charge light does not come on when i turn on my ignition, and that this is part of the charge circuitry. I swear this used to work, so Swapped the bulb in the dash over with the high beam light, but still no worky...

Was wondering what are the basic things that could be at fault, hoping that the charging issue and the lamp issue are somewhat related.

I like to poke around under the bonnet, but i guess in reality if i had just taken it to an auto leccy, i would have had the problem diagnosed and fixed last week.. Instead im waiting to head to work one morning with another flat battery in the very near future

Thanks men!

[sandsb]

do that reg like you are saying, warning light is controlled by your external reg. is fairly cheap for a new one too. dont stuff around with a 2nd hand one. the other thing to consider is, have you jump started another vehicle arse up (connected jump leads incorrect). if this is the case the rectifier will be u/s. and may need a new one or new alternator.

[GeneralFubashi]

those voltages dont actually seem that abnormal. Its not one of the highest rated alternators as the old diesels didnt need that much power. Might only be 40A or so, so at idle i wouldnt expect voltage to be over 12.6 anyway, and with the lights on less than that. Try measuring with the lights on with the throttle set at 2000 revs or so. Should be up around 13.something.

Cheers
Sam

[vanzbrown]

do that reg like you are saying, warning light is controlled by your external reg. is fairly cheap for a new one too. dont stuff around with a 2nd hand one. the other thing to consider is, have you jump started another vehicle arse up (connected jump leads incorrect). if this is the case the rectifier will be u/s. and may need a new one or new alternator.

thanks guys...

Oh, and you know what... The weird thing was that all this started after i had left my car round home for the weekend, and it had been used to jump start another vehicle when i was away... The first thing i noticed when all this was happening was the glowplug light (the first relay) was tripping out almost instantly, rather than staying on for a few seconds like it was previously...

New battery has held up over the past few weeks, so thats good..

Am going to change over the regulator, as found another 2H manual online that was heaps more detailed than my gregorys i have, and showed how to test the regulator, and a few of the tests showed resistance where it should have had 0...

Hope its not the altenator, although this was also mentioned by a bloke at work that one of the diodes may have failed, causing it to be only working at a reduced capacity.


Appreciate the replies, its been a wild ride all this electrical stuff!