Electrical woes

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BigSur

BigSur

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OK, i recentlty bought a none running 80 fj40 from one of the guys in our club. It was a driving vehicle when he bought it and then he let it sit for 6 months and he couldn't get it back running. He thought it was electrical problems cause the previous owner before him did a real hack job to the wiring harness. So over the last month i have removed wiring harness and replaced it with one from a later model 1980 harness. Everything fit perfectly with the exception of the section that goes from the passenger firewall to the engine bay. So i (atleast i think) repaired that section that the previous owner hacked up and it plugged in to the harness i put in. I made all my connections to the alt, coil, dizzy, cable from the starter to the battery, and couple more. I then only plugged in the section that goes to the instrument cluster and ignition. I check all the fuses and they are good. I put in a new battery and i tried to start it and i got nothing. Not a hum not click notta. I don't have a OEM manual and i am going from what i know and what i have read on here. I even have all the lights plugged in and those don't work so i am thinking i missed something somewhere.

Now the only think i can think of is that the PO desmogged the rig and i am still running the emissions modulator and so forth. Does anyone have a suggestion where i should look?
 
well wouldn't that be in the fusible link? or is that a seperate wire?

the only wires coming from the batter are from the negative to the block and one to the electric pump and on the positive side i have one wire going down to the starter, another to the fusible link and one more to the electric fuel pump. Should there be one more?
 
BigSur said:
well wouldn't that be in the fusible link? or is that a seperate wire?

the only wires coming from the batter are from the negative to the block and one to the electric pump and on the positive side i have one wire going down to the starter, another to the fusible link and one more to the electric fuel pump. Should there be one more?
Click to expand...

Nope that is it, one + going through the firewall. Just hitting the basics. Did you spike the fuse box? Voltage There? more basics.
 
I had zero power anywhere. That fairly large wire is also the same wire that goes to the alternator.
 
is that large wire white/black? also there is a red and brown wire connected together that is right next to the fuse box. what is it and where does it go.

jason
 
BigSur said:
I had zero power anywhere. That fairly large wire is also the same wire that goes to the alternator.
Click to expand...

No, it is not the same wire. The alternator (white/blue strip) wire joins the wire to the chassis at the fusible link which is attached to the battery + post. In other words, two large wires connect to the far end of the fusible link: one from the alternator and one to the rest of the chassis.
 
the only other wire that I have connecting to the fusible link are the two coming from that small black box. do you happen to have a picture of that area?
 
The "black box" you talking about is probably a fuse holder for the two wires that go to the amp gauge. You need a large wire to go between the battery and the ignition switch and fuse block. No wire, no power.

Sorry, I don't have pictures, but I do have a schematic diagram.
 
I looked again this morning before commuting to work and that wire wire is the one i am missing. But i can't find it anywhere. I am at a loss.
 
Would a bad ground cause this type of issue as well?
 
BigSur said:
Would a bad ground cause this type of issue as well?
Click to expand...

Yes. This is what i mentioned earlier. A picture of the wire going from + bat. to inside the cab. Mine is white, maybe 12 gauge, bigger than the small wires, smaller than the bat cables. Voltmeter? You don't say if you have one or not. Sure would help if you described your abilities so can we can better help you. I have no Idea so no baseline. Start by answering this question, do you own a volt meter?
 
Do not own a volt meter. Electrical work is new to me. I can do just about everything else on a cruiser but electric work. This is my 9th cruiser over the last 4 years so i know my crusiers but i am an electrical retard!

My ground wire is going from the battery to the side bolt on the radiator bracket. I now think that isn't a good place to ground this. I am at the office right now and when i get home i am going to move the ground to the engine block and see what happens.
 
BigSur said:
Do not own a volt meter. Electrical work is new to me. I can do just about everything else on a cruiser but electric work. This is my 9th cruiser over the last 4 years so i know my crusiers but i am an electrical retard!

My ground wire is going from the battery to the side bolt on the radiator bracket. I now think that isn't a good place to ground this. I am at the office right now and when i get home i am going to move the ground to the engine block and see what happens.
Click to expand...

Moving the ground to the block, good idea. ground to frame, ground to body too is ideal.

a) $ 10 for a voltmeter and we go from there. Keep in mind the possibility of letting the smoke out! Maybe harness, maybe regulator and alt going with it ( the bad), your garage, Landcruiser (NOOOOO!) up in smoke. (the worst)

b) let the pros handle it.

c) You change ground wires and done


I will look for this thread later tonight if you want to pick one up on the way home. A few safety (as in not let the smoke out of your wires) procedures and you are on your way. I vote for a) cause I don't have to pay for OOOOOOOps smoke! Good luck wit it.
 
You really need two main grounds. One to the block and one to the frame. The block ground will supply your alternator, starter and carb solenoid. The frame ground supplies everything else.

Ideally you should also provide ground jumpers to the body panels.

You can pick up a cheap volt meter from Harbor Freight for under $20. You don't need precision with a Cruiser. ;)
 
ok as soon as I got home from work I head straight to the garage to work on this. I moved the ground to the block from that radiator bracket and connected it to the battery. I then connected the positive side and I got sparks. one from the positive side when I connected it and another from where I had the ground wire connected to the block. I disconnected everything as soon as I saw a spark. now where do I look at? this was the first sight of life I have seen in her.
 
BigSur said:
ok as soon as I got home from work I head straight to the garage to work on this. I moved the ground to the block from that radiator bracket and connected it to the battery. I then connected the positive side and I got sparks. one from the positive side when I connected it and another from where I had the ground wire connected to the block. I disconnected everything as soon as I saw a spark. now where do I look at? this was the first sight of life I have seen in her.
Click to expand...


Yippy! spark! Oh wait, not spark inside engine good spark. Bad spark, Big Sur, trying to let the smoke out of those wires aaaa, no worries, it's not British so no need to replace lost smoke.
 
so any suggestions? i went and tried to plug everything back together and i still get nothing. no power to anything. i'm stuck like chuck.
 
Ok then, don't do that again, do this.

First some ground (you bet, double in your window) rules.

Before doing any work that requires disconnecting ANY electric component first disconnect the pos and neg to bat..

Definitions: Inventing a new one here, AMHIK = Ask me how I know = Yep, I done that.

Hey, thats funny! I AMHIK, I am a hick

So you went and did something or whatever, you need the bat connected, duh, to find out what is wrong, right. So first, with neg NOT connected,

ok thats gettin annoying, fixin it

def: negative bat = -bat, positive bat = +bat

fixed

Connect the +bat

Connect your Voltmeter as shown in the pic.

Looky there, I have a trickle.

Back peddling, Use your voltmeter to find the voltage of the bat. Touch the red Vm tip to +bat, black Vm to -bat. Remember the number, that is your bat reference voltage.

Now, with the voltmeter connected as shown what do you see? If it is a big number close to your bat reference then you have a ground fault. Small number then a trickle. If you see that big number DO NOT connect the bat. period, what I mentioned earlier, You are at extreme risk if you do not follow this procedure.

More later
faultcheck.webp
 
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