My i-Force Max has an.... Alternator???

[BoboForShort]

I have not looked to see if my truck has a starter motor or not. The early descriptions of the Taco hybrid system said that the ICE is started by the M/G, but that does not mean there isn't separate starter motor also. I guess it is time to crawl under there and take a look.

They do. Supposedly it is used for cold starts. It is because the M/G will power through a hydro lock or other engine seizure and cause damage.

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[TacoFreak]

They do. Supposedly it is used for cold starts. It is because the M/G will power through a hydro lock or other engine seizure and cause damage.

Yep - my truck does have a starter motor. After thinking about it I realized that I only hear a normal starter sound when the engine is first started, and then the M/G restarts the ICE whenever the hybrid system has shut it off.

 

[SnowmanJPS]

I've never heard my starter, always traction motor

 

[CanadainTRDpro]

has anyone had issues with dead battery from listening to radio without start vehicle?

 

[MustardTiger]

(Canada) my dealer has a couple fresh 2025 Off Road Hybrid Premium’s…only 3 Aux switches in the dash. I would assume no alternator…

 

[Billy K]

(Canada) my dealer has a couple fresh 2025 Off Road Hybrid Premium’s…only 3 Aux switches in the dash. I would assume no alternator…

we need a report please...

 

[james cole]

I've never heard my starter, always traction motor

Me too, never heard a starter no matter how cold the truck is... or how long has been sitting unused (20 days) it has never used the starter.

 

[SnowmanJPS]

(Canada) my dealer has a couple fresh 2025 Off Road Hybrid Premium’s…only 3 Aux switches in the dash. I would assume no alternator…

I think the 4 aux is for pro and TH only, but it would be sweet to know if they have an alternator, we don’t have any Tacomas on the lot in my city so I’m of no help

 

[TacoTime]

Here is a good video on considerations in adding aux electric loads. In this case it’s a dc-dc charger for house batteries. It’s for a different truck but the same rules apply. I wonder if there is a variable to read the Iforce max 12v amp load with and without alternator? Hope this helps.

 

[TacoFreak]

Thanks - interesting video. It would be really helpful if Toyota provided some information because some of us have alternators and some of us do not.

 

[Independence Overland]

I saw the new 4Runner at the Overland Expo and the Toyota guys were confused too. They thought maybe because it was a prototype. Its kind of concerning to me, as it would first appear that the hybrid system wasnt providing enough juice to the 12v battery at times.

Something else I have found is my trucks 12v battery goes dead FAST. This has been an issue since I bought it. Even in its factory form, if the scene lights or the dome lights were on for a brief amount of time, the truck wouldn't start. Perhaps it was just a bad batter from the start.

 

[BoboForShort]

I saw the new 4Runner at the Overland Expo and the Toyota guys were confused too. They thought maybe because it was a prototype. Its kind of concerning to me, as it would first appear that the hybrid system wasnt providing enough juice to the 12v battery at times.

Something else I have found is my trucks 12v battery goes dead FAST. This has been an issue since I bought it. Even in its factory form, if the scene lights or the dome lights were on for a brief amount of time, the truck wouldn't start. Perhaps it was just a bad batter from the start.

From the small amount of information that has been shared on this, it seems like there are two reasons.

First is to support the higher auxiliary current draw on the trims with 4 AUX switches.

Second is to allow the engine to operate independently of the M/G in case the hybrid system fails.

As for the battery going dead; it seems like that is a more common occurrence than would be desired.

I don't utilize the scene/interior lights often, nor do I have much auxiliary draw with the engine off. But I have noticed that my dash cam does not last long in parking mode before it shuts itself off due to low voltage detection.

 

[TacoFreak]

Its kind of concerning to me, as it would first appear that the hybrid system wasnt providing enough juice to the 12v battery at times.

That is what I think too. To redesign the electrical system to add an alternator would be expensive from a design/hardware/software perspective, not counting all the testing and engineering signoffs required before putting the change into production. I don't think they would have done that just for an additional AUX, which they could have just left alone at three of them.

I'm sure the 4th AUX switch makes it worse and it is good to have a failure recovery mode if the hybrid system fails. But I think this came from an engineering assessment that the system without an alternator was not always able to keep the 12V battery fully charged. It also seems like Toyota is saying there is something wrong with the 2024 hybrids and that they don't intend to do anything about it.

 

[Billy K]

I wonder if the Toyota app in the truck is running down the battery using cellular? My truck seems to always send a message to my phone that I left it unlocked. I need to turn off that feature as it is annoying to stop and look at my phone just to find that. I know when it is unlocked.

I have many "car" batteries here for various vehicles and tractors. I test old ones on the bench running an old school headlight. A decent battery should run a pair of old headlights for 4 to 6 hours at minimum. I doubt your LED scene lighting takes very much current compared to the old headlights. Maybe have a shop "load test" your battery.

 

[Kiki]

Looks to me like an alternator on my Hybrid, tought they had an electric motor generator only?

Pics or it didn't happen.

Are yours the same?

Thanks
JC

It’s designed to run as a regular drive if the hybrid battery didn’t work later if you don’t want to replace the hybrid battery you can take it out and use as a standard drive

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