Electrical Problems...

[Jamesb4uk]

Ok, i've had the Cynos SORN'd so i can solve a few of te problems with her.

First major problem that needs looking at is an electrical problem (i think)

basically here's what happened.

driving along at 70mph, start to indicate to turn off & the Speedo neddle drops to 0 and bounces back & forth, then back up to normal,

While thats going on all interior power dies to the radio, & lights.

returns to normal then 5 min later the engine starts to choke as though its stalling & dies ( i've slowed right down & just get to pull over)

turning the key does nothing, athough there is power to interior the starter doesn't catch or turn.

hooked it up to an emergancy booster & it starts first time & seems ok.

I've been told it might be the alternator or an electrical system short..

anyone have any other ideas?

J

[riko666]

perhaps the alternator connections may be loose or corroded or something, which could explain the loss of all power...and the turn signal + speedo, dunno, weird solenoid / fuse?...

i just know once on my mums megane, one day it was running perfectly, then the next it wouldnt turn over...in the end the rac dude said (well, for the megane at least) its commonthat gunge accumulates on the starter motor / alternator wiring and causes it to come loose, corrode a bit...so just check for any of the wirings around the starter motor / alternator for a start

[nrgizerbunny]

I reckon its probably the alternator, it could be a short on the electrical ssytem but thats likely to have blown a fuse.

alternately it could be just a crap connection from the alternator.

[riko666]

could it even be a crappy ground? hence causing the spikes when the indicators are used?

[nrgizerbunny]

the grounds on cars terminate all over the body, it is unlikely that all of them went AWOL at the same time unless it is where the big earth lead connects to the Battery.

Seeing as the car cranked when jumped it is probably the alternator. get a multimeter over it and see if you get 14ish volts steady. If the voltage reading is jumping then you might want to fish it out and have a look

[Jamesb4uk]

hmm, i'll have a look tomoz, thing i'm worried about is i bought a 2nd hand alternator from Andrew (Toyotasera) who said authoughthe one i got was from a Sera the part numbers were the same.

but it was strange that the actual unit was a lot smaller than my old one.

Might get the original recon'd. could be interesting if they can match it to something else..

Cheers guys - this is pointing more & more to the Alternator.

J

[paseoGT4]

my old paseo did that - it turned out to be the Battery, it started 1st time every time, then 1 day was driving along and its started goign funny and just died - ive found this with a few other toyotas - they seem to be able to run on really poor batteries but when they go the batteries are complety dead. On other cars you can usually get them going and then run off the alternator but the toyotas dont seem to like it.

[riko666]

hmm, my Battery went dead for a different reaosn, didnt disconnect it for the summer hols and left it stationary for 2 months, and it went completely and utterly dead, couldnt even start it rolling it down our hill, and the central locking / windows barely worked...meh

[Jamesb4uk]

nahh this is on a fresh Battery.

J

[Jamesb4uk]

Right - swapped the alternator back & it started running better so i thought - woohoo...

BUT - the voltage accross the terminals is below 12V, when you start the car its even lower.

not sure if its both the Alternator's or the Regulator...

but similar thing happened - driving back the interior power died & i couldn't accelerate, then the engine died when i pulled over.

J