Odd warm-start problem which corrected itself (for now)

[TLC4K2]

I was running errands yesterday, Kaylee was running just fine, all gauges normal, maybe 70F. Parked at a store, went inside for about 10 minutes, came out to start up, and nothing happened. I had no juice going to the starter, and no juice going to the instruments even when the key was in ACC or ON. All my gauges were zero, and the amber Choke light wasn't lit up. Well, phooey. Wondered how in the world I'd managed to drain the battery in 10 minutes. Went inside to ask if someone was around who could provide a jump for me, and less than 2 minutes later climbed back in the LC to get ready for the jump. Wasn't hooked up to the other battery yet. Turned the key to ACC to try one more time, and voila! All my gauges are there, my amber Choke light is on, and it started right up like it always does.

What the heck?

I have the standard 2F engine, good strong newish battery, no recurring charge issues, ammeter usually shows about 14V while driving around, no prior issues with startup. So what happened yesterday? The only 2 things I can think of are a weak connection at the battery, or maybe the ignition cylinder is getting old and sloppy and needs to be replaced. I'll clean the battery terminals this weekend, and I'm thinking about replacing that ignition cylinder anyway, just to be safe. Right now I'm just trying to think of what else it could be. Thanks all.

 

[duncanrm]

I'd be looking at your fusible links first (after an inspection of battery terminal clamps)

 

[sodafeld1]

Intermittent problems on old cars are often electrical, perhaps a loose / perished wire or connection.

 

[OSS]

If you didn’t get the chance to check if the headlights or horn worked when everything was dead - then Yes! It could be a malfunctioning ignition cylinder.

The last thing you did before going into the store was TURN off the ignition. Maybe it’s possible that the lock cylinder isn’t working as it should.

If it ever happens again, be sure to check if the horn or headlights work. If they do - then it’s not a poor cable connection at the battery post.

The engine will always be hot after shut down - so that may not be the root problem.
But yes, as was mentioned, inspect the fusible link connectors. The link fusing wire is probably fine but the connectors can develop a poor electrical connection.

 

[fjc-man]

The contacts inside the electrical portion of the ignition switch are probably worn, creating poor current flow. It’s probably way past due for replacement. Been cycled at least a couple million times.

 

[TLC4K2]

Welll....... I inspected/cleaned the battery terminals yesterday and found multiple issues. First, the positive terminal has cracked and can't be tightened down to snug onto the battery post. In fact the crack only got worse with each effort to tighten it down. Gosh, I wonder if that's the problem. Ya think? But there's more. Secondly, an aftermarket ring terminal on the positive side had worn through some insulation because it was poorly installed and rubbed on the battery housing. Third, one of the factory-installed fusible links' insulation coats has also worn through so I can see a tangled copper mess if I pull back the rubber boot covering that positive terminal side. "Fusible links" wasn't in my vocabulary until yesterday; thanks for the recommendation to go check it more thoroughly. Negative terminal side looks a lot cleaner, but it's got what appears to be the original terminal end and that's starting to look like it's about to crack too.

The very best news? I'm busting busy trying to get ready for a not-for-fun trip in 2 weeks to help my elderly mom move cross country. Not exactly a good time to be dinking around with rewiring something. Kaylee has always been very polite in telling me that there was a problem, before it became an emergency. Glad I have at least a little bit of time between now and when I leave, to sort this out.

I've been reviewing forum threads for what other folks have done, and debating whether to drop the time/money into replacing both sets of cables this week while I've also got so much else going on. Honestly, I might let it sit like a paperweight until I get home. Since I'm seeing so many old-wire issues, I'm thinking to upgrade my wiring with all-new build-my-own after I get home. Thankfully, we weren't relying on the LC to do the move itself so it can sit in the driveway for now. If I absolutely must get it up and running in the next two weeks, I might just see if I can limit the short-term repair to pulling the terminal off that existing cable, replace it with a ring terminal and clamp, then save the rest for when I return. How difficult is it to get that old terminal off the existing cable, and replace with a ring terminal and then marry that up with a new post clamp?

 

[BurntToast]

Couple fixes, these for battery cables and fusible link replacements. Pictures would help

FJ60 Fusible Link Replacement Kit - Plug & Play

The fusible link replacement kit upgrades your Land Cruiser's electrical protection system in an elegant way and easy way and is completely plug & play.

cruisertrashparts.com

FJ60/FJ62 Heavy Duty Battery Cable Sets

The kit costs $155.00 shipped (within US). International shipping is available. The kit includes 5 cables and battery terminal connectors. This kit fits FJ60's and FJ62's. See below for additional kits (FJ40, FJ80 and FZJ80) Kit includes: Battery positive to starter cable (with protective...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[TLC4K2]

Update on this. The good news is that we got the truck running again. We started to diagnose the problem only to find that we had multiple issues: the POS battery terminal clamp had cracked, and a whole bunch of "creative" wiring had been installed over the years to fix various issues. That's as far as we got before we had to leave it alone for a few weeks, while we helped Mom move cross-country. We only got back to it about a week ago. Decided to keep things really simple and just replace the POS terminal clamp with a nice new one.

Now comes the work of undoing a whole bunch of creative wiring that other folks installed over the years. First up is that all the headlight and front turn signal wiring now comes out of a pair of relays that had been taped together and zip-tied above the right front passenger wheel well (as shown in photo below). I'm not sure why someone would have redone that installation, but those two relays are held together with a few turns of electrical tape so I'm pretty sure that's not factory. I'd love to see what the original connections look like if someone could share a photo or two.

We're also starting to think about installing a second battery. I know some FJ60s came with a twin battery setup, but ours only has the one. How involved would it be to add a second battery? We were going to go ahead and replace the old battery wiring with the new kits being offered, including the next-gen replacement for the fusible links. But if we're going to install a second battery, now would be an excellent time to do so. I figured I'd check into that before I spent any $$$ on replacement wiring.

So..... anyone have original wiring harness photos for the headlight assemblies? And has anyone put together a "how-to" for installing a second battery? Thanks all!!