What have you done to your 1st gen Tundra today?

I'll take anything over 5yrs. I feel like I've gotten my $$ worth at that point.

I see people buy cheap $150 batteries and they're dead in 2-3 years. I'd rather just pay the extra 50% and get something that'll last longer. Well, I guess in this case I'm paying 150% more for AGM, but ... whatever.

 

Napa Legend
9years in my Civic, replaced with same.
Replaced truck's with a Legend as well.
Ended up getting it warrantied a couple days before it expired or maybe he fudged it because it was so close, can't remember.
Anyway they stood behind it, brand new unit, no charge.

 

I'm still kicking myself for accidentally packing my damn battery tester and shipping it up to Maine in the POD. I thought about buying one on scAmazon, testing my batt, and returning it, but as much as they fuck over their employees similarly, I felt bad about being "that guy". I've done it before in pinch situations, but ...

 

That got gutted fast!

 

I scored these 5 Kendas for $650 the next town over this afternoon. 1 is new with 17/32". Two have the same as my current rear Kendas, 12/32". The other two are 15/32".

The plan tomorrow is to trash my bald spare, move the current rears to the front, put one of the current fronts as the spare (they're not bald yet, but not much left to em), pull the other current front off and toss it on my tire stack in the backyard. The two 15/32" tires will become the new rears.
I realized I have 12 Kendas now. I'm going to sell the 5 shittiest for $200 and keep the 7 best.
I have to grab my spare spare from @Sirfive

 

As you know, your local LAPS will test it for you.

 

Yeah, but with the way it was behaving (slow starts when cold), I'm certain it was hitting EOL.

Had to shave a shitload of plastic off the diode to get it installed. Couldn't find my DMM to figure out which direction power was coming in, so I had to use the charging dash light to figure out which direction was correct. Installed it wrong the first time, battery light came on in the dash. Flipped it around, battery light went off in the dash. Anyway, install is done, and the needle is standing tall and proud, no more fluctuations, no more BS. But here's the interesting thing. If I reinstall the 7.5A fuse, my LEDs in the car (exterior and interior) flicker, and the needle is jumpy. Pull it out, put in the diode again, lights are solid, and gauge is up where it should be. Makes me wonder if this fuse isn't on its last leg, or maybe the leg to/from the voltage regulator is actually wonky. The diode works by tricking the voltage regulator into thinking things are lower than they are, so it outputs more. Hmmmm....

(I did unplug the newest LED mini projector headlights' fuse to make sure it wasn't those guys causing it)

VIDEO:

https://imgur.com/MYAuWQJ



​

 

Someone posted that in one of the tundra facebook groups a few days ago, people were scrambling to go get parts haha

Wonder if the grille is gonna pop up on marketplace soon

 

Pics after install.

First DC Decked they shipped out...woohoo....

 

@Voss went and checked, it’s gone!

 

Now my master tailgater back up camera stopped working. I guess I'll have to mess with that tomorrow as well.

 

Sanity check first, there's that one snap-together connection in the rear. I'd double-check it didn't come apart. Then check the tail light.

Note you can use a 9v battery on the +/- wires to trigger a power-up. May help with debugging.

 

Good to know. It worked when I left the house to buy the tires. It wasn't working when I left for work. Very well could be something loosened on the tailgate side when I shut it.

 

Yeah, I remember when we did Dakillacore's*, the camera itself had a quick-disconnect plug about 12-18" away from the handle. IIRC, I connected the two ends together, then used TESA tape to tape the two halves together, then I zip-tied the cables on either side of that joint so something tugging on either side of the cable couldn't disconnect them. Just taping the joint would probably do it, but ... I like to be thorough.

 

Basically, did this. Taped where the cables connected (black), then zip-tied either end (blue) to some sheet metal in the tailgate. There are a bunch of places inside the tailgate skeleton to fasten to. If you're gonna be offroading or lifting/dropping the tailgate, it's worthwhile to pin your cables down in a few places, but leave enough slack where they pass thru things for them to have a little freedom of movement, just not so much they can get pinched by shit.

​

 

So you took the diode out and put the 7.5A fuse in its place which was the original configuration? Did that ever work or did it always act wonky?

The regulator built into the alternator needs a specific load to be stable. If the AGM battery wasn’t charging with the lower output, it probably didn’t meet the minimum load requirement to keep the output stable. That would be my guess.

 

I was texting back and forth with @FrenchToasty while buttoning shit up. Had to file a claim with UPS because the box of parts I sent him, they came back and charged me saying the box dimensions were NaN x NaN x NaN instead of the 12 x 12 x 12 which I input for the label. I think it may've been a glitch in their system, becase Not a Number (NaN) isn't a valid dimension. And thankfully, I used a registered box that had 12 x 12 x 12 printed directly on it, and he was able to send pics for the claim. Still, what a f'n hassle...

The gist, IIRC:

• I installed the new AGM, left the 7.5A fuse in the ALT-S slot, started the truck
• I noticed the LED projectors were flickering, and when I opened the door, the map and dome LEDs were flickering, and the volt gauge needle was up and down while the lights were flickering, the more they flickered the more the gauge jumped
• I shut it off, pulled the 7.5A fuse, installed the diode in the ALT-S slot, backwards (unbeknownst to me), fired up the truck, I don't recall if lights were flickery or not, but the battery light was on in the gauge cluster, so I figured it was backwards
• I pulled the diode, reinstalled the 7.5A fuse, started it up, things flickery etc., only did it to make sure the gauge cluster light turned off, lights were still flickering, gauge still jumping
• Turned off the truck, installed the diode into the ALT-S slot the correct way (pictured above), started the truck, gauge was pretty damn solid, up high as seen in the video above, and no LEDs (headlights, map lights, dome light) are flickering as they were

It would speak to reason one or more of the following is true:

1. There is something FUBAR about that 7.5A fuse
2. There is something FUBAR with one of the cables associated with the alternator charging
3. I had Denso reman alternators in a row that had issues with the voltage regulator
4. Installing the diode into the ALT-S slot is tricking the alternator into outputting higher power, which is masking the underlying issue

I wouldn't be surprised if it's #s 2 & 4 of the above. I strongly doubt it's #3. I'm skeptical it's #1. I'm sure it could be something else entirely, also, and that's why I'm voicing it aloud, in case you or others may have some helpful input.

