Alternator Hell
Thread Starter
6th Gear
Joined: Oct 2023
Posts: 6
Likes: 1
From: florida
Alternator Hell
Sup guys this is my first post here hopefully someone can help out with this situation i have going on..
I have a ‘02 gs300 for about a year now runs pretty good but im on my 3rd alternator now due to some kind of electrical issue. At first I bought the car and had to get it replaced bc it killed the battery. The second time im not sure what killed it im thinking it was my sound system was too powerful but then the 3rd time (now) i had my sound system disconnected the whole time and my voltage seems to be unstable all the time. i checked it once and ive seen it at 13.2v and my lights start flickering at idle sometimes..
so what im thinking of doing is replacing the entire wiring harness that powers the engine but there seems to be different names and its a little confusing.
Has anyone had this kind of electrical issue on this car before? Maybe im taking a bit of a stretch by replacing the harness.. Or does anyone know what harness would be the one to replace for this issue?
the car still runs and my battery light hasn’t turned on yet but i can tell something is up because the lights start to flicker and get darker when it sits at idle every now and then. Pleaseeee help i want to boost this thing eventually but i gotta get rid of all the annoying maintenance stuff before i start having fun
I have a ‘02 gs300 for about a year now runs pretty good but im on my 3rd alternator now due to some kind of electrical issue. At first I bought the car and had to get it replaced bc it killed the battery. The second time im not sure what killed it im thinking it was my sound system was too powerful but then the 3rd time (now) i had my sound system disconnected the whole time and my voltage seems to be unstable all the time. i checked it once and ive seen it at 13.2v and my lights start flickering at idle sometimes..
so what im thinking of doing is replacing the entire wiring harness that powers the engine but there seems to be different names and its a little confusing.
Has anyone had this kind of electrical issue on this car before? Maybe im taking a bit of a stretch by replacing the harness.. Or does anyone know what harness would be the one to replace for this issue?
the car still runs and my battery light hasn’t turned on yet but i can tell something is up because the lights start to flicker and get darker when it sits at idle every now and then. Pleaseeee help i want to boost this thing eventually but i gotta get rid of all the annoying maintenance stuff before i start having fun
I had an alternator issue recently and I believe I now have a PhD in alternators.
Do you have underdrive pullies or anything like that? Guessing no.
Try the big two first. You can actually test this with jumper cables if you want. Just clamp one of the cables onto the engine somewhere solid and clamp the other on the ground lug of the battery (This is temporary, but it's a good test).
If you get some improvement then add a ground from the battery to the fender ground lug. Add a ground from the engine to the frame. I'd bet that fixes/improves your voltage during charging. You CAN add a replacement charge wire from the alternator to the underhood fuse box, but that's much more work.
If that doesn't, work report back.
Do you have underdrive pullies or anything like that? Guessing no.
Try the big two first. You can actually test this with jumper cables if you want. Just clamp one of the cables onto the engine somewhere solid and clamp the other on the ground lug of the battery (This is temporary, but it's a good test).
If you get some improvement then add a ground from the battery to the fender ground lug. Add a ground from the engine to the frame. I'd bet that fixes/improves your voltage during charging. You CAN add a replacement charge wire from the alternator to the underhood fuse box, but that's much more work.
If that doesn't, work report back.
Thread Starter
6th Gear
Joined: Oct 2023
Posts: 6
Likes: 1
From: florida
I do have an underdrive crank pulley with a smaller belt from drift motion but its been happening even before i installed it. Im starting to think that the issue is coming from the oil leak i have because the vvti gear is leaking everywhere. Luckily i have lifetime warranty on the alternator so ill get it replaced once i get to that oil leak. Ill keep you guys updated 👍🏼
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