1984 Toyota Camry / Vista with 1.8l turbo diesel 1C

[Mike NXP]

I stumbled upon some threads from some 60 series guys talking about that... I let the engine cool down and went back out to see what happens. I let the key sit on for 15-20 seconds and it started right up. The dash light only turns on when I crank the motor, and only sometimes.

The plugs appear to be trying to work but I guess something is still a miss. Luckily, warmer temps are coming and this car only needs to get me to work and back

 

[bj70bc]

Someone will be along soon to recommend you fit a Wilson switch!

Reporting for duty

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Reporting for duty

In fairness, if our OP doesn't care about keeping things original isn't looking for the challenge of repairing something, it may be a good idea

 

[bj70bc]

In fairness, if our OP doesn't care about keeping things original isn't looking for the challenge of repairing something, it may be a good idea

i just like the manual-ness of choosing a glow duration, and being able to manually afterglow as well....
analog baby

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

i just like the manual-ness of choosing a glow duration, and being able to manually afterglow as well....
analog baby

I'm with you on that. My non-winterised BJ60 has the 'fixed delay' type glow controller which is just a simple timer. There is a fourth 'GLOW' position on the starter switch between IGN and START which lets you glow as many times as you want. I believe you can also glow after it has started, but it will not do so automatically. The only thing is that if you go to start before the timer has finished, it will be glowing and cranking at the same time. Swapping the 3B for a 15B I'm planning on deactivating the timer most of the time, then hooking it when it's below freezing to get the glowscreen working.

 

[bj70bc]

So just a dash switch to toggle the whole system on/off

Im glowing and cranking simultaneously every time i start it...

 

[Mike NXP]

I spent some more time reading the wiring diagram for the system last night along with some forums on Wilson Switches and got over my head quickly. I'm not a total rookie with electrical and could probably figure it out but I need to do some more homework first.

My wife also reminded me I left the hood open the other day when a big rain storm passed through so I'm still crossing my fingers and hoping the Toyota Gods will self-heal this problem

 

[Mike NXP]

Well sonova B......Rather then a self fixing situation I went out this AM and the new battery is just about dead......

I guess I've got some kind of electrical draw happening...I ****ing hate these types of issues lol ..

Where do I begin? I guess I'll get the battery charged up again and then IDK see if anything obvious is happening...The worst part is that I don't see how this can relate to the glow plug issue

 

[Mike NXP]

For anyone else out there with a 1984 Camry having Glow Plug problems lol

 

[Mike NXP]

So it's weird, I can't seem to get the battery to charge while connected to the battery charger. This was the same thing the old battery was doing so I figured the battery was shot.

- New battery, hooked up and installed in vehicle. Had plenty of power to turn engine over yesterday
- Sat overnight, this morning dash lights barley work and didn't have enough power to turn motor over
- Plugged into battery charger to monitor voltage. Tender struggling to get battery over 10.6V. Keeps dropping a few millivolts and then tries to charge up with no success


** I've let it sit on the charger for 2+ hours now and its actually going down in voltage . its barely at 9v now and dropping.

- I disconnected the negative and tested voltage, charger still struggling to produce
- I disconnected both negative and positive, the battery is now trickle charging as expected but not getting over 12.5 ish

 

[Mike NXP]

So I got the battery up to 12.5 and then removed the charger. The cables are disconnected, and when I test the battery voltage I can watch the voltage slowly drop. After about 15 minutes its down to 11.9......Since nothing is connected I wonder if this new battery is to be blamed.


I don't really know what I'm doing. The next test that made sense to me was to hook the jumper pack direct to battery, not connected in the car. I then tested voltage and the battery wouldn't even go over 12v so IDK wtf is going on

 

[duncanrm]

What are the details on your charger?

Four things to note:

1. Most modern chargers are too smart for their own good, sometimes its necessary to put a second battery in parallel with a deeply discharged battery to get the charger to "recognize/detect" that there's a battery there and that charging should definitely begin.
2. A very depleted battery being charged with a woefully inadequate charger (lets say a 2A charger) will take days to be recharged and the voltage showing whilst charging will really be quite low for sometime as the battery is soaking up the charge and holding the voltage low - this is because the battery is drawing a very significant current
3. A freshly charged battery will show a higher voltage for a short while after its charged, which may drop away when left to sit for a while or after a small load is placed on it.. this higher voltage you're seeing initially is called a "surface charge". This surface charge can be evident after even just a short charge when the battery still doesnt really have a good underlying state of charge.
4. Its worth taking the time to learn how to diagnose a "parastic draw" on a vehicle.. no end of guides online if you search on that term.

