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Faulty alternator or charge relay?

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Re: Faulty alternator or charge relay?

Postby geeves » Fri Jan 31, 2014 6:47 pm

when they fail the light doesnt come on and a volt meter shows 12 not 14. The circuit suggests it should only affect the light but Im not convinced
Sanding your knuckles before starting work can help. That way you cant skin them
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Re: Faulty alternator or charge relay?

Postby PaulB » Mon May 26, 2014 6:57 pm

HI, I was hoping to get some advice from you guys.

I have a 1992 2 door manual v6 petrol Jackaroo. Last night towards the end of a 800km drive I noticed a quick orange flicker of light from around the steering column and then my petrol, brake and battery lights came on. In addition my battery metre which normally runs around the 13-14 volt mark dropped to about 10. Being 3am and where I was, I had little choice than to finish the last 120km of my journey. After arriving the battery had lost most its power and the car couldn't be started without a push start.

From reading most the posts here I am assuming it is the alternator or controller? Does anyone have a suggestion where to start looking at the problem before ripping out the alternator. I live on an island and replacing an alternator or even getting one due to my location would be a great problem. I ask only because of that flicker of light in the steering column before the problems started. It may have just been light caught by the gauge lights or could it be something more sinister? Is there any wiring in the column that may have shorted causing my problem?

Any advice would be appreciated. I am no home mechanic but I have worked on alternators and other not so mechanically intense things previously.

thanks
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Re: Faulty alternator or charge relay?

Postby gavin » Tue Feb 10, 2015 5:06 am

any joy with the above issue im having the same problem cant locate charge relay need some advise please Gav,,,
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Re: Faulty alternator or charge relay?

Postby geeves » Tue Feb 10, 2015 1:42 pm

the charge relay is the blue one in the fuse box. Easy to test and most auto sparkys can test the alternator in place but its ugly to get out if you havnt done one before.
Sanding your knuckles before starting work can help. That way you cant skin them
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Re: Faulty alternator or charge relay?

Postby turbomu » Thu Sep 10, 2015 9:10 pm

Just got the same problem tonight on my 96 wizard 3.1td auto. Fuel filter light, battery light and 4wd light are on, Heaters stopped working and volts just under 8 but starts normal and runs normal. going to try charge relay first if no change fork out for alternator.
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Re: Faulty alternator or charge relay?

Postby MatcoMan » Sat Aug 13, 2016 3:08 am

I had just changed my alt only to have the same problem. The charge relay was bad under the center on top of the dash. (Its a orange relay) I did not have one just swapped it out with one of the other ones for now. My battery light and vacuum light was on.
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Re: Faulty alternator or charge relay?

Postby geeves » Sat Aug 13, 2016 6:36 am

Whats your vehicle. I see you are in Trump country. As far as I know the petrol engines dont use a charge relay. The diesel ones use either a blue or brow relay in the main fuse box. This relay is voltage sensitive so although fitting the other relay apears to work it wont work to design. Could be hard to get in USA.
Is your wagon petrol or deisel? Isuzu or chevy engine> Standard?
Sanding your knuckles before starting work can help. That way you cant skin them
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Re: Faulty alternator or charge relay?

Postby MUVIT » Tue Oct 18, 2016 7:39 am

I fired the MU up the other Day for RWC - Yes its been off the road for a while.
It has the 120 amp alternator in it from the Wizard (thanks stardog).
Brand new Battery.
When I fired her up she sat on 12 to 13 volts, was expecting over 14.
Took it for a spin, brakes were very spongey.
Noticed the Vac hose that links the Brake booster to the Alternator was cracked near Alternator.
Trimed up the Hose connected it again & went for a Spin, 14 volts Brake are still alittle spongey but I think il change the Fluid.
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Re: Faulty alternator or charge relay?

Postby stardog » Tue Oct 18, 2016 8:43 am

Bleed the old fluid out and fill the brakes back up with new fluid should fix it.
Also make sure your brake pistons aren't sticking I just done up a spare set of brake calipers I have with new rubber kits they had been sitting for a while and was seized up sprayed a heap of brake clean in them and let sit for a couple of days that freed them up to get out the pistons and some very fine wet and dry sand paper to clean out the built up gunk in them.
They wouldn't move even with compressed air from the compressor at 80lb of air.
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Re: Faulty alternator or charge relay?

Postby MUVIT » Tue Oct 18, 2016 9:34 am

Yeah il change the Brake & Clutch fluid as its been siting for a while.

I was thinking it Weird how the Alternator started Charging above 14 Volts once Vac hose was fixed (to Brake booster).
Have I been chasing my tail with Charge Relay?
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Re: Faulty alternator or charge relay?

Postby stardog » Tue Oct 18, 2016 12:03 pm

Ben what color charge relay does your mu have blue or brown one.
Might have just needed the 120amp alternator to spark her up a bit I had the same problem with the vac pipe splitting as well I had a spare 1 on a brake booster I bought a while back.
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Re: Faulty alternator or charge relay?

Postby MUVIT » Tue Oct 18, 2016 12:12 pm

dirty old brown one.
-Didnt have any red lights on Dash like others have stated.
-A/C & Fan worked under 12.5 volts-
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Re: Faulty alternator or charge relay?

Postby stardog » Tue Oct 18, 2016 1:23 pm

Those brown ones are impossible to get in Australia I tried every where no luck at all so I got them from over the pond in NZ.
The blue ones I don't know if you can get them as well in Australia but I do have a spare blue and brown relay in the glove box.
The wizard is running sweet as now after I changed the injector pump and static timed the pump no more smoke and starts first turn of the key now.
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Re: Faulty alternator or charge relay?

Postby MUVIT » Tue Oct 18, 2016 4:05 pm

good to her the Wizard going strong.
I don't think I have a Relay problem.

I put a new set of 265/75/R16s on the MU.
Greased the Shackles.
Wired up some New indicators for the TJM bar.
Changed the oil/filters, she needs a good decent drive then Il change it again.
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Re: Faulty alternator or charge relay?

Postby MUVIT » Sun Nov 20, 2016 9:57 am

MUVIT wrote:
I was thinking it Weird how the Alternator started Charging above 14 Volts once Vac hose was fixed (to Brake booster).
Have I been chasing my tail with Charge Relay?


Found my Problem,
When I lifted the Red rubber boot on the Alternator for the (larger) charge cable.
It exposed how sad the wire was .....loose & greenish in color.
I need to Replace this Cable.
& may as Replace the Negative cable to motor aswell ,
these Trucks are getting old.

ps.. 1st time I've Quoted myself :)
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Re: Faulty alternator or charge relay?

Postby tonkamu » Mon Oct 30, 2017 9:40 am

I have a 4 year old battery that still has a green light. I left my lights on the other day and had to charge it for almost 2 days to get the green light and get the float light on charger. I notice if I fully charge my battery my truck runs better, revs smoother and starts better with out being rough. After a few days I lose that bit of extra performance. I get an average volt charge when running of 13.5 to 14.1.

My question is, is this normal should I invest in a new battery or is this a common problem with something else?

cheers
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Re: Faulty alternator or charge relay?

Postby geeves » Mon Oct 30, 2017 12:36 pm

You are not the first person to comment on the engine running better on a fully charged battery but there is absolutly no logical reason for this to happen beyond the 1kw draw of the alternator. You should be charging higher than 14.1 though Correct float voltage should be 14 to 14.5. Alternator might need a service
Sanding your knuckles before starting work can help. That way you cant skin them
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