Hi
I have a 96 Toyota Camry with a strange problem. It seems that there is something draining my battery when I drove it. it only happens when the weather is cold. I have replaced the alternator three times now due to voltage regulator failure. Any suggestions?
Jerry

 

Go to your local Autozone, Advanced Auto Parts, NAPA, etc, and have them check the battery and alternator.

Are you buying rebuilt alternators?

 

Had the alternator tested last week. It checked out OK. Only seems to be draining the battery when it's running. Could there be a short somewhere?
How do i find it?

 

If the battery is ok and the alt is putting out proper charge voltage/amps then I would trace the wire/connections from the alt to the battery that charges the battery.

 

OK. So here's an update. Alternator finally died today. I went last week and bought a tester that plugs into the cig lighter. It was OK for a week then on my way home from work yesterday the alternator died. I got it home and put it on the battery charger overnight. Went out htis morning to start it before I left for work and alt was charging fine. It ran for ~15 minutes then stopped charging. Went to NAPA and they said they'd replace it one more time. What can be causing all of these alternator failures?

 

Rebuilt alts and starters have to have the worst QC of all the parts I hear about. You may want to buy new for the hassle. The last Bosch I bought worked fine for many years butI don't know how their quality is now.

 

Yeah. I could believe I got one bad one. But, I'm going on the fourth. They only seem to fail when it's cold out.