Killed my alt?

[Nogoodnik]

I've had this beast for about 2 and a half months (she's an '82 like my last one) and she's run for about a month and a half. Soon after I picked her up, the alternator died which I only figured out after calling AAA 3 times in 24 hours and buying a new battery which a day later I had to replace.

I picked up the car from mechanic in Oakland who's had it sitting in the back of his garage for years so when I showed up at his garage, he hemmed and hawed a little but put in a brand new alternator. 2 weeks ago, I ran out of gas which I know is a bad thing to do, but I was broke. I scrounged up enough for a couple gallons and still she wouldn't turn over. I figured I fouled the filter so I bought a new one, fought with it for a couple hours using a crappy set of All-Pro tools from Kragen and just decided it'd be easier to get it done by a real mechanic.

They had fun with that and called me the next day when they finished. The car still wouldn't start. Long story short (...okay too late for that,) They're telling me my new alt. is shot. What the :censored: is going on? One of the mechanics also tells me that one of the relays had been pulled and was missing, meaning if he was right about that, I've been driving around with apparently vital fuses and stuff blown. Is that possible? How can I manage to avoid buying a fourth alt. seeing as I'm probably gonna have to spring for a third one tomorrow.

Anyways, I'll give you guys an update tomorrow when I check my plugs and other little things. Wish me luck.

Later
-Brian

[Tire Shredder]

-make sure your power steering isn't leaking
-make sure your water pump isn't leaking
-check your power and ground cables for high resistances/internal corrosion. Good idea to upgrade them to some nice 4 gauge stuff.

all of the above can cause premature alternator failure.

[Donn29]

And a bad alternator has nothing to do with the engine running. Hell you could unplug it and it'll still run.

Also if you replaced your battery and then the new one dies, it just needs to be charged, not replaced again.... FYI, I'd say you got screwed out of at least one good battery, maybe even 2!

[Keyfoo]

Im guessing the engine turns over but dosent start, because your cking plugs. Did you ck your fuel pump. Your 82 has a external pump , the only thing that keeps crap out of it is a little in hose cone shaped strainer. If it breaks in goes right into fuel pump. Maybe it got clogged when you ran out of gas. Look at the tsrm on how to jump fuel pump to test if it is still working.
Tsrm wont help with anything else re fuel pump later models changed to in tank pumps

[Nogoodnik]

Thanks for all the help guys. She is now running and managed to pass Ca Smog w/ the timing 20 degrees advanced and most likely fouled plugs. The alt is still putting out the same range as it was when it was put in. I can do the plugs myself, but got rid of all my tools and spare parts when sold my last beast.

The little cone filter is missing. I knew about the external pump. I even chimed in on a thread a year ago about this exact thing. My one problem is finding a replacement. There was a nifty idea one of the came up with using a carb fuel filter, but I'll probably just stop the Toyota parts dept.

About the battery. My old one would not hold a charge. I had a tow truck give me multiple charges over the course of a couple days, like I said. I ended up taking the batt back to Kragen the tried to charge it and ended up just giving me a new one free after telling me my old one was dead and asking me how I killed a battery in one day.

Either way, she's running now and I'll try and address all the little issues that I can track down. Thanks again for your quick replies and help.

-Peace