LX450 electrical gremlins, help! (1 Viewer)

[mjl132]

I just bought another Cruiser, well LX, because it was a great deal. A 1996 LX450 to be exact. Mechanically it is in super shape, front axles have been rebuilt, HG done, regular maintenance, and only 152,000 miles on it. Also, plugged in a code reader and I'm not throwing any CEL's. Also has had the EGR valve bypassed by the PO, so that is done. But... electrical problems galore. So I need some help, please.

The PO said the AC quit one day a few months ago going down the road. I can depress the top row of buttons or the low-high buttons and they will light up, but the AC, AUTO, and circulation buttons will not light up. It also will not blow air out of the vents to speak of. The compressor is spinning the belt and is relatively new he said, about 2 years old.

The radio is dead too, he pulled it and when he put it back in the interior lights quit working. He has also replaced the passenger side window motor and it is reversed to let a window up or down on the switches.

The SRS light, ABS light, and seat belt light all stay on (even when seat belt is in use). The diff lock lights don't light up, even when in low and the open door indicator doesn't come on when a door is open. The door locks work sometimes, and don't sometimes. So I am unsure whether I have an srs fault or not. I do know the ABS isn't working since the pedal doesn't pulse and I do know it does go into 4lo when shifted, just doesn't indicate.

I have checked all if the fuses and they are all good, both under the hood and in the truck. The fuse panel in the cab looks like someone has messed with it before and there are some things disconnected, but I haven't dug under to see. It defiently is different from my 96 Cruiser, so I don't really know if what is disconnected should be or not.

I have tried searching the forums and have only really figured out the radio is locked out likely (since it's factory) and that the LX wiring is different that the LC. I have an LX450 FSM on DVD and have my 1996 FSM on a jumpdrive.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, sorry for the long post. Thanks,

Matthew

 

[mjl132]

Forgot to mention that the cruise control doesn't work either. So many little issues, I lose track.

My hope is as I fix these issues I will be able to post up fixes and maybe help other LC/LX folks with my same electrical issues or similar. Thanks,

Matthew

 

[mjl132]

Someone has to have some ideas of where I can start on a certain problem or the other...

I did see another climate control thread. I am going to try to blower resistor motor control and then the whole unit above my right foot. I am also going to check the windshield for leakage to see if that is maybe the culprit, it rained hard in Alabama last night.

Any thoughts on any of those ideas or any other ideas?

 

[Pin_Head]

Just from looking at the schematic, there is no single circuit fault that could explain all that. Chances are that they are independent screw ups, so you are going to have to go through them one by one.
Do you have a wiring diagram and FSM? If not or you don't know how to read them it is going to be difficult enough that you may want to take it to someone that does chassis electrical stuff.

For starters, pick something easy, like the radio and see if it is getting power.

 

[mjl132]

Radio is where I was going to start, I think an aftermarket unit may fix that issue.

I have a FSM specific to the LX and the wiring diagrams. I can sort of read them and make sense of it, I guess now is a good time to learn and get better. I was really hoping there may be a single fault or circuit blow, but since that might not be the case, I will begin to troubleshoot one at a time and keep everyone updated.

I am really concerned about the AC since it is 9,587 degrees here in the summer in Alabama.

 

[86tuning]

Radio is where I was going to start, I think an aftermarket unit may fix that issue.

I have a FSM specific to the LX and the wiring diagrams. I can sort of read them and make sense of it, I guess now is a good time to learn and get better. I was really hoping there may be a single fault or circuit blow, .

I'll bet this vehicle has been to a few shops before you got it. Or, the systems failed one at a time, and the PO simply kept driving the car, and finally unloaded it to you for what he could get for it.

Get an EWD (electrical wiring diagram) manual specific to your year and model vehicle. Then go thru the systems one by one. The FSM book is not sufficient for this type of diagnosis.

Any competent tech should be able to find the issues, given the EWD book and sufficient time. Doing it yourself, you'll learn lots along the way. Just try to not get super frustrated.

Cheers.

