FJ40 down under wiring and questions

[ToasterDude]

Hi guys, I recently posted asking for some help with identifying what year my FJ40 is and I appreciate all the help I got.

Now recently I've decided to prod at it a bit closer,while taking off the fenders to repaint them I saw that the wiring was god awful(done by the previous owner) and I dug a bit further and I decided to pull the entire harness out because of damage to it and the overall state of it. Now I just wanted to ask if there are any places that sell pre assembled full looms but if not what would your recommendations be for making my own loom? Would a kit be better or just to go at it. I don't really plan on having many accessories in it,the only thing I'd imagine is a radio and a couple of speakers and maybe a light bar down the line? but thats it.

The car also currently has what I assume to be an electric fuel pump put in it but it also has the old mechanical one still on the 2F motor,just disconnected. I plan on going back to the mechanical pump just for the sake of reliability and reducing the amount of wires I need to deal with. Are there any major drawbacks with running the original style pumps? Its currently got some sorta holly carb on it so Im not sure if that would effect anything.

Also also, while removing the harness I found a few bits and I just wanted to ask if anyone knows what the purpose is of them. Firstly theres a black box on the passenger side(left side for me) by the vin that had a few cables being grounded to the outside of it. Theres also something on the left side of the engine block,is it for something vacuum related? I can't tell.

Thirdly, in relation to making a new harness,does anyone know where I can get like factory style connectors/plugs for stuff or would it be easier to go to like deutsche connectors.

 

[B y r o n]

You might find some helpful information in this thread.

 

[charliemeyer007]

I like diode electric fuel pumps $10 and last 10 years. Can be used for fuel transfers.
I gave up on my oil pressure gauge back in 85. Installed a lighted direct read unit - still there still work accurately oil pressure is too important to screw around with.
I have added a ground wire to most lights to keep them working.

PO's might not have done the best work at fixing chewed/abraded wire.

 

[TreadingLight]

I can't speak to suppliers in Australia, but up over here you can find new connectors for a variety of parts.

Depending on what I am looking for, I go to:

* Toyota themselves. Some connectors and pre-crimped repair wires can be ordered still.
* Corsa-Technic - an online retailer for Sumitomo and Yazaki (the OEMs for Toyota) connectors. You may need special crimp tools for some terminals.
* Eastern Beaver - a Japanese retailer of OEM connectors
* Vintage Connections - a us retailer with good kits for 6.3mm unsealed connectors
* @Coolerman - a forum member who sells repair subharnesses and components (striped wire).
* eBay/amazon - sometimes you can find aftermarket pigtails. I also buy residue-free harness tape here.
* Vintage TEQ - aka ToyotaMatt has stock of some connectors available nowhere else. But he's a 1-man shop and delays seem to be an issue. I have received all the parts I ordered but many folks have been frustrated and he's discussed extensively in the bad sellers threads.
* some connectors may only be available from used donor harnesses. Watch the mud classifieds and go to local swap meets.

I recommend you go through the harness and identify the damage. Compare it to the wiring diagram to know what each circuit is doing as you may not need all of them.

Then splice in repair wire for any melted/abraded sections or to fix bad repairs.

Source connectors as possible from the above list or oz equivalents.

Post pics of specific damaged areas you have questions about.

Personally i think it is worth the effort to keep it OEM. An investment in future repairability. But this is a time consuming endeavor.

It is not a crime to strategically use deutsche connectors, but keep in mind that to use Toyota switches and components you often have no choice but to use the original type of connector.

 

[Chamba]

@cruisermatt is a good source for the plugs. Look into the Painless kit. It's not actually painless, but it's very well made.

Lay it out next to your existing harness, splice your plugs on to the end of the wires (they are all labled and colour- coded, so it's actually fairly straight forward) and then loom it and wrap it, then reinstall.

