Electrical Short

[Woops]

Hey all,

I got my fj stuck while i was mudding and had about 6 inches of water come in on my passenger side. I drove 10 miles home and as i pulled into the driveway an electric plug shorted and melted. It is located under the glove compartment.

I cut the plugs out and checked to see if the wire melted all the way, and thankfully it didn't. Since the damage was isolated, I went ahead and soddered the wires back together.

After i made this repair, I went to start the car and it still did not start. My question is, if you have an electrical short in the fj, do you have to take it to the dealer and have it reset in order for it to work? that would be best case scenario. Worst case scenario something else is fried too, but i have not found any signs of it yet anywhere else.

I must say that I have loved the fj, but this disappoints me that the electrical is run along the floor when toyota made this car to offroad. In case anyone is wondering....I did not suck up any water into the engine, i checked that all out. Please help with advice if you got it! thanks guys!

 

[Capt Sensible]

Welcome to reality my friend. Pretty much all modern day vehicles have a computer somewhere, and the wires almost always run along the floor.

Did you check all your fuses, dumb question, but sometimes people do dumb things.... like getting stuck in mud. Don't worry I bottomed out in a swamp a couple weeks back, had to change the fluid in my front/rear diff and tcase. You probably need to do the same, unless you've done the scuba mod. I'd start with the front diff, that I can guarantee is f'ed. tcase probably not, but worth checking (better safe than sorry) and the same goes for your rear diff.

As to your electrical issue, I would find out what the wires in the plug are for, that could solve some issues. For example (just pulling this completely out of my ass) if the wires are for the rear speakers, then if the wires are messed up it should have no bearing on your car starting. Plus if you can figure out what the wires are for, you might be able to test those things to see if they are shot. You my friend have a lot of work in front of you.

I hope you've learned the same lesson I learned the other day. Playing in the mud is like having unprotected sex with a stranger. It might be fun at the moment, but there is a good chance of some major repercussions down the road.

If it's liquid and brown, do your best to go around! This motto could work for public restrooms too.

 

[steven4mc]

If you didn't disconnect your battery before you repaired, you might try disconnecting it now for about 15 minutes.