 

[Pin_Head]

One thing that kind of makes sense is that the PO may have had the dash out and forgot to plug something in. The FSM and wiring diagrams are excellent because they show the location of the plugs and harnesses and have trouble shooting guides.

 

[mjl132]

Yea, I thought about the dash coming off and not getting everything plugged back up. I paid a super fair price for it and even with the issues will come out way ahead. I think I have a EWD for the LX. If I don't have one, does some one on the forums have one?

 

[meafordmike]

I am having the same type problems with my new 1990 HDJ81.
No dome lights, no door lights, no clock, and the radio don’t work. The PO put in an after market radio and sub, and made a mess of the wires under the dash. I still haven't figured them out yet. Oh and some dash lights are lit up. All the fuses are good, but the charge fuse is not getting power?
I am hoping that the Dome/ Radio? And clock is on the same system.
All the stuff worked last week till I washed it, then blew my Alt and has been going down hill from there. After it rained the other day my radio and stuff worked for a few minutes, so maybe something is getting wet?

 

[mjl132]

It sounds like you have the same issues as me. How did you test your charge fuse, where is it located?

 

[azTony]

I agree, the radio replacement sounds suspect. The dash is not that hard to take apart and when putting it back together I have forgotten to plug in the connectors to the back of the AC controller.

There are a lot of wires that go through that area. If the new radio is large and it is squeezed in that area like mine is, care needs to be taken when putting it back in or there are a lot of wires that "could be" pressed together very tightly.

I would start there if it were me, pull the radio and inspect all the wiring going through that area. A few hours work.

 

[mjl132]

Pulled dash and radio and everything was plugged in like it was supposed to be. Did notice at some point a PO has disconnected the security system from the little light on the dash. And the glass breakage sensor was cut loose and hanging out. There were also screws missing from the dash area, which leads me to believe someone else has been delving through before me to try to solve issues. Also noticed that the cigarette lighter socket was disconnected and it appears to be an l shaped plug with something else beside it disconnected as well with no where to plug that into.

So, the AC was plugged in. I guess now I am going to test the blower motor circuits and replace the relay. See if that fixes that. Then install an aftermarket radio.

Also noticed that my fuel tank is leaking. I suspected that when I bought it, but was really really hoping that wasn't the case.

I am thinking now of pulling the engine out of the LX and putting in the LC and then parting out everything else. Any thoughts? I'm in this pretty cheap so I could conceiveably make my money back still and maybe a little extra. It's either that or end up paying a shop god knows what to work on it.

Does anyone know anybody in Alabama in the Birmingham area that is an out of work mechanic that wants to make a little cash on the side, plus beer ;p!

 

[mjl132]

Also had water in my passenger floorboard something serious, here is a link to a thread on how to clean the sunroof drains. So... I went to searching and here is a nice thread on how to fix that...

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/181371-sunroof-drain-fix.html

I figure that may help someone else in my situation from searching.

Cheers!

 

[mjl132]

Well I think I diagnosed part of my problems. My sunroof is leaking and the drains aren't clogged. When I pour in water it is leaking through the two screws holding down the frame around the sunroof. One is cracked and the other just leaks. If you look at the front drains it is the only two screws toward the front of the sunroof right behing the drains. I am missing the metal piece that pops up when you open the sunroof, for that's worth.

I traced it down by pulling off the plastic around the doors and the weather stripping. It is leaking from the sunroof out of the metal and then running down the inside of the weatherstripping on both sides to the foot wells. On the drivers side the drain plug is pulled so it drains and it just sits on the passenger side.

When I went to looking at the electrical connections and the wiring harnesses on the drivers side I noticed that two of the wiring harnesses have wiring that is corroded going into them and basically need to be replaced. I think that is alot of my various issues, same with the AC. I think that the AC part that is behind the passenger side dash probaly got water or condensation in it and went kaput.

Any ideas on how to fix the sunroof issue? And where can I get wiring harnesses for what I need? I should be able to splice it all back together to fix it, right? Any ideas?

 

[mjl132]

This is the thread I have been looking at to fix my AC issues, fyi.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/470158-climate-control-unit-not-working.html