I didn't have the original harness to go from, so mine was a bit more tricky. But my cousin did, and it really was a relatively easy job in his. You just need some patience, a good soldering iron, some heat-shrink tubing, 3M electrical tape, some good tunes and some decent grog.

 

[nabbasi]

I can't speak to suppliers in Australia, but up over here you can find new connectors for a variety of parts.

Depending on what I am looking for, I go to:

* Toyota themselves. Some connectors and pre-crimped repair wires can be ordered still.
* Corsa-Technic - an online retailer for Sumitomo and Yazaki (the OEMs for Toyota) connectors. You may need special crimp tools for some terminals.
* Eastern Beaver - a Japanese retailer of OEM connectors
* Vintage Connections - a us retailer with good kits for 6.3mm unsealed connectors
* @Coolerman - a forum member who sells repair subharnesses and components (striped wire).
* eBay/amazon - sometimes you can find aftermarket pigtails. I also buy residue-free harness tape here.
* Vintage TEQ - aka ToyotaMatt has stock of some connectors available nowhere else. But he's a 1-man shop and delays seem to be an issue. I have received all the parts I ordered but many folks have been frustrated and he's discussed extensively in the bad sellers threads.
* some connectors may only be available from used donor harnesses. Watch the mud classifieds and go to local swap meets.

I recommend you go through the harness and identify the damage. Compare it to the wiring diagram to know what each circuit is doing as you may not need all of them.

Then splice in repair wire for any melted/abraded sections or to fix bad repairs.

Source connectors as possible from the above list or oz equivalents.

Post pics of specific damaged areas you have questions about.

Personally i think it is worth the effort to keep it OEM. An investment in future repairability. But this is a time consuming endeavor.

It is not a crime to strategically use deutsche connectors, but keep in mind that to use Toyota switches and components you often have no choice but to use the original type of connector.

@ToasterDude
Unless you’re planning on heavily modifying, this right here is exactly what I would do/ have done.

I’ve fully re-wired 2 FJ40s, and keeping close to original (colors, routing, etc) makes troubleshooting much much easier.

For connectors, some OEM are available depending on your year, but on my early fj40 I used Deutsche connectors instead of the older non insulated connectors.

The box into voltage regulator. It should have a cover. It regulates the alternator output by sending voltage.

The engine sensor is your oil pressure garage sending unit. It goes to the gauges (should have a wire connected there).

There’s a plug in the head for coolant.

 

[ToasterDude]

I can't speak to suppliers in Australia, but up over here you can find new connectors for a variety of parts.

Depending on what I am looking for, I go to:

* Toyota themselves. Some connectors and pre-crimped repair wires can be ordered still.
* Corsa-Technic - an online retailer for Sumitomo and Yazaki (the OEMs for Toyota) connectors. You may need special crimp tools for some terminals.
* Eastern Beaver - a Japanese retailer of OEM connectors
* Vintage Connections - a us retailer with good kits for 6.3mm unsealed connectors
* @Coolerman - a forum member who sells repair subharnesses and components (striped wire).
* eBay/amazon - sometimes you can find aftermarket pigtails. I also buy residue-free harness tape here.
* Vintage TEQ - aka ToyotaMatt has stock of some connectors available nowhere else. But he's a 1-man shop and delays seem to be an issue. I have received all the parts I ordered but many folks have been frustrated and he's discussed extensively in the bad sellers threads.
* some connectors may only be available from used donor harnesses. Watch the mud classifieds and go to local swap meets.

I recommend you go through the harness and identify the damage. Compare it to the wiring diagram to know what each circuit is doing as you may not need all of them.

Then splice in repair wire for any melted/abraded sections or to fix bad repairs.

Source connectors as possible from the above list or oz equivalents.

Post pics of specific damaged areas you have questions about.

Personally i think it is worth the effort to keep it OEM. An investment in future repairability. But this is a time consuming endeavor.

It is not a crime to strategically use deutsche connectors, but keep in mind that to use Toyota switches and components you often have no choice but to use the original type of connector.

