Electrical Gremlin Part 1 starts now... (1 Viewer)

[Red Merle]

OK, so I bought a new battery this morning and installed it in the pouring rain in the parking lot of Fleet Farm up in Hermantown, MN. The battery is a Interstate battery that they give an extended 12 month additional warranty, on top of the pro-rated part. The dimensions of the battery were OK, but it was too short to reach the terminals without horsing on them. I tugged on it and got it connected but about half way home, I lost the interior fan and heat, the windows, the sun roof, the rear heat, etc.

I thought to look for the fusible link on the battery terminal, but I don't think that is there anymore. All there was, was a wire, which I replaced with a matching connection. That was in the fusible link box, or whatever that thing is called. I think there may have been some monkey business going here and I don't know how it is supposed to look.

I can't drive the truck like this and I think it might just be a separated connection, but that is why I need to see how this is supposed to look.

As a side note, I was happy to see that disconnected hose to nowhere! LOL.

Anyway, this thing is starting to feel like an anchor.

Part of me wants to drive it into Lake Superior and just be done now.

This will hopefully be something simple, but if I somehow fried everything, I am done. Parts for sale.

 

[greentruck]

Actually, looks like the fusible link is present. Got one in hand (90982-08264). There a common "compound" ring at the terminal with three leads off it. One goes to the gray plug at the right. The other two go to rings that are in the black rubber "box."

Check each of the three leads between the compound ring and its end for continuity. This presumes all three are still connected to where they go onward to the harness -- perhaps not certain on your truck.

I'll think about the hose, but maybe someone else knows?

 

[Red Merle]

Actually, looks like the fusible link is present. Got one in hand (90982-08264). There a common "compound" ring at the terminal with three leads off it. One goes to the gray plug at the right. The other two go to rings that are in the black rubber "box."

Check each of the three leads between the compound ring and it's end for continuity. This presumes all three are still connected to where they go onward to the harness -- perhaps not certain on your truck.

I'll think about the hose, but maybe someone else knows?

This is encouraging. I will cut the shrink wrap back a bit to see what these go to. So what is the fuse part of this system?

 

[greentruck]

It's the special nature of the wires. They melt when too much current is drawn through them.

 

[Red Merle]

It's the special nature of the wires. They melt when too much current is drawn through them.

So I should have used special wire to remake that one that has the yellow connection? I just used 10 gauge wire. That wire was down to a few threads after pulling on it and I replaced it with a new wire. It was crusty and worn.

 

[greentruck]

As a very temporary field fix, you probably want to use something smaller than 10 gauge (I assume) copper. That's like putting a penny in a fuse box if you don't have a fuse. If you have a piece of 18 gauge or smaller it would be what I'd try. It wouldn't be right, but better than the welder you might make with 10 gauge. Since the wire has to be short, a small gauge can carry enough current as a filed fix to not melt.

Someone else have a quick and dirty guesstimate of what's best here if you NEED to do this?

In the end, you REALLY need the OEM part (not sure this is available aftermarket). Since you were yanking at the cables, the physical damage is the likely reason for an open in these fusible links. Because of them being special wire, they tend to be a little more brittle and of course get yanked around because of their location.

Otherwise, it's an electrical fault and you want to correct that and avoid a field fix unless it's a desperate emergency -- bypassing the protective wire with copper like mentioned here for a field fix could burn you truck down if an electrical fault caused the failure. I only offer it here because we're pretty sure you simply broke it.

 

[musthave]

OK, so I bought a new battery this morning and installed it in the pouring rain in the parking lot of Fleet Farm up in Hermantown, MN. The battery is a Interstate battery that they give an extended 12 month additional warranty, on top of the pro-rated part. The dimensions of the battery were OK, but it was too short to reach the terminals without horsing on them. I tugged on it and got it connected but about half way home, I lost the interior fan and heat, the windows, the sun roof, the rear heat, etc.

I thought to look for the fusible link on the battery terminal, but I don't think that is there anymore. All there was, was a wire, which I replaced with a matching connection. That was in the fusible link box, or whatever that thing is called. I think there may have been some monkey business going here and I don't know how it is supposed to look.

I can't drive the truck like this and I think it might just be a separated connection, but that is why I need to see how this is supposed to look.

As a side note, I was happy to see that disconnected hose to nowhere! LOL.

Anyway, this thing is starting to feel like an anchor.

Part of me wants to drive it into Lake Superior and just be done now.

This will hopefully be something simple, but if I somehow fried everything, I am done. Parts for sale.

View attachment 1327157

View attachment 1327158

View attachment 1327159

Don't give up, you've got this. The lake is a bad idea.

 

[greentruck]

We went to the Lake a few years back.

Almost drove into it, but that was my fault, not some death wish by the truck. It was dark and the GPS said we had arrived at Point Abbaye...and the road continued...burst through the last of the veg on the trail and suddenly we were on the rocks...and it looked a lot like being on the deck of the Edmund Fitzgerald...it was the month of October, not November, so we lived...with just enough room to circle the truck and trailer, since spending the night on the rocks depended on the winds not licking up more and washing the LandCruiser off the rocks. Woke up to this calmer morning. It was the start of a nice late fall trip in the UP.

This inspirational moment of adventure brought to you in the hope that your 80 will likewise be soon making you happy by the Lake.

