Offroad-Express

Gave the engine a quick blast with the water blaster at work, then about 2 hours later the dash lights came on. I thought the belts might be slipping with them being wet but they seem ok. Then thought maybe a squirt of crc may do the trick but all that did was start smoking so the alternator must have been pretty warm. Any ideas?

Was told by my Auto sparky that CRC was one of the worst thing to use on a Alternator ,He said it turned the dust from the brushes into grinding paste?..Steve

Bugger won't do that again. It dosen't seem to be charging. Normally it sits around 15v but now it's just over 12v. When the dash lights first came on it was only when you accelerated and on idle they would go off, but they're on all the time now. Anyone know the going rate for an 91 80 series alternator?

Most alternators charge at 13.8v or there about, aslong its over 12v otherwise it wont charge, my alternator charges at about 14.4v

14.4 is set voltage on vx alts tap it with a hammer and see if it starts charging if not take the rear cover off and remove the brush box and see how worn they are

It seems weird that it's clapped out after I washed it down. My 70 series alternator gave me no trouble, and I had water up the windscreen several times stuck in various rivers with the engine running.

also check to make shore that the glow relay is not on some time when they fill with water they stay on and becouse they draw so much power they stop your charging lights from going out

I don't know if the toyotas have the same set-up as the nissan but it happened to my whale after the last waterblast. Turned out that I waterblasted a fuseable link off the side of the alternator. The nissans have one on the side of the alternator that comes out of the main plug and then earth's itself on the alternator body. It still charged but was struggling to handle any electrics being run at all.
So check to see if you have disturbed any of the wiring and that your earthing leads are ok

Pulled the alternator out today. One of the brushes was melted so put a new set in but it's still not charging. Going to get it bench tested tomorrow to see if it's the diode pack or the volt regulator. As far as I can see the rest of the wiring looks ok, but theres a bit more under the bonnet than the 70 series. Hopefully she's good to go by end of play tomorrow coz it's the daily driver and she incharge ain't impressed!

After bench testing, the diode pack , volt regulator and rotor were poked. $700 for parts for a rebuild. Got a quote from toyota for a new alternator $2300 + a month wait from japan. Rang around the wreckers they had nothing. Got a brand new one from Just cruisers for just over $400. Will let ya's know how it goes.