Ok let me start off by saying I did something entirely stupid and need help chasing down my issue. I recently had a starter failure and my 7 year old battery drained down to a point that it couldn’t hold a charge anymore. I took the opportunity to upgrade. I installed a big 3 wiring upgrade, new fusible link, new Denso starter, and a new battery. Got everything installed and tested it and the truck fired up faster than it ever had in the past and was running like a champ. I turned it off to start buttoning the truck up and realized I hadn’t put a weather protecting boot on the power connection to the starter. No big deal let me pop that off and throw one on before I put the wheel back on. Well I forgot to disconnect the battery and touched the power cable to the back of the new starter where one of the mounting bolts goes through. Big spark but only once and I isolated it and immediately disconnected the battery. I then reconnected the starter and reconnected the battery, no start. Initially I thought I blew the fusible link so I swapped in another new one. No dice. I definitely had power as the door buzzer, door lights, horn, and hazards worked but nothing else. Cool, must be AM1 I blew. Order one and replace it. Now when I turn the key to the on position I have all my accessories working including stereo and power windows but when I try to start I hear the starter solenoid or relay click once but no crank and the whole truck goes dead again but after a few seconds the power slowly comes back on with the key in the on position and accessories working including stereo again until I try to start and same thing happens. Tried jumping it and no dice. Battery has full power. I read that maybe AM2 is out but for the life of me I cannot find AM2 anywhere in the fuse blocks or in the repair manual. I’m ready to pull my hair out. I even tapped the starter to see if I seized the motor and nothing. Would really appreciate any help y’all can provide in fixing my idiotic mistake. Truck was running fine before all this with 211,000 miles
No start help on 96 LX450
- Thread starter MacK88DO
- Start date
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- no start no crank
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Well, you shorted Battery+ to Ground. Vehicle ground is via a thick cable from the Battery- to the block and smaller cable to the body/fender. From the block there's also a ground strap to the firewall and another strap or two to tie things together around the engine.
I'd check that all the ground leads are intact and haven't fused. Also check that the ground connections are sound and secure. Check at the Battery- as well.
The "power slowly comes back on" - what does that exactly mean? If the battery is really in good condition, then it shouldn't be 'recovering', so maybe that also points to some compromised ground wiring.
Given the short you describe, none of the fuses should have opened up since there is no fuse in the path you shorted, or at least I can't think of one.
cheers,
george.
I'd check that all the ground leads are intact and haven't fused. Also check that the ground connections are sound and secure. Check at the Battery- as well.
The "power slowly comes back on" - what does that exactly mean? If the battery is really in good condition, then it shouldn't be 'recovering', so maybe that also points to some compromised ground wiring.
Given the short you describe, none of the fuses should have opened up since there is no fuse in the path you shorted, or at least I can't think of one.
cheers,
george.
- Thread starter
- #3
Essentially, when I move the key from ACC to ON the lights on the dash all turn off and I will hear what sounds like relays clicking behind the dash before the door chime slowly comes back on and the lights on the dash come on. Then the OBD fires up and the radio is functional. But when I was just out there the check engine light blinks. I will go back through and recheck all the ground straps. The cable that made contact with the starter was the main starter power cable that was connected directly to the positive terminal of the battery where the fusible link is also attached.
- Thread starter
- #5
So just to provide an update. All grounds were good and all fuses. Tested the battery again and showed 12.7v resting. Load test showed it dropped to 2v while trying to crank. Just swapped out the battery and all is right in the world and running beautifully. I think I fried the internals of the agm battery when I grounded it. Very much appreciate everyone’s help!
Glad to see the update and all is well.