Toyota service and alternator question

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    Lighten up Francis
    Jan 18, 2013
    8,227
    AA County
    My battery died last Friday. The car jump starts and runs okay, but seemed to struggle a little after a fresh jumpstart. Seems like the dead battery might have pulled the voltage down a bit. ( six volts after a starting attempt) Yay for fancy drive by wire steering. I would get some steering wheel stutter. After fifteens minutes, all ran fine, just wouldn't start without a jump again.

    So I measured 13.5 without AC or high beams, 13.4 with everything I could turn in on the car. Seems okay to me. I would rather see 13.8, but it is not far off, within 10%.

    One Toyota dealer says it is the alternator, and would not replace the battery, without doing the alternator. I got fed up, and dropped in a new Interstate battery from Costco. Car runs and starts fine now. It is under warranty for another 150 miles, so it almost seems worth letting them replace it, whether it needs it or not.

    What is the best Toyota warranty repair shop within about 25 miles of Millersville, and do I even really need an alternator?
     

    slowpoke

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 2, 2011
    1,114
    Annapolis
    Call Crownsville Automotive 410-923-6995. They are located at the top of General's Hwy. Independent repair shop specializing in Toyota/Lexus run by Andy Peter. He's an honest mechanic that I've grown to trust with my Toyotas and Honda too.
     

    vgplayer

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 17, 2013
    1,069
    King George, VA
    Seems to be charging the battery so I think it's fine. Just a case of leaving the lights on.

    My Camry alternator died. I pulled it and confirmed it wasn't working. It was completely non-functional where it wasn't outputting anything. The Toyota parts department had to special order it but they had the cheapest price and a factory part too. Pain in the butt though. I had to remove the front fascia and take out the radiator to get to the thing.

    My wife on the other hand had a dead battery so the car would run just fine but once you turned off the car it needed to be jumped as it wasn't holding the charge.
     

    Turbohugh

    Squib..
    Jan 13, 2014
    270
    Planet Earth
    After charging the battery fully what are your voltages ? Should be 12.6~12.8

    With the 'charging' numbers you have I would lean towards a bad cell in the 12v battery. This can wear the alternator down over time. [Cascade failure].
    If you're not at 12.6~12.8 on the battery [unhooked, fully charged] I would replace it with the correct type /size /cca rating .
     

    Overboost44

    6th gear
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 10, 2013
    6,619
    Kent Island
    This is still under warranty? How old is the battery that is/was in there? You should have had it tested when you took it out. Maybe a bad cell. I doubt your alternator is bad.
     

    John from MD

    American Patriot
    MDS Supporter
    May 12, 2005
    22,721
    Socialist State of Maryland
    Toyota was one of the first companies to use computer controlled alternators. The voltage is reduced once the battery is charged to remove the hp load from the engine. I have never seen my voltage go above 13.5 in any of my Toyota Camry's and the norm was about 13.1 when cruising. I also tried to deliberately fry one and never succeeded.

    Your alternator is probably just fine and the guy who said it was bad just wanted to rip you off.

    John
     

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