Recently I made the questionable choice of buying a running 1995 SC300 with unknown mileage (likely 250k miles) for very cheap.
However, upon doing an oil change, I noticed that the underside of the engine and many components were covered in a layer of engine oil. I tried to start the car after changing the oil and it ended up requiring a jump to start and very soon after removing the jumper cables the car cut out, leading me to believe the alternator is bad. Going through these forums, it sounds like the most likely culprit is the distributor o-ring seal which can cause oil to get into the alternator and kill it.
I was just wondering what people think the most likely issue is and what I can do to fix it besides buying a new alternator and replacing the o-ring if that is the most likely point of failure. Should I play the dangerous game of trying to replace other things that could lead to failures eventually while I'm there?

Underside of the car

 

Hello,

Huh, usually Oil Leaks are not AS uniform, and even if it's a slower leak, it attracts a lot more Gunk to it. This underside looks as if somebody intentionally covered it, or Toyota is taking heed of Opel's breakthrough technology for once, I wonder if this tube hanging off has anything to do with it..



Back to your question, however, here is a thread that describes how to diagnose a No-Charge Condition, the fact that you don't have a Charge on the Battery doesn't always mean that the Alternator is dead, and whether it was exposed to Oil Leaks is usually pretty easy to establish by the cultural layers that deposit themselves on any horizontal surface in sight over time..

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

The tube that is highlighted appears to run to the bottom of the charcoal canister.
I'm about 90% sure the oil is leaking from the distributor because the grime seems to be built up under there and I'm assuming that killed the alternator.
I ordered the $3 o-ring for the distributor and will probably get the cheapest alternator with a decent warranty.

 

The oil often just kills the brushes; you could possibly repair it for $10 if you are on a budget.

I prefer rebuilding alternators to the crap quality that stores generally have now. A decent aftermarket atlernator is $200 now and cheaper ones very suspect. I use these people for reliable electrical rebuild parts if I need more than brushes (voltage regulator, etc).

https://romaineelectric.com/

 

I don't know how much I trust myself rebuilding my own alternator that's in an unknown condition.

Do you all have any recommendations for alternators that aren't terrible. Should I just find something from a junkyard or pay $200 for a decent aftermarket one?

 

I've bought from this seller before no issues.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/191863178393

 

- Rockauto has remy and AC Delco ones that fit for ok prices (I looked).
- google “95 es300 alternator bell lexus”

Lexus can give you a rebuilt one $228 delivered all-in, use Bell Lexus, no core exchange to hassle with. If you can wait it will be 15 to 20% off in a week or two (Labor day sale) and make it a killer deal. It would be $185 to $190 then. They don’t charge tax and shipping is free, cost you see is your cost. If you order there, grab filters or other things too, can be great deals.

 

27060-46120-84 is discontinued that's the 100 amp don't know about the lower power version.

 

Are you sure there is no Core Charge? They usually don't list it until you add the part to a Cart, not sure about other places, but I did get a Core Charge with Lexus of Orland a while back, it wasn't a small amount either, something close to a $100.

From what I know, 2JZ Alternators bolt right up to 1UZ engine, the catch is that the Voltage Regulator Connector placement is different, 2JZ has it to the side of the B+ Terminal, and for 1UZ, it's facing towards the Back of the Alternator due to it interfering with the Power Steering Pump Mount. That said, if there are no such constraints for a 2JZ Engine, if the Wires are long enough and they won't interfere with anything, it may be worthwhile to look into purchasing a 130A Alternator off of SC430 instead, it will both be cheaper and easier to source it seems.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

Before jumping to any conclusions about anything, why don’t you start by steam cleaning all that old oil off your car and then see what happens first. Get a couple cans of engine degreaser from Walmart or wherever and take it it the car wash with some ramps and clean up the engine bay and undercarriage and then keep a close eye on everything and see where the oil starts coming from first. It is likely just a bad O-ring or gasket somewhere and the best way to address it is to identify the culprit. Once you have the leak resolved then you can move onto fixing any other issues you may have. And replacing the brushes in an alternator is pretty straightforward, it’s much less expensive than replacing the alternator with a rebuilt or aftermarket option. You will just need to remove it, remove the cover, and inspect the brushes, if they are bad u can order a replacement set for just a few bucks, but make sure that your alternator is a problem before worrying about it.

 

I've been going through the engine bay and narrowed the leak down to the distributor shaft. There's definitely a large amount of oil which has come from there and spread to every surface below it, including the alternator.
I'll look into replacing the brushes since it appears to be a pretty simple repair. However, I don't know if the alternator can be salvaged if it's been contaminated with oil.

 

I added it to the cart to check that and it did not add a core charge; but I didn’t try to complete checkout. Can’t confirm 100%.

I need to order some axle seals from Bell Lexus anyway, and going to do that tonight + anything else I think of during the day. I’ll check again tonight when I actually start a check-out process.

 

All the Lexus dealers appear to have a $75 core change for alternators.
I think I'm going to order from the ebay seller LeX2K linked and replace the serpentine belt as part of the replacement.

 

Not sure how they sell for so cheap. And they have a 99.8% seller rating that's super high considering they sell only alternators and starters.

 

yep, $75 core, I checked yesterday and forgot to update.

That looks like a good source/bet that he linked. I’d always rather have an alternator I rebuilt, or a specialty electric shop rebuilt, than an autopart store one or generic rebuild. Only big names like Denso themselves, the dealership, or AC Delco, etc. are reliable and then it gets pricey. That looks like a small shop doing their own work and making the money on volume. Shipping these is $30 minimum anywhere so that’s a good deal.