I was looking at the harness and almost none of it looks to be OEM,theres all this duct tape everywhere and the only bits I think are original go straight into the fuse box and those were snipped as well to go into the loom this previous owner made. Does anyone have any photos of an oem harness I could use for reference?

This harness also looked like two harnesses put together.

 

[jtreger]

ACL Auto Electrical in Australia. Full Toyota style loom made to your specs. Prints a fuse box that the original cover fits over. You get 20 plus circuits for whatever standard components you have and what you might need in the future with blade fuses. I just got mine last week. Took a while and pricy, but worth it for me. I don't have time to figure that all out. Check him out on Facebook for some examples of his stuff.

 

[nabbasi]

ACL Auto Electrical in Australia. Full Toyota style loom made to your specs. Prints a fuse box that the original cover fits over. You get 20 plus circuits for whatever standard components you have and what you might need in the future with blade fuses. I just got mine last week. Took a while and pricy, but worth it for me. I don't have time to figure that all out. Check him out on Facebook for some examples of his stuff.

Well, this makes more sense. You lucky ducks down there…

 

[jtreger]

Well, this makes more sense. You lucky ducks down there…

Ha! I wish. I’m here in the US. Shipped him my old loom, all the connectors for the Dakota cluster and the circuit board, connectors for the sniper, radio, etc. Just received everything except for the rear harness. Should be plug and play. Made sense for me b/c the motor is out for a rebuild and I figured I could pay the builder to try and make the old harness work with all the new accessories, or just get a new harness that gets rid of 40 plus years of whatever was done previously and takes most of the guess work out of it.

 

[nabbasi]

Ha! I wish. I’m here in the US. Shipped him my old loom, all the connectors for the Dakota cluster and the circuit board, connectors for the sniper, radio, etc. Just received everything except for the rear harness. Should be plug and play. Made sense for me b/c the motor is out for a rebuild and I figured I could pay the builder to try and make the old harness work with all the new accessories, or just get a new harness that gets rid of 40 plus years of whatever was done previously and takes most of the guess work out of it.

Ah, well then good find. I kept my original harness intact, and created a sub harness that intercepted all of the signals and routed it from the DD box (admittedly sloppily lying I. The glove box). Kinda same for my sniper, it’s independent of my main harness. Make sure you run a ground from the Dakota box to the fuel sending unit. I think that was the only thing I needed to add to my rear harness.


This sounds like a pretty solid option @ToasterDude. I heard a good quote about painless: it doesn’t make the hard part easier, it makes the easy part easier.

Check out the diagrams compiled by coolerman and some time with your harness/ truck, and you’ll get an idea of how badly the PO’s hacked it. It’s somehow always worse than you can imagine.

 

[TreadingLight]

I heard a good quote about painless: it doesn’t make the hard part easier, it makes the easy part easier.

That is brilliant.

 

[ToasterDude]

just gave ACL a ring so I should hear back from them soon. Seems like a good option but might be a tid bit pricey. With these "painless" wiring kits are they FJ specific or are they just universal ones? I went onto the website and only found specific ones made for fords,chevys and jeeps.

 

[ToasterDude]

I also found that the little black box was supposed to be for the alternator but I cant figure what the little bell looking thing on the side of the engine is for.

 

[nabbasi]

just gave ACL a ring so I should hear back from them soon. Seems like a good option but might be a tid bit pricey. With these "painless" wiring kits are they FJ specific or are they just universal ones? I went onto the website and only found specific ones made for fords,chevys and jeeps.

They are universal. My friend did an autowire one (similar style kit) in his classic jeep. It’s effective, but was just as much (maybe more?) work than an oem harness, but his build is very custom.

I also found that the little black box was supposed to be for the alternator but I cant figure what the little bell looking thing on the side of the engine is for.

The bell looking thing is the oil pressure sending unit.