boombastic

Hey, I've got a 98 gs300, stock about 207xxx kms.

I noticed one night my battery light was flickering on and off, and I had a loss of power steering sometimes at very low speed. I continued to drive home and eventually all the warning lights listed above came on and my radio flickered on and off and dash lights went dim, wipers were really slow as well.

The next day after work I got home, started the car and everything was fine no lights. I let it run in my driveway for about 7-8 minutes where it eventually died. Took the battery out and tested it, everything is good there just low on a charge. So I assumed I had a bad Alt. I replaced that and the belt at the same time. I also managed to borrow a multi-meter to test the voltage of the system after I installed the new parts. Results aren't good, Alternator was producing a max of 11.5 volts with no load at idle, and as low as 10.6 volts with headlight/foglights and heater at full blast.

After reading up on the forum of other similar problems, I am wondering did I receive a "dud" alternator? It is a re-manufactured one, not brand new.

Any more insight or things to check is much appreciated, thanks.

LuxuryGS3

iTrader: (12)

Get another alternator IMO. Sounds like you got a bad one.

boombastic

I was going to check my battery cables and the voltage going through them to make sure there isn't any hidden corrosion, but it really does seem like I got a bad remand unit.

Maybe some other suggestions will pop up

boombastic

Also forgot to mention an intermittent loss of power steering. Are these problems related or not? Could the bearing seize on that PS pump?

thanhvu

iTrader: (1)

same problem happened to me, after troubleshooting and fixing a few stuff and going back and forth to the mechanic, it was a sensor.

boombastic

Do you remember what sensor or why? A copy of your bill may have a description on it of the part or problem

LuxuryGS3

iTrader: (12)

You know what, change those battery terminal cables out.

I had a problem before with my VSC VSC OFF & one other light coming on and was having throttle problems after changing my battery out. After buying a ECU that I did not need and lots of hours of checking voltage, turned out that the terminal on the + nipple wasn't down all the way. We took it off, cleaned it up and got it back on there ALL the way down and made sure it was snug tight. Zero problems since, so i'd change out your battery cables, it's cheap so why not you know? Fixed my problem.

boombastic

Yeah man thanks for the tip

I need some more poking around with my multi-meter today and it really seems that I got a dud alternator. I also spoke with my parts guy at my local Lordco (he is a good friend too) and he believes it may be the case as well, particularly since this type of re-mand alternator has come back to the store as a dud for other applications. So I've got another one coming to do an exchange with and i'll see where I'm at afterwards.

I was really surprised how easy it was to change, guess I've done too many alternator jobs on Honda's and Nissan's haha

shift2win

I had the same thing happen to my GS4. After some research on here I thought it was the battery but decided to take it to a mechanic that specializes in Lexus and Toyota anyway. They said I needed a battery & alt, but it was a friday and they couldnt get the alt till mon. I said fine. The nxt day I decide to buy a battery just to see, and havent had a problem since. So the battery could be dying but not dead yet. It turns out mine had been dying for some months and I didnt realize it even though the car gave me some hints now that I look back


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thanhvu

iTrader: (1)

nah, its been a while

boombastic

Yeah I first checked the battery and thought it was that too, but I went through the pile of receipts the previous owner had given me and realized he had bought a new one 4 months ago, so I am not too concerned. I did some more looking at the grounding points on the car yesterday, voltage ouput on the back of the alt. was 11.6, wacked it with a hammer, number jumped to 14.25 volts and has been there ever since, so I don't trust that thing.

Just now waiting for my replacement to come in for tomorrow

boombastic

Hey, just so we all know, Alternator was for sure my issue. 2nd new one now is running great. Thanks for all the help

LuxuryGS3

iTrader: (12)

Glad you got it worked out man.

boombastic

HAHA spoke too soon!

Alternator output was 14.26V let it run for 10 min, and it remained the same (within .05V) so I put my heater on and headlights, re-checked with multi-meter. Voltage dropped down to 11.6V and slowly died from there

Giving the car throttle didn't help either, made it worse actually

So now it seems I have a wiring issue. Battery terminals are for sure clean and tight. I checked that I have power through the 3-prong plug to the Alt. I really dunno what else to do....

Been trying to track down a wiring diagram for the charging system for the Lexus gs300 specifically, best I have found so far was the 2jz-ge diagrams for mk4 Supra.

PeteGS300

Had this problem myself dude, for me it turned out to be the crank pulley was knackered so the belt was slipping which was leading to low voltage causing headlights to go off ,VSC / VSC OFF / ABS and the battery light to come on the dash along with my nav unit shutting down.
I too thought it was my Alternator that was the problem due to the battery light coming on but after fitting the new Alternator then going for a test drive and having the same problems but this time the car died at a set of traffic lights. I ended up having it towed to a Lexus dealer that I trust. They found the crank pulley was knackered so changed that and its being fine ever since (touch wood).

Pete