Electrical - Alternator - Both ?

[traillme]

Symptoms - My 87 FJ60 has started stalling whenever I come to a stop. Originally I thought I may have a bad ground at the battery or starter but I replaced both and problems continue.
I now can't get the truck to start, the starter clicks but that's it. I did have the battery recharged this weekend and it roared back to life, but was still stalling when slowing to a stop - which lead me to think alternator but.....this morning the battery is dead again (two days...isn't that quick?) and

I think the electrical may be part of the problem because all of this started after I swapped out the dash and installed new stereo/speakers. Immediately after I reinstalled these :whoops: - the fuel gauge and voltage meter stopped working.

This weekend I am having the alternator tested.
I 've searched the threads for diagnosing electrical and there is some great information but could somebody post a little more detailed (with names required tools/meters) explanation (for a complete electrical rookie ) of how to identify a wiring problem in th dash?


Thanks for your help!

 

[soggy60]

man, you can have any one, or a combo, of problems.

any part of stero 'hot wired' (always "on") ?

did ya pull any grounds while messing around with wires ?

you coul "coincidently" have a battery that has an internal short; drains itself dead
or, more typically, an inter-cell connection gone bad (e.g., will run headlights but not crank)

Iif engine stalls, but starts back up, check emissions control wiring ("black box" under right kickpanel)- make sure ya didn't pull a wire out. that box control the idle-cutoff soleniod (in/on carb)

g'luck

 

[lovetoski]

Ya, lots of potential issues...

Stalling when coming to a stop is often the idle cut solenoid. Do a search for how to diagnose this one.

If your alt was OK before you did the dash/stereo work, it's likely still fine. It's cheap/easy to check though. Take it to an auto parts place, and they can bench test it for free.

Starters in cruisers can develop problems. Could be unrelated to the dash work. Typically this starts with the click-but-nothing problem. A fresh battery could temporally overcome a failing starter. But you've replaced that so, onto the next item...

If it was me, I'd be looking at the work you did under the dash. From experience I know that if I have a problem after I do some work, it's usually because I fawked up the "work" somehow. More than likely you have a fault in the wiring you did.