HELP! Alternator? belt? battery? Short? Earth?

Hello,
We have a Hiace camper van. LH119, 3L 2.8D from 1995
We're stuck in france with my family and I need to get it sorted immediately. The French mechanics where we are either don't want the work or say they'll only do it if I get parts.
Please help!

We were driving around in and out of town, stopping at shops starting etc. with no signs or symptoms of any problems. no lights on the dash, no resistance to starting. for several a few weeks
then we stopped for 5 mins and the battery would not turn the starter motor over.
what could cause such a sudden failure.
could it be the Alternator? belt? battery? Short? Earth?

how can I work out what is wrong. All I have is a battery charger and some basic tools

If it's the alternator what do I need to get? and where can I get it in a hurry in Europe?
Thanks in advance

I'm no expert but I would have thought the first thing is to get hold of a multimeter and see how many volts in the battery, and the leisure battery while you are about it. You can also turn the lights on and see what happens if you try to turn the key for the starter motor. If the lights dim, I think that is a sign that the starter motor is getting current but is jammed or broken.

I seem to remember from my uyouth that hitting the starter motor with a hammer sometimes helps it to engage again. Are the other electrics working - lights, horn, indicators?

Report back on whether the other electrics are all working or not, then try the starter motor thing. withthe lights on. Also when you turn the key to on, are all the other dashboard lights coming on as normal?

Update!

Hi again, I borrowed a voltmeter from a farmer.
I charged the batteries on a mains charger and they are kicking over the starter motor fine.

There is no difference in voltage at the battery if the engine is running or stopped. When the fans and light are on there is a slight drop in voltage
So there is no charge arriving to the battery. from the alternator.
I've got the floor hatch up and the belt is on and the alternator is turning.

Brushes worn out in the alternator, most likely.

Anybody know where I can get parts in Europe brushes or a whole alternator?

I believe the brushes are common across multiple Toyota alternators, find your model and look up the part no on JP Car Parts website (for my LH107W the part is called HOLDER ASSY, ALTERNATOR BRUSH, no. 27370-75060. I looked up a random LH119 model and it's the same part no.), and then contact a Toyota dealer, they may likely stock or be able to quickly source the part. There is a thread on the forum that details how to get the alternator out.

Try www.autodoc.com they deliver throughout Europe and are reasonable priced

Could be any part of the alternator. I’d suspect the rectifier but impossible to say which part without testing it. It’s not rocket science for a mechanic to test an alternator. It’s also shouldn’t be brain surgery for a mechanic to get a replacement once output is checked. It’s an alternator which even French cars have and is a fundamentally basic repair job.

Pete_nz wrote:

Could be any part of the alternator. I’d suspect the rectifier but impossible to say which part without testing it. It’s not rocket science for a mechanic to test an alternator. It’s also shouldn’t be brain surgery for a mechanic to get a replacement once output is checked. It’s an alternator which even French cars have and is a fundamentally basic repair job.

Ha ha you’ve perhaps never tried to get a French mechanic to work.

Van Nessa wrote:

Try www.autodoc.com they deliver throughout Europe and are reasonable priced

thanks

Well,
I’ve changed the brushes, voltage regulator set the belt tension.
I have checked the contacts in the three wire plug. All good
I checked the continuity of the wires in the alternator. All good
I am confused.
When the key is in ignition position there is no battery light on the dash . What could that mean?

Have you checked the battery light bulb in the instrument cluster? Many (most?) alternators need the current flow through that bulb to start them (supplies a small amount of excitation to the field) so no bulb no startup. Else there could be a fuse blown in the power feed to the to the cluster or there could be a broken wire somewhere between the cluster and the alternator.
Sorry, it's hard to help from such a distance.

AgathaAlice wrote:

Have you checked the battery light bulb in the instrument cluster? Many (most?) alternators need the current flow through that bulb to start them (supplies a small amount of excitation to the field) so no bulb no startup. Else there could be a fuse blown in the power feed to the to the cluster or there could be a broken wire somewhere between the cluster and the alternator.
Sorry, it's hard to help from such a distance.

I haven’t checked that. Any ideas about how to get in to the dash to check?

As I recall there is a screw in one of the vents, but essentially you need to remove the facia, then it's fairly straightforward, but beware if you have a speedo cable connected.

What engine have you got, and what instrument cluster - the dial one with lamps?

There is a good post on this here:
https://hiace-super-custom.forumotion.com/t1921-dashboard-removal?highlight=dashboard
(Or just search for "dashboard removal")

Hi again ,
Is there a way to bypass the indicator light without going into the dash. Im running out of time to get it going.

solaesthetic wrote:

Hi again ,
Is there a way to bypass the indicator light without going into the dash. Im running out of time to get  it going.

If you ground the little wire that goes to the alternator (ground it via s 6W festoon lamp, because that stops anything blowing if you choose the wrong wire - then the battery lamp in the panel should light up.

^^ Excellent advice. You may need someone to assist by watching the cluster light for you since you can't look in two places at once. That will save you from pulling the panel out if you don't need to.

Hi everyone, thanks for the help
I managed to get a new alternator in.
Sadly I couldn’t get any French mechanics to work on it. They all said it was “too complicated” unbelievable!
Anyway I now have charge. BUT
Now the brakes are behaving wrongly
When I press the pedal once the brakes work fine but , if I have to press it again it has less power and then on a third press I have to use my whole body to press it hard enough to achieve any stopping.
I am guessing that it has something to do with the pump on the front of the alternator. But I can’t work out what
All the pipes are in the right places as far as I know. What could be the problem anyone.
I am out of my depth with this.
Thanks in advance again

That pump provides the vacuum for the brake booster. Either the pump is bad on the 'new' alternator or they didn't do up the hose clamps properly and so the vacuum leaks away. Check the hose(s) first, maybe one has cracked with the movement.

Well the vacuum thing was a misaligned copper sealing washer. So that is now sorted.

Hooray.  I do feel for you, you have been through a lot of problems but well done for perservering and I am so happy you got there in the end.

Good result! How'd you find that washer?

AgathaAlice wrote:

Good result! How'd you find that washer?

I just unbolted the hoses in desperation