I had the battery check light on in my 95 max, couldn't solve the prob even with a new battery and it's now with the Covenant guys.They do not know what the prob is!!I know they charge 55bucks/Hr.
Have any of you had such probs??What do you think their charges will be??(wild guesses!!)

as always, TIA
jay

 

Chances are it's your alternator (up to $1000)
Or it's simply a connection between your alternator and something else ($200)
Or your battery sensor is throwing a false error, and the sensor needs replacement ($100)

 

Are you making up those ideas?

Alternator replacement should take two hours labor at the dealer (they need to drop the compressor and radiator support to get to the alternator) and cost approx $500 for the part and $160 for labor (at $80/hr). So figure $760 for alternator replacement.

The connection between the alternator and the battery is the voltage regulator. If that goes bad, I'm not sure the dealer will let you replace that separately without replacing the entire alternator. An independent shop can do that for you though.

There is no battery sensor. If your charge light comes on, it is a charging system fault and has little to do with your battery. Generally if your charge light comes on, check the alternator and voltage regulator. Also check to make sure your belts are properly tensioned..a loose belt will not spin the alternator enough and cause a low charge status, and a tight belt will wear out the alternator pulley and bearing.

Battery terminals will run around $20/piece and you can install them yourself if you have a socket set.

Good luck!

 

$760 for an alternator? Wow. My dad (who barely knows how to change the oil) replaced the one on my wife's 94 Corolla by himself and it cost $80 at autozone for a remanufactured one. BTW, that was the only repair ever made to the car in the 110,000 miles it has on it. That thing is really well made. Too bad it's a slow and boring car.
-Jeremy

 

I looked up price for alternators from Carparts.com. Usually the most expensive part (in this case, the Bosch $500 alternator) is the same price Nissan will charge for its own remanufactured alternator. I had my alternator replaced under warranty at 32k miles a couple years ago, and I saw the invoice the dealer sends to Nissan. It was $465 for the remanufactured Hitachi alternator, plus a $75 core charge for the old unit. Labor was two hours.

Yeah I love how easy and inexpensive it is to repair Toyotas...they were built for the home mechanic...if they ever break down, which is hardly ever!

 

Man, all those prices seem to high. I had my alternator replaced two weeks ago by Nissan and it cost $258 for the alternator and $60 for labor.

 

Do it yourself cost about 120 bucks if you bring the alternator back so you don't have to pay the core charge. But that is if you buy a remanufactured one from Autozone, Checkers or Pepboys. To do the job yourself if you have never done it will take approximately 3 hrs. If you have done it before it will take about 1 and a half. And it is a simple do it yourself project. If you don't have mechanical experience this is an easy way to start. Nothing you can really screw up.

Just my 2 cents

 

Ha! You say this becuase you haven't changed a 5-sp tranny on a 89 camry 4 cylinder. The put all the suspension pieces right in the way of the damn tranny. Nissan has it 10x better than Toyota in that regard. Good thing Toyotas are reliable, they are a pain in the poo-poo to work on.

 

Every dealer is different. You seem to have a cool and reasonably priced dealer. I doubt that here in Northern California I can take my car to an independent shop and have my alternator replaced for as low as you paid for yours.

 

Well, I tried calling around and the cheapest I could find was $198 for the alternator from Carquest after bringing mine back. I guess I did get lucky cause an independent dealer that came recommended said $340 was the best he could do and actually recommended I go to Nissan if they could do it for that.

 

Funny you mention that, because I also have a 91 Camry LE v6 and it's a breeze to work on (so far). Now, I haven't dropped the transmission on it, but so far the car has given me no problems. A 5-spd Camry...that's almost an oxymoron!! I see 5-spd Camrys once in a blue moon...Toyota people all drive automatics.

 

Me and my bro got an old Camry 5-sp for free. 3 gear was toast. We just got an used 5-sp from the Japan import place and swiched it. Also changed the shocks and put some used tires on it. Detailed the hell out of it and sold it for $2800. We are looking at a 90-91 V6 that another one of his friends wants to get rid of. I think it just needs some brake work. We don't know yet. Hope to get it for like $1500 and maybe sell it for $3500 or so. Gotta love Toyota Camry resale. People kill for clean Camrys up in the Seattle area!