HELP! Car wont start and wipers wont turn off

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Formulaonehd

Formulaonehd

NWZ - The storm is here
Joined
May 22, 2016
Threads
72
Messages
527
Location
Pilbara Region Western Australia
Guys hoping the 80s expertise here can help me.

my 80s wont start now i just get a click but my wipers wont stop either no matter what position i put it in. The water line and pump for them wont work either even though i replaced the washer bottle motor recently.
The strange thing is the wipers were coming on intermittently on the way home and i could here a shorting sound right behind the fuse panel. when i moved the steering wheel the wipers would stop, then when i turned the wheel the other way they would come on again and not stop.

When i got home i pulled the fuse and they were all fine. Tried to start the car and nothing but a click. Battery was at 12.5V so i know it wasnt flat, but wipers of course wouldnt stop.

Disconnected the battery negative, connected it back on and the truck started wipers kept going. switched it off and tried again and back to square one truck wouldn't start again

Please anyone got any ideas. I have been trying to pull the underdash off (under the steering column) but its proving to be a nightmare.
 
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Dude I'm no expert but it sounds like you have a short some where. I would start where you herd it shorting behind the fuse panel.

Good lock
 
If you try to start the engine and all you get is a click or a good solid "thump", then the logic path to the starter is good. This is either a faulty connection from the battery to the starter motor or the contacts and plunger need to be replaced.

The wiper issue could either be a faulty switch in the stalk (likely given your description) or the wiper motor needs to be replaced.
 
A long shot but 94-97 80's have the wire loom behind the glove box. There is a bend in the wiring where it would rub on the frame. Trying to find the thread....
 
PDoyle said:
A long shot but 94-97 80's have the wire loom behind the glove box. There is a bend in the wiring where it would rub on the frame. Trying to find the thread....
Click to expand...
95-97, 94s are immune; it's due to the airbag.
 
Correct. What year is the vehicle?
 
PDoyle said:
Correct. What year is the vehicle?
Click to expand...

1993 mate.
I just found it so odd that the shorting sound behind the fuse panel (my vehicle is RH drive) was occuring in line with the wiper malfunction due to the turning of the steering wheel. Ive tried pulling the underdash out but it seems to be held in by the Throttle lock knob under the steering wheel, i got the knob off ok but there is a strange blue clip with metal head holding it in which you cant get to take it off. Anyone ever removed their steering wheel cover and the underdash unit and found it difficult
 
Also i cant seem to find the front wiper relay, anyone know where this is?
 
Ok so I made some progress today, pulled the under dash and steering column out and found that jiggling the wires under the steering wheel turned the wipers on and off.
Once I checked the plug contacts and cleaned them I inspected the steering wheel switch and sprayed some contact cleaner into the mechanism , the wipers immediately came back on (while in the off position) damn it!!

No matter how much I jiggled wires they wouldn't turn off!!

I then checked the control board mounted under the fuse panel (photo attached) the copper switch will click when pressing the wiper spray button , I can hear the washer motor humming but no fluid comes out.

Must be the the steering switch surely ? Looks like a poo of a job to pull it off the steering g column , anyone pulled their off before lol

image.webp
 
image.webp

quasi said:
It's not that bad. You don't remove the column, just the switch. It's a couple of screws, with the steering wheel removed you are half way there
Click to expand...

so you have to remove the steering wheel to do it?
 
Thanks to all who have assisted so far

Back to square one...... After everything went back to normal (except the sprayers) put all the panels back on and car wont start..... Wipers back on. Enough to make a grown man sob......
OK thinking caps here guys
Symptoms:
- Car wont start when the wipers are going.
- When the wipers stop the car will start
- Jiggling the wires under the steering column initially stopped the wipers now it doesnt do anything
- Sprayed contact cleaner into switch mechanism when wipers were off and they came on straight away
- A shorting noise near the fuse panel was heard when problem first started, now there is no noise
- Sprayer button used to initiate a clicking noise at the circuit board (Wiper control board?? photo above) below the fuse panel now no clicking noise
- 10.5V receiving at the washer bottle motor, not sure if that means anything but the motor isnt whirring up and its nearly brand new.

