I get in and go to start my Land Cruiser a couple hours ago, but ended up running for a fire extinguisher instead.
My 80 takes a few seconds to start usually, but this time was slower than usual and was cranking for about 8-10 seconds when I see white smoke to my right and smell burning wire.
Behind the passenger kick panel ( just inside the door, to the right of where their right foot would be) is this set of wires grounded to the body, one of the wires had completely melted, I’m the one that cut it though.
Based on the electrical tape I’m guessing this is another of my previous owner’s bright electrical ideas. (I’ve pulled literally POUNDS of wiring out of this thing, an inverter that was attached to a WOODEN board in the rear wheel well space, and dozens of other half-a**ed jerry-rigged electrical oddities. But I digress…)
First I disconnected the ground and taped it off, figuring I’d pull the cruiser into the garage to work on it. But when I went to start it up again, it clicked like the battery was dead. Battery showed 12.8v on the multimeter, but I hooked it up to my Camry to jump anyways. Same thing. Hear the starter solenoid engage and then a rapid clicking like an almost dead battery. At this point I’m quite annoyed as I know I’m not going off roading tonight.
I figure I’ll reconnect the problem ground and see if it cranks. It does, but the (now basically bare) wire got extremely hot again. I have the burn on my finger to prove it…
The next idea was to cut the problem wire and see if it cranks. Nope. Same rapid clicking.
My idea at this point is that it’s probably part of an aftermarket remote start/alarm. The keys I got with it originally had a Viper key fob. I know nothing about these but I recall seeing some threads about others having problems related to those systems. So I looked up under the dash with a boroscope to see if I could find anything that might suggest a remote starter.
I found these to the right of the steering wheel near the ignition cylinder. The red butt connector looks hand crimped and not factory. And the black box it connects to looks out of place. Would these be part of the viper system?
I guess my first question is am I correct in that those wires on the passenger side shouldn’t be there? Or are they some part of the factory starting system?
Second. If there is an aftermarket alarm/remote start, can it be bypassed easily? Or would I need to take the dash out to remove it all?
My 80 takes a few seconds to start usually, but this time was slower than usual and was cranking for about 8-10 seconds when I see white smoke to my right and smell burning wire.
Behind the passenger kick panel ( just inside the door, to the right of where their right foot would be) is this set of wires grounded to the body, one of the wires had completely melted, I’m the one that cut it though.
Based on the electrical tape I’m guessing this is another of my previous owner’s bright electrical ideas. (I’ve pulled literally POUNDS of wiring out of this thing, an inverter that was attached to a WOODEN board in the rear wheel well space, and dozens of other half-a**ed jerry-rigged electrical oddities. But I digress…)
First I disconnected the ground and taped it off, figuring I’d pull the cruiser into the garage to work on it. But when I went to start it up again, it clicked like the battery was dead. Battery showed 12.8v on the multimeter, but I hooked it up to my Camry to jump anyways. Same thing. Hear the starter solenoid engage and then a rapid clicking like an almost dead battery. At this point I’m quite annoyed as I know I’m not going off roading tonight.
I figure I’ll reconnect the problem ground and see if it cranks. It does, but the (now basically bare) wire got extremely hot again. I have the burn on my finger to prove it…
The next idea was to cut the problem wire and see if it cranks. Nope. Same rapid clicking.
My idea at this point is that it’s probably part of an aftermarket remote start/alarm. The keys I got with it originally had a Viper key fob. I know nothing about these but I recall seeing some threads about others having problems related to those systems. So I looked up under the dash with a boroscope to see if I could find anything that might suggest a remote starter.
I found these to the right of the steering wheel near the ignition cylinder. The red butt connector looks hand crimped and not factory. And the black box it connects to looks out of place. Would these be part of the viper system?
I guess my first question is am I correct in that those wires on the passenger side shouldn’t be there? Or are they some part of the factory starting system?
Second. If there is an aftermarket alarm/remote start, can it be bypassed easily? Or would I need to take the dash out to remove it all?
