Alternator Light After New Stereo Installed
 

1993 Camry. 4 Cly.

Had a new stereo installed at FutureShop. Nothing fancy... just a run of the mill Canadian Tire, $100 stereo. The wife drove the car home... no problems. I drove the car to work the next day... no problems. When I drove to the local convenience store for lunch... the alternator "battery" light was on as well as the "rear light bulb out" too.

Needless to say in a couple of days of back and forth to work (about 6 kilometers one way), the battery died. I charged it up and things were fine again, though the lights were still on. I tried turning the radio off... I tried starting the motor with the fuse that operates the radio (dome light fuse, 7.5 A, I think...) removed. Nothing doing... the alternator light is still on.

Once, I started the car on the way home from work, and the alternator light did NOT come on... after about 10 seconds, the belt squealed for a second, and the light came on. Wierd, eh? Alternators seldom come back top life... unless they really aren't dead in the first place.

I'm no electrical genius, but after doing some reading here, I'm seeing that people are having electrical/alternator issues after having new stereos installed. Does anyone have any similar issues? Anyone offer any solutions? I'm prepared to buy a new alternator and have it installed... but I'm not anxious to do it if something is going to kill it, or if the one I have isn't really dead...

At leastthe Camry alternator isnot dragging in the dirt like the one I replaced on my 2000 Mazda MPV... $541 for a remanufactured alt... they wanted over $800 for a "new" one. My definition of "new" is... WORKING! But I digress... thanks in advance for any help! I'll be reading around the forum too... love my Camry!!!

RE: Alternator Light After New Stereo Installed
 

i would think the alternator is on its way out the door. drive to your local autozone, kragens or similar auto shop that does free battery/alternator testing.

It could be the belt, but because of the age of the car, your alternator could be dead and installing the radio could be a coincidence.

a 100 dollar stereo would not overpower anything.

RE: Alternator Light After New Stereo Installed
 

I'm of the same mind as you... the alt has had it. However... that brief "spark" of life gave me enough pause to seek out a forum such as this and make a posting. The belt is fine... or at least has the appearance of being fine... I'd love to drive to a place that does free testing, but, living in the middle of nowhere as I do... the nearest place that specialises in alternator work is over an hour away.

Once time and money permit, I'll try to get it to a shop that's not too far away. It's hard to find electrical peoplenearby in these parts that you can trust...What's a remanufactured alt for a '93 Camry go for these days?

Thanks!

RE: Alternator Light After New Stereo Installed
 

well you can also test this stuff yourself if you have or can find yourself one of those volt meters. all you're trying to measure is a constant current.

when your car is off the battery should read around 12V
when your car is on it should read 13-14 volts and may fluctute when you use various electronic devices or a/c.

RE: Alternator Light After New Stereo Installed
 

Got a quote on a second hand alternator... $95 + 14% tax (Canadian). Comes with a 30 day guarantee.

Going to have a retired mechanic friend check out the alternator to see if it's putting out anything at all. I'll post a follow up when there is news.

RE: Alternator Light After New Stereo Installed
 

im having a simlar problem too (hooked up a 500 watt system). when i cold start my car, it seem to lag a bit longer then normal. not sure if its from the battery it self or what not. and it does that after i let it sit for a few hours (4+ hours) after drivng it. accept my bat/alt light doesnt come on nor the other one. just having a bit more trouble starting up.

RE: Alternator Light After New Stereo Installed
 

Ok... follow up time...

The alternator WAS dead, or so we thought. I removed it from the vehicle and took it to an auto shop. They checked it out andsaid that the armature needed to be replaced (AKA stater). This cost about $140 Cdn.

I got the repaired alternator home and installed it. The idiot light went out indicating that the alternator was good. However... the battery STILL died after some driving time...

Yet another friend came to look at it for me... after some messing around and testing here and there (and checking to see if all 6 fuses associated with the charging system were indeed good), we found that if you lifted up slightly on the plug on the side of the alternator, it immediately started charging. There was some corrosion on one of the three pins the plug attached to... after removing it, it now seems to charge all the time.

So... after all that... a bad connection COULD have been the entire problem. I have not driven the car sufficiently yet to see if it's going to STAY fixed... and, interestingly enough, the headlights STILL DON"T GO OUT when the parking break is pulled...

Will follow up when there's more news...