Battery Charge Light Staying On

[Yowie in Oz Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Yowie in Oz]

After some challenging rock climbing on Whitebridge Road at the back of Morriset, we decided to attack Daves Road (I think that is the name of it) and it was muddier than your Aunties Mud cake. I noticed that after going through a few muddy holes my instrument panel was displaying a few lights....Battery Charge Light, Traction Control Light, Engine Warning Light and another light underneath that. I took it to a mate who tested the Alternator, and said it was not charging.

After cleaning the Prado down, he set about removing the Alternator. He dismantled it and noticed the Regulator was cracked. He checked the Stater with his multi-meter and showed it was all good. So down the road we went and purchased a new Regulator and Brushes (for good measure) and headed home to rebuild the Alternator and re-install it. I started the Prado, there were no lights on in the Instrument Panel, my mate tested for charge. Thumbs up showed everything was good as gold. Then on to the fridge to have a well earned coldie.

Overall, I could have paid $400 for a new Alternator, but like my mate said, everything was still good, and after paying only $95 for a new Regulator and Brushes, I saved $300. It wasn't hard to do, just tricky in parts. Like the screws, the tiny little buggers that hold the Regulator on. Be careful with these as they may be full of dirt, but even so, they have soft heads on them and can be stripped easily with the screwdriver if not careful.

Yowie

[Snaga Wishing I was lost Find all posts View Profile Close Snaga]

Re: Battery Charge Light Staying On

Good to hear you found a cheap way out of that one...
My dash lit up like a Christmas tree a while back and it was the alternator... full of mud. Still, Toyota replaced it under their 2nd hand warranty thankfully.

[StormyKnight Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close StormyKnight]

Re: Battery Charge Light Staying On

Yes & it is quite easy to get mud in the alternator on the Prado. If you look above the right front wheel on the Diesel, you can see the rear of the alternator so any mud & water coming off the wheel can be push forward into the alternator.

In addition if you rip of the inner guard lining like I did it's even easier!

After that incident I investigated alternatives such as a marine alternator (fully sealed), but didn't quite find what i needed....now I have to drive slowly thru mud puddles....I guess thats what your supposed to do anyway.... ops:

Cheers

PS I've updated my avatar to show you when it happened

[Sjackson Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Sjackson]

Hi guys, the same thing has happened to me this weekend driving through the glasshouse mountains SEQ (beautiful spot with some great terrain and plenty of mud!) On the way home I noticed first that when changing gears while the clutch was in my lights would come up on the dash (battery, handbrake and "the arrow one bottom left? that might be fan???) but go away again when I accelerated. We pulled over and popped the bonnet.....plenty of mud.....tested the battery with multimeter and it was sitting at 12.1V while the engine was on which was telling me the alternator wasn't charging the battery. Checked the instrument panel and those same lights were on constantly whether or not I am in gear or not. Cleaned the engine bay thoroughly when we got home last night, still the alternator is not charging.

Just a few questions:
1. Will the problem be somewhat obvious? I.e. alternator or regulator? and what should I be looking for when i take the alternator apart?
2. Where is the best place to get replacements? i.e. is this a toyota parts department job or SCA or internet?

Thanks in advance. The Pradopoint community has always been very knowledgeable and helpful.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Hi there Sjackson, same thing happened to my 90 when I was on a day out with PP and half way through the day after lunch the light appeared. I new it was playing in the mud that caused it. Luckily I was on LPG so flicked over and drove from Newcastle to Penrith and light was still blazing so I thought stuff it have nothing to lose so grabbed the garden hose, stuck it directly at the alternator and turned the hose on pretty well flat out (without nozzle on), after about 15 mins the alternator light started to flicker and then eventually it went off and till this day its never given any further trouble (so the current owner tells me). I would give that a try first, cant stuff the alternator any more than it already is eh ?? Might save you some $$$ might not but worth a try. I reckon the mud gets in there then drys up causing the issue. I think with the pressure of the water and after a period of time softens the mud up and flushes it out..........Cheers Steve

[Sjackson Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Sjackson]

Thanks for the advice Steve, I will give it a go tonight. Did you have the engine running while you were flushing? Thanks again.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Yeah mate just had it idling away probably for about an hour I reckon all up then gave it a good run down the freeway and back (about 15mins) just to dry everything out and honestly never had another issue with it. Must admit I never went screaming through the mud again. My mate always says to me "mud means money "" lol reckon he's write to, but its fun eh...........Cheers Steve

[Sjackson Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Sjackson]

Thanks mate, gave it a go last night with no luck unfortunately. Down to the shop it goes....

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Bit of bad luck there, hopefully won't be too expensive for you.... Cheers Steve

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

a general tip, check your fuses first, i have had a 10amp fuse under dash blow, same symptoms.

now you know why im the chicken driving around bog holes or why im going slow, lol......

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

""now you know why im the chicken driving around bog holes or why im going slow, lol"" yep I'm the same ####, I have learnt with three vehicles now about going screaming through the mud puddles. I go through them if I have to but not at high speed.........Cheers Steve

[Brett1979 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Brett1979]

I've had to replace an alternator a year ago from mud ingress. It cost me $380 fitted which I didn't mind. Got a brand new one now. The battery light, handbrake light & air filter light all came on and didn't go away until I flushed the alternator with warm soapy water to get the mud out. Then after a little while it came back on until the battery went flat, the car lost all power to drive and the car wouldn't start. I re-charged the battery with the help of a friend's car and jumper leads and drove from Injune back to Toowoomba which was 400-500km approx. No radio, no air con, nothing electrical was switched on that didn't need to be on so we could get home without having to charge the battery again.

[Playdoh96 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Playdoh96]

Thanks mate, gave it a go last night with no luck unfortunately. Down to the shop it goes....

Have just seen this post, I've had the same problem. Fixed it by pulling the alt off and pulling the back off it. You'll find 3 8mm nuts holding this dust plate on. From there arm yourself with a can electra clean and work it into the bushes and holder. Located in the middle of the alt. After a good spray see if can move the brushes up and down with a small screw driver, dont put too much pressure on them, they should move freely in the holder. As someone said before it's the mud that stops brushes moving and they can't make contact with the com, so alt don't charge. Hope this helps. Just remember to disconnect the battery before touching any of the wires on the alt, unless you like welding the spanner too the inner guard

[Sjackson Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Sjackson]

So i took it down to the local auto-electrician as I needed it fixed quickly for use this week. Said I shorted something out and a component caught on fire.... ah the joys of mud.....$180 to be reconditioned. Not too bad considering the loss of dignity....(my mates 80 series wasn't at all put off by the mud!!)

Thanks for the advice guys, I feel like we have added to this thread even if I had to get it "professionally fixed".

[JKAF Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JKAF]

Add me to the list of victims of mud in the alternator.
Went out for the day last Sunday! found a DEEP mud hole and managed to get stuck in it
After a while the lights went on, realized the alternator was not charging so went home
Tried flushing the alternator with water and then with WD 40 but no joy.
Pulled the alternator out today and did as others in this post have done, removed the cover from the back and removed the bushes to discover one was stuck. Did the cleaning and greasing to try and add some water resistance to it. All working fine now.
In looking around in this forum I discovered a thread that talked about getting some rubber sheeting to replace what is there in the wheel arch protecting the motor. If you have a look you can see the gaps and a view of the alternator. I'll be adding that to my list of mods to protect the engine bay a little more.