Charging Issues (I think?)

[illiand]

Ive been having an ongoing problem with my '88 v6 manual 4runner. essentially, there is something wrong with the charging system, but im lost as to what

i recently (3 months ago) changed out: the starter, alternator, and battery. now it wont start, again. the starter engages, but does not spin. i pulled it and tested it under no load, and it works fine. the starter relay also tested good. The battery tested good but low charge on an electronic tester. Any ideas what might be the problem? This is driving me nuts!

[Ryan31783]

check for loose connections (battery, grounds, etc), after that maybe have autozone test the battery and alternator out. it sound like alternator or a short though from my experience

[vigilantejustic]

check the wires that go up to the starter, a friend of mine had a short on his which caused it to not start.

[fourwd1]

Yeah, are you sure it's a batt/alt/charging problem ?
1st and 2nd gen trucks can have a problem with the wiring between the ign sw and the starter. That's why you see an extra pushbutton on the dash on a lot of them. It's easier to add a switch straight to the starter and bypass stock wiring. I've had this problem on an 83, an 84, and an 85.

[whit]

ok you should definately change your spark plug wires. I had the same problem on my '88 V6. I changed the starter and took out the alternator to have it tested (it was fine) and i changed the battery twice because it kept getting drained. the problem was a dead short in the sp wires. after we changed them out (bosch I think) the problem went away and now she fires like a beauty.

[illiand]

im going to dig more into it this weekend, hopefully get it figured out because carpooling sucks!

I have not tested the alternator yet, ill probably do that this weekend, but it is only like 3 months old, so im pretty sure thats not the problem. Is it possible that i didnt put enough tension on the Alt. belt when i installed it and thats the cause of it not charging (slipping?)? I have access to an electronic batt/charging tester, this weekend ill jump it and do a charging system test to verify.

the battery tested good on tuesday.

I have not really checked into the wiring all that much yet, but i gave the battery leads and alternator wires a once over, and they didnt look too bad except that the positive terminal on the battery was corroded pretty bad, ill probably replace that regardless of what the problem turns out to be.

I dont think its a problem with the Ignition circuit because when i turn the key the starter engages, but does not spin; but when i pulled the starter and tested it with no load it worked fine. if there was an issue with the ignition circuit wouldn't it just not do anything?

the Starter relay is good, i tested that on tuesday as well.

I just changed the distributor cap, rotor, plugs, and wires while i was changing the falve cover gaskets (last week), if those were the problem it should be fixed, the old wires and plugs were not really that old or worn though, so im hesitant to think that was the problem.

Ill probably end up chasing wires around all weekend, hopefully ill be able to figure it out. Thanks for the help guys.

[934rnr]

You sure it isn't worn plunger solinoid contacts in the starter?
I had a similar thing happen to my 93 4 runner it wouldn't turn over the motor.
Check this article.
http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/maintenance/starter/

[whit]

heres one way to test your spark plug wires... turn on your car; now touch all of your wires in their entirety. meaning run your fingers along them from end to end. if you get shock to hell and lots of cuss words come flying out, then you'll know you need new wires. :thatsfuny this is best done with a few beers. (although I had no beer when I did it.)

[slodrivr]

check the resistance of the cable going from the battery to the starter. Sometimes they corode inside the insulation and build up enough resistance that they wont move the high amperage needed to turn the starter under load.

[illiand]

Well, i figured it out. i had noticed while working on this thing that the connector on the + side of the battery was looking pretty heinous. so i took it off and i was alot worse than it looked on the outside. after i cleaned it up and reinstalled it it fired right up. go figure... :o

Moral of the story: check the simple stuff first!

Thanks again Gents.

[azredliner]

heres one way to test your spark plug wires... turn on your car; now touch all of your wires in their entirety. meaning run your fingers along them from end to end. if you get shock to hell and lots of cuss words come flying out, then you'll know you need new wires. :thatsfuny this is best done with a few beers. (although I had no beer when I did it.)

Some people do things the hard way. The easy way is to wait until dark, start the truck and raise the hood. If you see sparks jumping around the plugs then you have bad wires.