Lost all electrical power

[cavemancaleb]

My brother drives a 95.5 3rz taco

He called me yesterday and said that after he parked his car and went back out to start it he had no power, he tryed to jump it and nothin, i told him to test his battery and get a new one.

Battery was bad, put in a new battery and still nothin.

My problem is he lives 12 hours away so i cant look at the truck.

Just wonderin if this is a common problem and if anyone had any quck fix ideas i could tell him about.

 

[Combat Chuck]

check some fuses, and fusable links.
That's where I'd start.
I'd also look at the battery cables, maybe something's come loose.
Check out the gounding, too.
Even with EFI, the wiring that makes a Toyota go is stupid simple, and anything resembling a no-start means theat there's just a break in the line somewhere. Often the positive line off the starter will wiggle loose, or the negative lead will corrod through. Another failure-prone area is the positive standoff from the battery connector to the harness itself. It can come loose, and suddenly, there's nothing going to the engine.
I'm brewing up a fix for this problem that I'll share soon enough.

Does it crank?
Does he have dash lights?
Crank/no catch means no power to the coil.
No crank/dash lights means something to do with starter power
Nothing/Nothing, start looking at fuses.

 

[KayakPanic]

I'd also look at the battery cables, maybe something's come loose.
Check out the gounding, too.
Even with EFI, the wiring that makes a Toyota go is stupid simple, and anything resembling a no-start means theat there's just a break in the line somewhere.Does it crank?
Does he have dash lights?
Crank/no catch means no power to the coil.
No crank/dash lights means something to do with starter power
Nothing/Nothing, start looking at fuses.

This is SAGE advice...sounds like a ground problem to me. Clean up both contacts, and I mean take a small/med wire brush and crosss-hatch sand into the paint and copper (of both sides of the connectors), and clean both of the battery terminals AND the inside of both of the batt connectors!

Report back for more advice...

p.s. There should be between 3-5 factory grounds from the engine block and electronics, to the frame of the veehicle. My '95.5 Tacoma had 2 of them cut before I owned it...

 

[KayakPanic]

cross-hatch clean, and sand both sides of the electronic connector at the starter itself as well...

If you had/have a voltmeter, you can quickly figure out where you electronic problem is at!