Questions and Answers

Toyota Camry Charging System Q. Hello Vincent, The car I'm having the problem with is a 1988 Toyota Camry with a 2.0 liter. It's an automatic with fuel injection, P/S,P/B, A/C, rack and pinion steering and cruise control. It has 294,000 mile! I'm having a problem with the charging system. After driving the car for approximately 25 minutes I noticed two indicator lights came on (Charge and Light.)

The next day I had the alternator checked and they (the auto parts store) said the alternator was the problem. I replaced the alternator and it seemed like that the problem was fixed, until I took it on a two hour trip a couple of days later and the engine died while driving it. I had it towed to a repair station and they said all it was was that the serpentine belt was loose.

I took the car home only to have the same lights come back on. The battery is only about a year old. The battery terminals are clean, and I can't seem to find anything wrong with the battery cables. When the car is started with the engine cold the lights don't come on and it appears the battery is being charged fine, but after approximately 20 minutes the two indicator lights come on.

I had someone sit in the car after the lights come on and I tried to find a loose wire, but nothing. The car has been sitting for about two weeks, I went out today and the battery doesn't have enough power to turn the engine over. Also, a couple of times I have noticed the head lights won't come on when the indicator lights are on, other times they do work. As you can see this car has a lot of miles on it.

I was really hoping to get it to 300,000. The car runs fine other then this problem, gets 25 mpg, doesn't really use oil. But I don't want to start spending anymore money on it until I know what the problem is. I will junk it soon if I can't figure it out. Any help you can provide would be a huge help.

Thanks,
Tom

A. I would check the plug in the back of the alternator. For some reason they have a nasty habit of backing out. I once went out on a 80 mile road call for this very same thing on an identical car.