Im really puzzled by this and i cant even start the car to take it somewhere....
 
I'm 99% sure that circuit board you are holding is not factory toyota. I know for a fact nothing like that is on 93-94 or 95+ FZJ80s in the states, and in having worked on dozens of toyotas they don't use inline fuses or plugs of that format. In fact all of that wiring going across your photo looks non-factory. Toyota rarely uses wire that is completely the same color. Even if it doesn't have a stripe it will usually have small painted spots along the length of it.

First thing I would do is figure out what that board is for, remove it, and put things back to factory. THEN the toyota Electrical Wiring Diagrams can be used to troubleshoot things.
 
bloc said:
I'm 99% sure that circuit board you are holding is not factory toyota. I know for a fact nothing like that is on 93-94 or 95+ FZJ80s in the states, and in having worked on dozens of toyotas they don't use inline fuses or plugs of that format. In fact all of that wiring going across your photo looks non-factory. Toyota rarely uses wire that is completely the same color. Even if it doesn't have a stripe it will usually have small painted spots along the length of it.

First thing I would do is figure out what that board is for, remove it, and put things back to factory. THEN the toyota Electrical Wiring Diagrams can be used to troubleshoot things.
Click to expand...
The fact that that circuit board clicks the brass switch when you want the washers to come on , what would that tell you should be there for factory standard? In other words what would the washer switch normally be a part of?
 
I'm not saying it isn't hooked up to the wiper circuit, I'm saying I don't think it's supposed to be there. Possibly a control box for some different kind of intermittent control? Did yours have adjustable intermittent from the factory? My old volvo didnt and there was a special aftermarket system you could get to make it adjustable, for instance.


Either way, I'm attaching the US market 1997 FZJ80 front wiper EWD page. Per this, the combination switch located on the steering column does all the work itself. No external control modules needed other than the wiper motor and included position switches. Not sure whether your Aus rig is the same, but that's why you need a wiring diagram.

Wiper.webp


C15 says [comb. sw], which in toyota terminology is the switch ON your steering column, including all the headlight/turnsignal/etc.
 
Bloc is right, that circuit board you show screams after-market. if you still have the column covers off, try isolating the problems. you have a wiper problem, and starting problem, which may or may not be related. lets unplug the wiper( combo) switch, and ensure the wipers stop. then we can worry about getting the truck to start. in the column is the lower ignition switch(electrical part of the ignition cylinder) and harness. there are heavy gauge wires here. is there any more aftermarket stuff there, like a previous auto start system? all this after-market stuff can create headaches for diagnosing electrical faults. plus get the electrical diagram for your specific truck, Bloc's diagram is great, but may lead you astray if your system is different.
 
quasi said:
plus get the electrical diagram for your specific truck, Bloc's diagram is great, but may lead you astray if your system is different.
Click to expand...


I should have stressed that more.. just used mine as an example of how toyota ran things in some parts of the world.

but yes.. I say it a LOT but still not enough apparently. every person that owns a landcruiser and wants to do their own work needs to get the correct wiring diagrams and learn how to read them. there just isn't any way to relay how useful this info and skill is. And the convenient thing is toyota's diagrams are among the best out there.
 
Thanks guys and I think you are right previous owner must have made a modification in there so now I'm playing headache catchup and having to learn this stuff as I go !
I have a feeling that circuit board is also controlling the ignition but not sure yet I will try again this arvo to see how far I can get to a diagnose . Why it is even there is beyond me , my model is the Vx so it should have had intermittent control so I wonder if i can bypass it.....
 
Just follow where the wires go. Most likely they are tapped into other circuits and can be removed and the taps insulated easily.

The only way it "should" be able to prevent starting is it interrupting the wire from the ignition switch to the starter. Most likely somewhere in the bundle of wires under the steering column.
 
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