I may break down tomorrow and reinstall the 7.5A fuse tomorrow, see if it returns, and if it does, then install a brand new 7.5A fuse if I have one, else temporarily toss the 10A spare fuse from my box in there.

I should probably try to hunt down my Fluke meter.

 

I would definitely watch that with the voltmeter to see how it’s fluctuating. I know you always need a battery or comparable load for the voltage regulator to work correctly and if you kill a cell in the battery, it can draw too much current and cause the regulator to stop regulating. That last part happened to me and the alternator was outputting 18-20v for a good minute on startup. I’m lucky I didn’t kill the ECU or anything else.

Good luck in determining the actual cause.

 

The one thing I can say about the voltage regulator is, I know 100% the needle was swinging when I had the 100A Denso alt installed. I also know 100% the needle was swinging after I installed the 130A Denso alt.

That the needle was swinging with two different alternators, with each one having its own different v-regulator, suggests it has nothing to do with an alternator or v-regulator. The likelihood of two bad v-regulators is virtually nil.

I replaced the 130A alternator thinking the issue was possibly an underpowered 100A alternator, or a bad alternator component. Clearly wasn't the case, the alternator wasn't causing the fluctuations.

The fact the needle was still swinging with the old NAPA battery, and with the new AGM battery suggests it probably wasn't the battery causing the issue, and the LEDs were flickering with both batteries.

I replaced the battery because the voltage fluctuations seemed to be getting worse, and voltage levels were definitely dipping, because when the needle would dip, the head unit would turn off. The battery was totally having issues starting in the cold, never a good sign, but clearly the battery wasn't causing the fluctuations.

I need to drive it some more, see if the voltage swinging comes back, if the head unit randomly reboots, and/or if the knock sensor high-voltage code (P0328) goes away. And I guess I should probably re-inspect the last several feet of the alternator wiring, and its connector(s), just for sanity's sake. I should probably also test resistance on those lines.

The big weird thing is, the flickering seems to have disappeared adding the diode in the ALT-S slot. Which is a pretty unique symptom if that's accurate, and it wasn't just a fluke, like, the truck had warmed up at that point, or something stupid.

 

Okay, I was unaware or missed you had the old NAPA battery in there and the problem was still present. Definitely check the continuity of the cabling and move it around to make sure it’s continuity is stable.

 

I just had another thought posting in the batteries thread.

The reason I replaced the battery in 2019 was because the battery light was on.

I thought the battery was dead, and I was on my way to work, and NAPA was the only store nearby I could coast into. So I bought that NAPA batt, installed it, and that hot-ass, fully-charged battery is what caused something inside the alternator to catch fire, or at least get red hot and start smoking, as I was trying to leave the NAPA parking lot.

It didn't end up burning up any of the wire. But now I'm wondering ... I wonder if that crazy load caused in that event actually damaged the 7.5A ALT-S fuse, but not enough to make it blow? And that's what's been fucking with me all this time?

 

Haha I’ve been gathering thoughts for like 30 mins, I know you and bill and many others know, a fuse should have no impedance, resistance, so a fuse should either be go or no go…… a diode should only impede in one direction, possibly a resistor in that GM doohickey. Your boosting volts now so amperage is going down and stuff is running better, you’ve got harness issues I’m sure

 

Yup. Found my fluke, tested the fuse, slowly drops from 0.3Ω, 0.2Ω, 0.1Ω, 0.0 and hangs at 0. No signs of cloudiness, holding it over a light, I see nothing wrong with it. It appears to be 100% good, so adding the diode is likely what caused the win.

Potentially harness, and also probably something carrying over from that event. Fun stuff. Time to do the big-3 upgrade, I guess

 

I guess the other test I could do would be to pull the diode out, and run it with no fuse and no diode, and see if the gauge fluctuates.

I'm not fully clear how things are wired BATT <-> ALT <-> ALT-S socket, but maybe ny breaking the circuit in that leg, I may be able to reveal which leg the issue is in? i.e. if I pull the ALT-S diode, and the problem is still there, the issue would be inside the fat ass fucker line between the battery and the alternator, right?

I think there's like a 12awg line from the ALT-S socket to the alternator, and a fatter 2awg cable from the alternator to the batt, or something?

 

Shouldn’t you place the fuse under a dummy load to make sure a hairline crack isn’t opening up?

Never mind. Since it’s a sense fuse it probably just has low current.

 

Tore off my intake manifold for the fourth time in the 20 yr ownership of this vehicle to troubleshoot the smog parts in order to try and pass upcoming smog test in CA. I am getting real good and faster each time it comes off......

 

Yup, I should, actually, if being thorough. I wasn't willing to break out my power supply and do that though. It's been a long day. I'm beat.

An equally effective test would be passing by Auto Zone on my way home tomorrow, and grabbing some micro fuses in 7.5A and slapping one in, seeing if it continues.

 

Got a spare 5a or 10a? Even a 15a would work.

 

"Superior"

 

I know that feel bro...