Highlander 130 amp alternator upgrade

[wiz2]

My alternator has been dyinhg a slow death for the past 6 moths or so. Usual symtoms,a little whine at idle,dancing voltmeter when A/C is on. I think it would have died quicker if I didnt have a Optima yellow top. Thanks DaveGS4. The last straw was two days ago when I went to back out of th garage and I hit the brakes and the headlight/ dash lights blinked. I thought I was still sleep so I did it again.Blinked again. Voltmeter was reading almost 13-14. After a couple more stabs . I said screw it and took the wifes car. Had the battery checked it was fine. Put it back in the car and turned on all the accessories and turned up my gains on the sub amp,voltmeter dropped to 11 car almost stalled.
I checked every part store in the area to cross reference part numbers to make sure it would fit. Someone had alrready done this on TN, but I wanted to be sure. I deceide to pull the trigger...but nobody has one in the area. No Toyota dealership, no parts store , no bone yards. Toyota dealer said I could have one by monday or so. Called NAPA on a whim. They have ONE
Took about 1.5 hours to install. Then I fired her up. Wow, my little 80 amp alternator was hanging on by a thread, No blinking lights,all the whining is gone, the voltmeter stays pegged at 14.5 or so. I turned everything on and cranked the stereo(sorry neighbors). Stayed at 14-14.5. WOW. This was well worth the 300 bucks. Yes its expnsive,but is was new not used.

FYI this alternator upgrade should fit all 1MZFE'S.
Most Camrys and Solaras have 80 amp
Most Siennas,Avalons,ES300' have 100 amp
RX300's I didnt check
Not all Highlanders have 130 amps most have 100. The 130 is the HO usually coupled with a towing package or 4wd.

Oh yeah bought the car new about 5 1/2 years ago and its got 92k miles to date.

[DatSRBoi]

Thanks for sharing. I notice when I turn my AC on or try to close my window every light dims and rpm drop. Could this be the case too bro?

[wiz2]

I'd have the battery and alternator checked just to be sure. Autozone and Advanced will do it for free.

[solaraN8]

are you referring to the older highlander that ran the 3.0 or the new highlander with the 3.3, if its the 3.3 my moms bout to wake up to a non working car in the morning, lol..

Nate

[DaveMush]

both the 1mz and 3mz engines use the same basic block design. any alternator that bolts up to a 1mz should bolt up to the 3mz and vise verse...

There are a few people on the Mr2 boards who have used the 130a alternators on the 1mz engine during their swaps.

I dont have a/c anylonger, and a modest stereo... So i'll be using a 100a unit. (Mr2 has 80a stock)

[wiz2]

are you referring to the older highlander that ran the 3.0 or the new highlander with the 3.3, if its the 3.3 my moms bout to wake up to a non working car in the morning, lol..

Nate

3.0

[DatSRBoi]

So wouldnt this like over power out electical system and blow fuses? And what happen if we're only powering one thing? Wouldnt that put too much power to one thing and boom?

[lilm]

^^^ya



and does it just bold on....no modification required......cause my system is going to be drawing alot of power soon so i gotta amp up my electrical system

[ZXLNT]

So wouldnt this like over power out electical system and blow fuses? And what happen if we're only powering one thing? Wouldnt that put too much power to one thing and boom?

It doesn't work that way. A electrical device only draws as much current as is required, not what is available. Just because you have a 200 amp alternator, doesnt mean it ALWAYS supplys 200 amps.. It only supplies what current is called upon.

[hskrsolara]

And a larger altermator provides that current quicker to the components, which eliminates the dimming, etc. or delays.

[wiz2]

dats- no problems with overcharging. thats what the regulator is for. All alternatoros have an internal or external regulator.

lil- direct bolt on. all mounting points are the same. teh unit itself might be a 1mm or 2mm bigger if that. But this just could be my head as I didint measure.

No problems to date. JL's hit with all accesories on with barely any movement from the voltmeter. Now I could use some Dynamat
I had a slight whine from the URD fuel pump, but it appears to be negligible now.

Now I need some speakers to replace the OEM and a amp to push them to their ability.

[lilm]

what years would work?

[ZXLNT]

I just bought what I hope is the correct alternator on Ebay. 57 dollars shipped..

[trdcamrygracia]

will 130amp alternator fit on 4 cyl. gen4 camry too

[wiz2]

The Highlander V6 alternator work on all the 1MZFE's

The I4 Highlander should work with corresponding I4 alternators. But I dont think it was that much of an upgrade in amps.