Topic: Battery and parking break light on

[Joust]

i have a 1995 truck. 22re, 5 spd.
My charge light and parking brake light are on intermittently.
i'm thinking bad ground. looking at the wiring diagrams in a Haynes manual, you can trace these two lights back to a relay they call the Charge Light relay. i looked quite a bit and could not find that thing.
going on the assumption that it was the alternator brushes, I went ahead and changed them and put in a new belts while I was at it. Had the alternator bench tested at a shop and it was fine all the way up to its rated 70amps.
the problem persists.

Does anybody have an idea?

[jimbo74]

sounds like a bad ground or bad alternator, as far as the alternator goes, it souldn like yours is working fine, however most places that test alternators are a joke, the alternator can bench test fine, and still not work in the vehicle.....


i would start going through all your ground connections, body, frame, etc

[Slolyfe]

I had the same problem and it was the voltage regulator. But I spent 100 buck on the lamp charge relay first which didnt do sh*t. The voltage regulator is under the hood on the driverside fender and is real easy to replace but buy a good one I went throught 2 kragen ones. Or... have your alternator rebuilt with a internal voltage regulator and they can bump up the amps at the same time! Thats what I ended up doing and am very happy. your lamp charge relay is in the cab under the dash on the door side of your passangers feet. It is a little gray box bolted to the sheetmetal under there. Hope that helps but sounds like a charging issue and not a relay issue. If it is the relay I have one you can have, but I highly doubt it.

[jimbo74]

I had the same problem and it was the voltage regulator. But I spent 100 buck on the lamp charge relay first which didnt do sh*t. The voltage regulator is under the hood on the driverside fender and is real easy to replace but buy a good one I went throught 2 kragen ones. Or... have your alternator rebuilt with a internal voltage regulator and they can bump up the amps at the same time! Thats what I ended up doing and am very happy. your lamp charge relay is in the cab under the dash on the door side of your passangers feet. It is a little gray box bolted to the sheetmetal under there. Hope that helps but sounds like a charging issue and not a relay issue. If it is the relay I have one you can have, but I highly doubt it.

the volateg regulator on a 95 is inside the alternator, it is not an external unit liek the one you describe

[All_Set]

Lol.  No ones suggested it yet.

Check the brake fuild level!

[jimbo74]

Lol.  No ones suggested it yet.

Check the brake fuild level!

that would work for just the brake light, but the brake and battery light is indicative of a bad alternator/voltage regulator

[attitude of gratitude]

Loose alt belt?  I know you replace them. But are they tight? Bench testing ain't what it's cracked-up to be. You can't create the heat around the Alt. that an engine makes on a bench. And the vibrations from driving down the road.

[COToy91]

Lol.  No ones suggested it yet.

Check the brake fuild level!

x2 i bet it will eliminate the brake light

[8D3TOY]

Is 95 computer controlled?  On my 83 the charge/brake combo was an old school check engine light.  I replaced anything and everything charge related but it turned out to be some vacume switch and carb issues, I took it to an old Toyota guru and he told me how Toyota used the light combo to indicate an emissions problem and in my case he was right.

[Joust [OP]]

this problem was there before and after checking out the alternator.
before I tore into it the lights were going off intermittently and they did this together. so I doubt very much it has anythign to do with brake fluid but I'll check it anyway.
I believe it is ground but where?
where are the grounds? THere is a nice big white wire just under the steering pump. it looks good. there is another one that goes from the battery neg to the side fender that looks corroded but with an ohm meter it measures 0.3ohms.
my ALternator indeed has an internal regulator and we measured this alternator under load and unloaded. the test machine seemed very efficient. When the truck is running it is charging. I measure 14.25v at the battery.

[attitude of gratitude]

Have you done the "wiggle" test? I.E. Plug on the back, battery terminals, etc
  Other than that. Unbolt it and go get a new one.

[Joust [OP]]

i've had the dash all appart and looked at every connection I could see.
i guess I could get my son to sit in the truck looking at the lights and I can wiggle all wires and he can tell me if anything changed.

[attitude of gratitude]

Look for green fuzz in the connector, and make sure the spades look good. Check your battery terminal too. I'll bet it's the alternator though. I've only seen replacing the brushes fix 1 or 2. If they're worn everything else too.

[Joust [OP]]

FOUND IT!!!!
it WAS that stupid charge light relay.
turns out the relay is on the side wall in front of the passenger door beside the glove box. the connector was not on the relay all the way. After I took off all of the plastic i pushed on the connector of the relay and heard it snap back in place. No more warning lights.
So in the end. I was right.

[attitude of gratitude]

Cool!!