 

[AirheadNut]

Another thing to note: a parasitic draw combined with cold weather is a quick way to kill a battery. I can't imagine it killed a battery that was new a couple of days ago, though.

Have you tested your charging circuit in the car? A failing alternator or voltage regulator could cause the battery to slowly lose capacity as it will never get to full charge.

 

[bj70bc]

yes sometimes you need to 'force charge' a battery a bit before it will charge up at a 2 amp smart charger rate, ie get a charger that has a jump or high amp charge setting and let it sit on that for a bit before slow charging.

 

[Mike NXP]

Thanks for all the replies. My symptoms are getting more confusing and seemingly all this just started with no warning signs.

• I went and swapped the battery out at costco with a fresh one that is holding a 12.5 charge with no drop before installing, so we can rule out any issue with the battery
• I disconnected and checked for corrosion at the 80amp glow plug relay and it all looks good
• I pulled a lot of the fuses like dome light, cig, signal, etc. so we can eliminate those circuits
• No visible shorts or corrosion. New battery terminals

Desperate to just hear the engine run I turn the key and fire it up, it just took longer than usual since the glow plugs aren't really working

-The glow plug light still doesn't work. I barely get 3v at the plugs
- I had an ah-ha moment and now realize it's not just my glow plug light. Several of my other lights aren't working either. The charge light, temp light, and filter light don't glow with the key in on position ( engine off ) like they should
- The battery is barely charging when the engine is running , very slowly climbing
- Testing at the alternator is showing 13+v being produced so that's a sorta good sign

I got something s***ty going on here but don't know what. My multimeter battery is dead so I have to tap out for now .

 

[AirheadNut]

Check continuity across your fusible link FL0.3P, then with the engine running check voltage on each side of said fusible link. Sounds like your alternator is ok but you have an issue in the wiring between there and the battery. Also check all engine bay grounds for corrosion.

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

My money is on bad grounds.

 

[Mike NXP]

Check continuity across your fusible link FL0.3P, then with the engine running check voltage on each side of said fusible link. Sounds like your alternator is ok but you have an issue in the wiring between there and the battery. Also check all engine bay grounds for corrosion.

Thanks for the tip. I did my best to visually check the grounds but haven't removed and wire brushed clean. There is no visible corrosion but I should probably remove and clean the grounds.

** Edit.
OK so I checked for continuity across the terminals of that 30amp fuse thing like you suggested.....It does have continuity but sort of rattles when I shake it
- I checked from the fuse terminal to the B+ of the battery and I had continuity briefly but then it cut out
- I checked continuity between the alternator and the fusible link terminal and no continuity at all...hmmm

I'm tapping out for today. Need a new battery for multimeter and fresh head tomorrow

My money is on bad grounds.

Shoot, OK OK I should spend some more time digging into this. I can't seem to find any other grounds except the main one off the battery but the service book lists 4 ground points

 

[bj70bc]

ya i killed one of those big guys on my old suzuki... only happened once but thats all it takes

 

[Mike NXP]

ya i killed one of those big guys on my old suzuki... only happened once but thats all it takes

Are you talking about that 30amp fusible link thing? I wonder if I should just replace it , IDK how common of a part this is, something a local auto store has a replacement for?

- I checked my battery again with everything hooked up and key off
- It's slowly draining and is down to 12.2
- I removed the battery ground cable so It doesn't die overnight. I checked voltage and watched it go up slightly once the vehicle cables were disconnected. It's back up to around 12.38 now
- I hooked up my NOCO jump starter just to see what happens and for some reason the jumper keeps like tripping / won't show a solid connection

So I guess in my head I'm trying to make sense of ;
What could cause several dash lights to not work, a battery to slowly discharge, glow plugs to only operate at half voltage, and all happening with no signs of previous issues.