Thanks for mentioning me y’all!
@tphipps16 Electeical issues can be really frustrating and it’s often really difficult to track down the cause of the problem. The fusible links in these trucks are getting to the age where they’re definitely suspect though. Rebuild kits are good (I’ve even rebuilt fusible links for people before), but at the end of the day it’s still a fusible link with all its flaws. My kit completely replaces it with fuses that bolt down - a much more secure system. It also includes substantially larger cables to the battery and alternator which improves the system voltage. Not as much loss to resistance through the undersized wires Toyota put in these things.
Whether or not it’s 100% certain the fusible link is the culprit in your situation … hard to tell through a computer screen. I have seen the “it won’t start until I wiggle the fusible link and then everything’s fine” situation many times though, so there’s some likelihood that is indeed your issue. I would spend some more time poking and prodding things. Are the battery terminals corroded? When you remove the fusible link and look at the brass pins in the connectors, are they corroded? Is there a place where a wire is crimped to a pin or terminal and it’s hanging on by one strand? Battery test good, and how old is it? Is there an area adjacent to the fusible link where the insulation around a wire has been rubbed off causing intermittent shorts when it touches metal? How do the big cables at the starter look? Are they secure? Is the signal wire at the starter (the smallest wire) clipped in securely? Another good check is to measure the voltage at the battery, then measure on the far side of the fusible link - is there a significant voltage drop? Also measure the voltage of the big fat cable at the starter - voltage drop there? If you don’t have a multimeter, the harbor freight ones are surprisingly decent for $20. You can also order one online - if you Google “AN8009 DMM”, it’ll bring up a bunch that are identical but with different “brand” names. I really like those for the money.
@diesellibrarian is right, the kids working at the dealership are used to an endless stream of <5 year old cars and have no idea what to do with our 60 Series LCs. And that’s not to throw shade at them, they’re doing their job just fine, but it’s not what they learned in school since this technology hasn’t existed in 40 years. Find a local specialist if you can, or keep reading on Mud and try to work things out yourself!