 

[Red Merle]

As a very temporary field fix, you probably want to use something smaller than 10 gauge (I assume) copper. That's like putting a penny in a fuse box if you don't have a fuse. If you have a piece of 18 gauge or smaller it would be what I'd try. It wouldn't be right, but better than the welder you might make with 10 gauge. Since the wire has to be short, a small gauge can carry enough current as a filed fix to not melt.

Someone else have a quick and dirty guesstimate of what's best here if you NEED to do this?

In the end, you REALLY need the OEM part (not sure this is available aftermarket). Since you were yanking at the cables, the physical damage is the likely reason for an open in these fusible links. Because of them being special wire, they tend to be a little more brittle and of course get yanked around because of their location.

Otherwise, it's an electrical fault and you want to correct that and avoid a field fix unless it's a desperate emergency -- bypassing the protective wire with copper like mentioned here for a field fix could burn you truck down if an electrical fault caused the failure. I only offer it here because we're pretty sure you simply broke it.

OK, thanks for the feedback. I will order the fusible links from Toyota and hope that straightens things up. I do not want to burn the truck down, at least not quite yet.

 

[Kernal]

The correct size (for a FZJ80) is a Group 27F like the Interstate MegaTron Plus, which battery did you install?

http://www.interstatebatteries.com/p/mtp-27f-mercury-colony-park-1966-v8-6-7l?dsNav=N~21-2147384903

 

[greentruck]

OK, thanks for the feedback. I will order the fusible links from Toyota and hope that straightens things up. I do not want to burn the truck down, at least not quite yet.

Wise move. The links get abused, because people don't realize they're somewhat more delicate than plain old copper. Sounds like your truck was more generally abused, but this fix may solve other mysterious problems - if you've had any - where the link may have been compromised already, but the connection was mostly OK until you, say, hit a bump right to briefly interrupt it. That can be like chasing ghosts to figure out, but if a fusible link looks hinky, it's low hanging fruit and relatively inexpensive before starting to throw big money at electrical gremlins.

 

[Red Merle]

OK, so I replaced the fusible links that I got from Toyota and I am still having issues. The truck did start tonight, which it wouldn't do yesterday but it runs rougher than normal and there are some weird random clicking sounds coming from the alternator area.

I checked the fuses for everything that doesn't work and none of them appear to be compromised. Here is what doesn't work now; the windows and sunroof are dead along with the fan/heat and all of the gauges including the tachometer. The rear heat fan seems to work on the high speed setting but it is dead on the low setting. The lights, radio, turn signals, and power antenna all work.

I am totally lost and plan on bringing it in to the dealership unless someone can think of something that could be causing this. It all happened at once while I was driving and there do not appear to be any fried wires and there was no burning smells.(I unwrapped the wires that come off the fusible links down aboy a foot and they all look fine). It was also raining when it happened. I am no good with electrical issues and I am out of ideas.

The battery I installed was this one. It does have more cold cranking amps than the one that was posted. These are made by Interstate but Fleet Farm and others have an extended warranty that can be used to return them at the stores. It should be a decent unit.

Interstate Batteries 42 MO 770 CCA Automotive Battery

 

[2KCruiser]

Stupid question, but did you already check all your fuses in the engine compartment and on the under dash driverside as well as the relays, maybe one has been burned?

 

[Red Merle]

Stupid question, but did you already check all your fuses in the engine compartment and on the under dash driverside as well as the relays, maybe one has been burned?

I checked everything that I can see inside. I have no way of checking if any of the relays or closed housing fuses are blown.

 

[Red Merle]

The interior dome lights also stopped functioning.

 

[Red Merle]

We went to the Lake a few years back.


Almost drove into it, but that was my fault, not some death wish by the truck. It was dark and the GPS said we had arrived at Point Abbaye...and the road continued...burst through the last of the veg on the trail and suddenly we were on the rocks...and it looked a lot like being on the deck of the Edmund Fitzgerald...it was the month of October, not November, so we lived...with just enough room to circle the truck and trailer, since spending the night on the rocks depended on the winds not licking up more and washing the LandCruiser off the rocks. Woke up to this calmer morning. It was the start of a nice late fall trip in the UP.

This inspirational moment of adventure brought to you in the hope that your 80 will likewise be soon making you happy by the Lake.

Thanks for this. I could use a little Lake Superior positive mojo right now.

 

[baldilocks]

Have you verified 14+ volts from the alternator. Weird things start to happen when voltage is low..

 

[Red Merle]

Have you verified 14+ volts from the alternator. Weird things start to happen when voltage is low..

I have not. I have no way of testing it and the gauge is dead right now.

So, reading through the FSM, it seems like everything that is currently not functioning could be the result of a blown wiring harness. It just seems like that would have resulted in something noticeable in the way of burning smell, etc.

 

[baldilocks]

And would mean that the associated fuses did not do their job. It's kind of tough to depend on an old Landcruiser if you don't have tools and the know how and lots of desire.

 

[Red Merle]

And would mean that the associated fuses did not do their job. It's kind of tough to depend on an old Landcruiser if you don't have tools and the know how and lots of desire.

Yeah, I get that. I have had a lot of Toyota trucks though and this is my second Cruiser. I haven't had a need to sort electrical issues in the past, which is why I lack skills and knowledge in this department. Most other repairs have been doable, but this one is stumping me. I will just have to bring it in to see where I am at and if it means the truck is done, so be it.