I'm hoping to get a few more miles out on my 1990 Toyota wagon since
we only put about 50 miles a week on it and use it only locally.
However I've replaced the alternator 4 times in 2 years time. Eachtime
the car comes to a dead stop while on the road driving. After replacing the
4th alternator my mechanic recommended a "specialist" in order to have the
charging
system tested. However the second mechanic said that if the replaced
altenators solved the problem then it was the alternator not some other
problem like a short. Tonight we had the wagon once again towed to the local
garage
with what I suspect is the 5th alternator failure.
Does someone know what the problem can be? or suggest the next action to take
besides the junkyard route? Thanks!

"Hachiroku" <Trueno (AT) ae86 (DOT) gts> wrote

OK, my first question would have been if it's an ND or a Delco-ReamMe. I
was changing alternators on the Corolla a lot until I got an ND alternator.
Still going . . . .

Charles of Kankakee
93 Corolla 206,000 miles

"BlueWagon via CarKB.com" <u14833@uwe> wrote

I had a similar problem with my '85 Toyota Van, but perhaps not as bad - -
it went through a couple of alternators while in each of their warranty
periods. After replacing the last one, the Arco Mechanic said there's a lot
of oil on the alternator, and sure enough, there was a loose power steering
connection that dripped oil on it. Now it's dry and running fine.

Hachiroku wrote:
For most people, replacing brushes or the regulator would equate to an
alternator replacement since fixing *anything* is out of vogue today. Also,
diodes don't wear out so regulator replacement can always be traced to
manufacturing defects.

BlueWagon via CarKB.com, 10/12/2005, 6:48:46 PM, <55bf94eb2929b@uwe>
wrote:

Well, since the battery is the load of the alternator I would have it
checked.

--
"The difference in golf and government is that in golf you can't
improve your lie." --George Deukmejian

On Wed, 12 Oct 2005 22:48:46 GMT, "BlueWagon via CarKB.com"
<u14833@uwe> wrote:


Start by looking at the battery. Have you ever replaced it? Have you
ever taken a fully charged battery and checked the draw on the system
with nothing at all turned on? A shorted cell in the batery would
probably put enough strain on a cheap alternator to kill it. A short
in the system big enough to draw significant current all the time may
well do the same thing. My experience with remanufactured alternators
on a couple of vehicles was basically plan on doing the job twice
because the first one will be crap. I also had something short out on
our old suburban once and draw significant current, but not enough to
drain the battery most of the time. I found it when I was digging
through the fuse box and found a self-resetting circuit breaker hot
enough that I had to use pliers to pull it.

I'm changing every year. 93 Prizm (Corolla)

Second time it was under warranty so mechanic replaced but claimed
there must be something else becuase it is not normal (doh!). They
checked and they told me they found a short. Third time, failed again
and they claimed they found a failed electrical cable (every time I was
paying for those extra repairs). Last time I took to another mechanic,
told the history, he replaced and he claimed it wouldn't fail. I heard
that before, but I have another 8 months to prove him wrong.

I think I should consider brand name and other stuff people mentioned
here. Thanks fellas.

I found all of your comments very helpful - Well I stayed with my usual
mechanic and he decided to replace the battery and rewire the connections
from the alternator to the battery. He ruled out a short being responsible
for the 5 altenator failures and thinks the bad wires could be acting like an
unwelcomed resistor in the electrical system. So I'm driving the wagon
locally and holding my breath.
Thanks for your help - updates to follow(if any)


denoxis wrote:

--
Message posted via CarKB.com
http://www.carkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/toyota/200510/1

BlueWagon again! But not with good news! New battery and rewiring done by
mechanic didn't help much.
The battery went dead after not being used for one day. So now I'm told that
it's a short but one that they can't get the meter to register. Is that
possible? He says he can't do anything else for me - maybe take it to Toyota
have them look at it. Is there any way I can place a meter from the battery
to determine the level of drain from the short on the electrical system? If I
have some things done like remove the radio or the dead rear wiper motor, is
there a way I can see if the short disappears? For now I'm going to drive it
home and remove the battery cable to prevent killing the battery in my
driveway. Thank all for the help!

Hachiroku wrote:

--
Message posted via CarKB.com
http://www.carkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/toyota/200510/1

you could hook up a amp meter and measure the current flowing out the
battery, if there is a short you should see a good amount of current
flowing, then start removing fuses, you will see a big drop in current
when you pull the fuse on the system thats causing the short. If that
system isn't needed then your done! Otherwise you need to track it down
some more.

Removing the battery cable is not a bad option, I've done that for a
few years on a old second car I had and rarely used, I could never find
the short.