Electrical Fun. (1 Viewer)

[team420]

96 fzj80 all stock aside from the radio.


This started in the snow and slush the other day...

Abs kicks in at slow speeds, while braking, even when not sliding. Abs light comes on, and abs stops working. If I shut the truck off, it repeats till roads are dry, then all is normal again...

But wait! Theres more

same day, I noticed all my brake lights illuminated when headlights are on. 3rd brake light included, which hasnt worked for over a year. Turn headlights off, and brake lights go out, and function as intended. This has not changed. Weather has no effect on this (although its been very cold here lately, so ice could be a factor)

I really havent had time to dig into this yet, and dont have much free time in the near future, so thought Id post up here to get some ideas, and maximize what time I have.

1st order of bidness is to pull the driver side kick panel and see what it looks like. 2nd is pass side, as i suspect some leakage there. Hard to tell though, cuz people are always getting in with snow covered boots, so Idk of the floor is wet due to the boots, or a leak.

3rd would be the trailer light harness, I havent towed anything in quite some time, but it worked fine last time I towed.

Any other thoughts? Am I missing something simple? I did quickly check fuses, and bulbs, all looked well.

 

[team420]

Bump...

No thoughts? I'm digging into this this afternoon.

 

[ElZilcho]

I just killed some Gremlins giving me similar issues (among others). Electrical gremlins; or, how to start a fire by removing body trim. Check the BQ1 and BQ2 harness plugs in the DS quarter panel (picture in the thread). A large number of seemingly unrelated systems run through those plugs and if you have a hole in the quarter panel the tires throw muck directly onto them. Mine nearly caused a vehicle fire.

Good luck.

 

[team420]

Wow! You're my hero dude...



I never woulda found this. I had looked in the area, and even saw the burnt spot, but just thought it was dirt or something. If you lived closer, I would bring ya a 12 pack of your favorite frosty adult beverages

Now to figure out how to repair...

 

[ElZilcho]

I cut out the plugs and hardwired all of the wires together. It was a huge pain in the ass and took about three hours but the plug is only really necessary for factory installation of wiring harnesses. I used heat shrinkable butt splices and started by splicing them on to the short pigtail (the side that goes under the truck) and then joining the long side. Be aware that many of the wires are extremely similar in color, i.e. green w/ yellow stripe, yellow w/green stripe, yellow and green with grey dots, etc, so be diligent when reconnecting them. Also, be prepared to miss a bunch of crimps and drop a s*** load of butt splices down your quarter panel where your hands don't fit. Be sure to disconnect the battery when you do this, and check all your lights when you're done. When my tail lights malfunctioned the fuse didn't blow, but the front marker lights did.

Good luck, and glad I could help.

 

[team420]

Yeah, I can already see that this is not going to be fun. The problem here is that my plow guy sucks, and didnt plow out my garage, so now there 50' of 6" thick solid ice between my driveway, and my garage, and its cold out today, and supposed to start snowing any time now. 3 hours will easily turn into 10 with all the breaks to warm up...

At least now I know what the problem is. I will do one wire at a time till its done to avoid confusing them.... fun stuff...

Thanks again for the help. Like I said, I never would have suspected this harness.