Charging System Warning Light Still On After New Battery

[ace4059]

Just replaced the OEM battery in my 2006 LX 470 w/ new interstate battery. Alternator gage on dash reads in normal range (one mark below 14). The red "charging system warning light" on the bottom right hand side of instrument cluster is still on. I have killed and restarted the engine several times thinking it would reset the computer and make the light go off, but so far no luck. I presently have a battery charger on the new battery in hopes the battery is a litttle low causing the light to be on. Has anyone have any suggestions. They tested the OEM battery at Sams and said it was bad. I called my Lexus dealer earlier to see if he thought it was the alternator or battery and he was surprised the OEM battery lasted 4 years. Funy thing is that the glass see thru hole on top of the OEM battery showed it to be good (blue with red dot in center -I think) and I could hook it up to my Sears battery charger and after charging over night it would show a full charge (green light on the charger) and start and run for a coulple of days. Makes me wonder if it might be an alternator problem. I have notice an unusual "whirring" noise coming from the engine compartment. Can anyone help?

[Jim_Chow]

Just replaced the OEM battery in my 2006 LX 470 w/ new interstate battery. Alternator gage on dash reads in normal range (one mark below 14). The red "charging system warning light" on the bottom right hand side of instrument cluster is still on. I have killed and restarted the engine several times thinking it would reset the computer and make the light go off, but so far no luck. I presently have a battery charger on the new battery in hopes the battery is a litttle low causing the light to be on. Has anyone have any suggestions. They tested the OEM battery at Sams and said it was bad. I called my Lexus dealer earlier to see if he thought it was the alternator or battery and he was surprised the OEM battery lasted 4 years. Funy thing is that the glass see thru hole on top of the OEM battery showed it to be good (blue with red dot in center -I think) and I could hook it up to my Sears battery charger and after charging over night it would show a full charge (green light on the charger) and start and run for a coulple of days. Makes me wonder if it might be an alternator problem. I have notice an unusual "whirring" noise coming from the engine compartment. Can anyone help?

Are your battery terminals all clean & tight? If so and assuming the battery is good, I'd assume the alternator. The only time I had the charge light come on was on my '86 4runner a few years ago, and that had the original 20 yr old alternator and the brushes were worn. How about if you disconnect the LX battery, use jump cables to connect to another car w/ a known good battery and see if you still get the charge light. If so, I suspect something with the alternator, either the alternator itself or a wire connected to it.

PS: get a good battery. I use the Odyssey PC1700MJT full metal jacket, mil-spec AGM battery (need to shim it 1"). You can't buy the OEM made-in-japan panasonic batteries here.