85 4runner smoking alternators, please help!

Hook the battery back up when testing. Wouldn't leave it hooked up until we're positive that it's not shorted. I feel pretty confident it isnt.
I feel it's a problem with the battery or with the yellow wire but we don't know where to go without some testing.
 
Heck could just be 3 bad alts but that would be almost impossible. All the alts i put on it was from running trucks. My friend buy,s and strips them for parts. I saw the last 2 of them running on the trucks. No problems.
 
I,ll check first thing in the morn if the snows not to high. Right now i,d pay good money to get this thing running. Like i said it,s like my baby, got alot of love invested. If you ever need yota parts my friend has the lowest prices around. We are supposed to go to harlan ky at the end of the month.
 
dweatherman2000 said:
I,ll check first thing in the morn if the snows not to high. Right now i,d pay good money to get this thing running. Like i said it,s like my baby, got alot of love invested. If you ever need yota parts my friend has the lowest prices around. We are supposed to go to harlan ky at the end of the month.
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The roads are completely covered up here. Our sign says it's 12f
 
Yea i know boone well used to ski alot, now to old to broke down. Had rather ride and get beat up. Say 12 degrees already. Well they said it was going to get right to nite. Not to bad yet here in candler, the power has went out a time or two. I,ve got a generator and solar system. Like to piss the neighbors off when all the lights go out and i,m still watching t.v.
 
Checked wire color of the plug wires and there is a larger size black and white and smaller size red and yellow. This thing has been sitting for a couple of months so i,ll stick the battery charger on it, it should tell me if the battery has a dead cell.
 
With nothing attached to the battery what is its current voltage? If you apply a load say head lights or the starter what is the voltage under load?
I would say the larger black and white wire will be hot wires.
 
I don,t understand how this happened so slowly, when it first started just the brake and alt light would come on and then go off. We had driven up to the park way. And i noticed that the running lights were not working. Buy the time we had come back down we had driven probably 40ish miles, and the the brake and alt light came on and then stayed on. I came right home. It was missing pretty bad buy the time i got home and i smelled the smoke from the alt and instantly unhooked the batt.
 
Then i put a used alt on and the moment i started it i could smell the smoke, wire burning. So i thought maybe it was a bad alt, so i put another one on and it smoked it to. So here,s where i,m at now.Afraid to put another one on till i figure it out.
 
Sounds to me that the alternator is fried - obviously. Unhook everything on the alternator. Use your DVOM with the black lead to battery ground set on a 12VDC scale. Excluding the wires I noted above most everything should be Battery Voltage. One is a Ignition On Voltage, and the Other is the charge indicator circuit. If there's voltage where expected - And Its wired correctly - I would assume that you've gotten 3 bad alternators. I'd verify the wiring before changing it again.
 
Haven,t been able to try anything yet, started a new job at the new belgium brewing site. I am picking up a new alt this thursday and see what happens. At least if it fries it i can return it. I was wondering if you left the main batt cable off going to the alt, and keep the alt plug in if it would still run at least till it killed the batt. I know that it wouldn,t be charging without the main batt wire hooked up. But that might give me a clue. I,ll try what you said with the tester first. We,ll see what happens. Anybody know anyone who is good with toyota electrics close to candler n.c. Would pay good money to get this figured out. NNNeeeed my runner bad!!!!
 
Sounds like a diode is gone.
 
Well its been awhile since I could post an update, turns out it was the alt harness straight off the alt. Where it plugs in at the top of the fire wall. Replaced the harness and the alt, and no problems yet. Keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks for all the replies and help. Ill keep an update if something changes. Thanks guys great too have it back on the road.
 
The plug at the top of the fender well was burnt inside it. Must have been shorting for a while. Wasn't completely fried but could tell it was burnt. That's all I could find wrong with the wiring.
 
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