Fuseable links, backward battery charging and smoke! What did I break, blow or melt? (4 Viewers)

[jpoole]

I've been following along and think you are doing great at navigating the troubleshooting process, varied feedback, etc. It can be complicated keeping up with where the forum conversation is vs. where your troubleshooting is, especially with all of the life demands. Although a few folks may give you a hard time for missing details, typically for the entertainment value , most (if not all) of us understand the challenges of technical communication and troubleshooting via a web forum and take them into account as we help, so no worries. There are also plenty of us lurking but not chiming in in an effort to avoid cluttering an active troubleshooting process but if you stick with it there will be folks here to feed you ideas until you get the problems resolved or decide it's time for the flatbed.

I find that reading the electrical diagrams in the FSM/etc. takes more focus than I often want to commit so I get your reluctance to dive in there. That said, the troubleshooting processes in the FSM are typically useful and easy to work through. Regarding digital vs. print @jonheld mentioned my favorite part of the using the pdf versions of the FSM.

It is a searchable PDF file, meaning you can type a term into the search bar in Acrobat and hit the ENTER button.

If you know the terms to search for you can often quickly jump through a lot of related content to the searched for term and it can be a great way to navigate the manual, especially when you are getting your bearings with it. The search doesn't always work and can return too many results, or too few, but it can be a pretty easy way to get started without necessarily needing to figure out how the manual is organized before you can even start looking for useful info on your problem.

Before I go back to the observation gallery I'll say that my money is on loose terminals for the GAUGE fuse being the main issue...

 

[lelandEOD]

Didn't he say the previous owner might've disabled some systems like ABS? Before you get too carried away, I'd definitely want to check and make sure somebody didn't [also] remove the check engine light bulb from the instrument cluster.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

Update: Friday morning

Went out to back track and perform more the diagnostic test as outlined prior. As I was checking Voltage for all of the dash panel fuses and taking notes....I pulled the GAUGE fuse. The new 10A. I was getting 11.82 on one side....and it was reading .397 on the other. Pulled fuse and checked female contacts. Same readings. I left key in the On position and re-installed fuse. Heard 3-5 faint micro "clicks" and saw mini blue spark upon reinsertion. I now have all the dash lights lighting up. Can hear possibly electronic fuel pump turned on also.

LOOKS ready to race. Major improvement.

I have still not attempted to Start the vehicle. Waiting on the Go Ahead from Jon or JHT

FYI: Battery at 12.22V this morning. Just for Reference. Got several readings across the dash fuses of 11.82. Some 12.22

Would gladly test and anotate them all and upload photo if we think it is required. But after removing and reinstalling GAUGE fuse and having the dash light up, I was not certain it's necessary.

Believe FOG and TAIL gauges only have readings of .39 on both sides. But neither the Fog lights or tail lights were turned on or activated while testing.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

 

[jonheld]

I'm going to say that you should remove the GAUGE fuse and squeeze the contacts to ensure proper connection.
With the current dash lamps, I would crank her up.

 

[CJF]

With the current dash lamps, I would crank her up.

I second this.

 

[jht3]

I now have all the dash lights lighting up

hooray! that looks like a healthy cluster

Believe FOG and TAIL gauges only have readings of .39 on both sides. But neither the Fog lights or tail lights were turned on or activated while testing.

gauges? you mean the fuses?
if by FOG you mean DEfog, then the DEFOG fuse should have power at all times. if it doesn't, then might be similar to your GAUGE fuse and the female contacts are spread apart just a bit too much
the TAIL fuse has no power as the Tail relay is in the way. the headlight switch in Park or ON triggers the relay, powering up the fuse and bulbs.

I have still not attempted to Start the vehicle. Waiting on the Go Ahead from Jon or JHT

I feel like you are good to go. Let 'er rip!

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

Houston...we have Ignition! Fired right up in just a few seconds. Idling fine at 900ish immediately. It's cold here. Maybe 32F. Gonna let it run and idle for a bit. Recheck battery. Was 12.22V. If I didn't smoke an alternator I should see battery voltage improve like normal, Yes?

 

[CJF]

Houston...we have Ignition! Fired right up in just a few seconds. Idling fine at 900ish immediately. It's cold here. Maybe 32F. Gonna let it run and idle for a bit. Recheck battery. Was 12.22V. If I didn't smoke an alternator I should see battery voltage improve like normal, Yes?

Check the voltage across the terminals now while it's running.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

gauges? you mean the fuses?
if by FOG you mean DEfog, then the DEFOG fuse should have power at all times. if it doesn't, then might be similar to your GAUGE fuse and the female contacts are spread apart just a bit too much
the TAIL fuse has no power as the Tail relay is in the way. the headlight switch in Park or ON triggers the relay, powering up the fuse and bulbs.

Yes...got too excited. Fuses in those positions. Not gauges. I will goof with them more after I enjoy it being running. Pull and replace, or reinstall. I need a new handful of fuses. Simply got multi pack. Need some extra 10s, 20s. Bought a pack of 15s.

I am not all about having extra fuses and a Fuseable link in the rig. Have red 50A and yellow 60A (Relay or Fuse? Toyota parts found them as Relays) for the fender wall fuse panel. Extra fuseable link just because. Probably even a second DMM to stay in the vehicle for an extra back country Have.

 

[CJF]

Check the voltage across the terminals now while it's running.

In fact a pic of your dash while it's running will tell us how your alt's doing.

 

[Jesse Jaymes]

Above is dash while idling. Reading across the terminals read 14.58V while running.

RE: FOG/DEFOG fuse. Further inspection shows that fuse block had a hysterectomy. No female parts in there. Fuse falls out.

How important is this? Fixable ?

 

[jht3]

I am not all about having extra fuses and a Fuseable link in the rig. Have red 50A and yellow 60A (Relay or Fuse? Toyota parts found them as Relays) for the fender wall fuse panel. Extra fuseable link just because. Probably even a second DMM to stay in the vehicle for an extra back country Have.

i keep a spare fusible link in the glovebox. fuses are good too; need to add some to my truck!

Above is dash while idling. Reading across the terminals read 14.58V while running.

looking good. your voltmeter is showing a higher reading, and your DMM 14.58 shows a healthy alt

RE: FOG/DEFOG fuse. Further inspection shows that fuse block had a hysterectomy. No female parts in there. Fuse falls out.

nope, normal. see EWD pic. your TURN fuse is 10A, not 7.5 like the spec.

the OCD in me is bothered that your fuses all face in different directions

 

[Kernal]

Further inspection shows that fuse block had a hysterectomy. No female parts in there. Fuse falls out.

That slot, third down from the top left, is meant to be blank, at least in US models

 

[Malleus]

I think that job deserves a beer. I'll drink it for you, so you can continue...

 

[ChaseTruck]

…
the OCD in me is bothered that your fuses all face in different directions

Yes.