Alternator woes - how to get by for a week before fixing?

My battery died with the fluid coming out of the top from driving all around yesterday. Went to replace it and the battery light still comes on with the new one. Looks like my alternator isn’t producing 13-14v but 12.8v instead. With the battery disconnected, it’s 12.3v.

Question….Can I trickle charge my battery every night to get by for a week before I change out my alternator?

 

How far do you have to drive? At night, with the headlights on? Blower motor?

I bet if you didn’t have to use the lights/radio/blower you could get by for a few days with nightly charging. Wonder if it would hurt the battery though.

 

Yeah, I’m not sure. Yesterday I had to drive to the ICU to visit my father and that was 90 miles round trip. For work, I only need to drive 40 miles round trip to work on the radar.

 

It's possible, Jack, but none of us can actually say. I know it's not an answer you want to hear, but it is the truth. Can you rent or borrow a car until you replace? The price and cost of renting would probably be less than the price and cost incurred if the truck takes a shit.

 

Yeah, looks like I may just rent for the week and deal with it after I get out for the year from work after next week.

$1,510 for the dealer to replace with a refurbished 130 amp alternator.

 

Ouch

 

Alternator replacement wouldn't be too hard I don't think. It might be a squeeze but I don't think you'd need to remove the fan or fan pulley bracket. Reman alternator looks like it's $200-250 from Denso.

I'd look into an independent shop if you're not comfortable doing it yourself. I'm sure labor rates would be much cheaper and I feel like that it's something a shop could do even if they weren't familiar with a FGT.

 

First I need to find it to determine how bad of a job it’ll be to do. Just my luck it’s winter time and I’ll be laying on cold ground to do it. Sigh.

 

Probably not much consolation, but it isn't difficult.

 

No ground work, easy peasy. Just leave tension on the serp belt with a bungee and you don't have much to worry about.

 

Paging dr. Electric @bmf4069

 

Alternator on the 2UZ is not a difficult job, if the electrical connector plays nice. I do the job from under the vehicle. Disconnect battery, remove serpentine belt, loosen power steering, disconnect cable on alternator, remove connector, remove alternator. Install in reverse order.

I'd spray the plastic connector with electric parts cleaner before attempting to remove it.

This video is pretty much my process.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq3apW-43ag

 

Thanks, I’ll have to take a look when work is over today.

 

It's a much easier task on the 4.7 than the 5.7 later trucks. You may want to stop by a local parts store and have them test your alternator. Only buy a Denso. here's a video from YouTube.
https://youtu.be/fPw6j5sAQyg

 

I'm actually not that great at vehicle electrics, unless it's audio. Even then I'm only half decent. With that being said.....

This is what I was thinking. It's not too bad to do, and I'd recommend it before it gets too cold up there.

 

Don’t need to when it’s only putting out 12.75v after start up on a new battery.

 

35F and windy is pretty damn cold. Not single digit cold, but still annoying.

 

I guess you could keep a solar trickle charger hooked up to it. Try to not use the headlights, power windows or radio and recharge the battery at night. I honestly don’t know how far a FGT will drive on battery.

 

Thanks. Yeah, with work I’d have to skedattle by 4pm to avoid dusk. That isn’t about to happen with management breathing down my neck to get a radar issue resolved before I mentally check out for the year on my vacay.

 

My only salvation is the rentals are cheap at $35/day for an econobox car. Unlike the summer and early fall, they aren’t charging the $55-$65/day I typically see.

 

There's a pretty good chance that all your alternator needs is new brushes. A $20.00 part. And an easy swap out. It does require that you pull the alternator and put it on the workbench. But you're gonna do that anyhow which every way you go.

I'm on the original factory OEM alternator in my 1997 T-100. I bought it new in 1997 and it has about 275,000 miles on it. I just recently (preventatively) put in a 2nd replacement set (so 3rd overall counting the original) of alternator brushes.

Here's what the brushes look like for my 1997. Yours would be similar.

 

If a rental car is only $35/day, then I wouldn't risk it. What if you drive to work, and the alternator completely dies?

I really doubt that a battery could power the headlights and all of the primary functions for very long. A week of a rental car would be $250, and an alternator is $250, so $500 for both car and new alternator. A lot less than getting it done at the dealer.

 

Not sure if this is applicable on FGT, but have you checked your ALT-S fuse if one is present? Could just be that the voltage sensor that works in conjunction with the alternator is toast, but again not sure if that is a thing for you guys. I ran into it on my 2.5 when dicking around with a diode for my AGM battery.

 

Agree. I had a Surf (4R) in Japan and that’s all my alternator needed. Brushes were really easy to replace.

 

I once drove a V6 Audi about 4 hours on just the battery. Drove it until it died, 10 miles short of my destination.

If you need the headlights or blower, no way. Just the coil packs and the fuel pump it'll do 40 miles if the battery is good. Can you charge it at work? I'd do it for a day or two until you could find a rental or borrow a car.

 

Thanks! I’ll take a look at that.

Now where can I find the Denso version of the OEM 100A alternator? www.densoautoparts.com shows NO Denso alternators for an 02 Tundra and neither does Rockauto.

Am I stuck paying $275 for a dealer one?

 

I would but the fact the old battery gave up prematurely after 90 miles with water on the top and 1/4-1/2 of the water in each cell gone has me concerned. That battery was a 2.5 yr old Toyota truestart.

 

Is that $275 after the 25% discount that some dealers have right now? I think Shifty said the sale ends in like 7 or 8 hours.

 

No, actually it’s not, but you know how that works out. I’ll be waiting forever to get it delivered. Kind of like my skid plate.

 

Are you actually seeing one in stock? Denso discontinued the alternators a year or so ago. Confirmed by Denso.