Please assist with what I think is an electrical short

[josefgabriel]

I just reread my post and my what a train wreck. I am going to edit out all but the most relevent question in hopes of some responses.

I believe I am having a short in my electrical system. The battery has been dying (matter of minutes) when left parked and yesterday while driving all of the sudden volts dropped to 0 and the truck died. I believe I have narrowed down the short to one wire coming off the postive battery terminal but I cannot identify what it is or where it leads as it joins in with a snake of other wires. I have determined that the battery will hold a charge when disconnected (new Redtop) and the charging system is charging properly. The wire is maybe a 12 AWG wire, black lead and the jacket is hot to the touch. About six inches pat the terminal is a wire hanger to hang it from a tube nearby and the wire then connects into a bigger channel with a lot of other wires. I took two pictures of it with my crappy pic phone and will post links. If anyone can identify this I would be forever grateful!

http://static.flickr.com/47/172811220_76aa240b26_o.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/71/172810367_30099fd1c2_o.jpg

 

[bridges]

You really need to grab a volt meter from the auto parts store and start poking around.

I'd start with the wire going into the alternator, set the meter where it just checks for continuity between two points, disconnect that wire from the battery and disconnect the small gauge wire going into the alternator and see if it shows a reading. If so, that'll be the culprit.

This is VERY high level b.s. guessing and generally the only way to find these is a planned testing method.

I only say start with the regulator wire into the alternator since the volt meter dropped to zero in motion. But it could be that it dropped to zero after it died in which case the hunt is on...

Best of luck, I hate electrical issues...

Do a search here there was a recent post about tracking down electrical issues that should help.

 

[josefgabriel]

Thanks for your reply. I did see the similar issue and plan on doing this when I get off of work. Good info. I do have a voltmeter with me and plan to start poking around but I was just hoping some guru would recognize the wire and tell me "oh that goes to the AC" and I could just snip it until I tracked down the short point. Also reading up on the info from the other post on MadElectrical.

BTW- Nice Cruiser! I like the paintjob too! /Native Texan finding his way in the Pac West

 

[srplus]

sears has cheap but utilitarian multi meter on sale now for $ 11.77... need coyote for detailed best guess but something i would be certain of first is that your ground was 100% (remove from frame, wire brush and replace w/ new washer) and then check voltage regulator. From your post you sound confident in alternator.

from the quality of the pics i would say either get a new phone or a digital camera.

 

[Tinker]

Fusible link?

 

[josefgabriel]

I have a good multimeter. And yeah the camera on my phone is a piece of Crap (V600). I will take better pics with a real camera when I get home. My ground is great so no issue there.

I will follow Wile's excellent post on narrowing down the circuit. Although is it tempting to just snip that one wire and see what doesn't work. Under the hanger fixture it looks like two wires are joined together with a screw. Maybe I can unjoin them. Tinker, is this what you meant by fusable link? Can you elaborate? I am vaguely familiar with the term but thats about it.

Thanks all!

 

[kling-on]

Fusible link?

2x that's what mine ended up bein by passed it with better wire and havent had a problems

 

[srplus]

Fusible Link

here:



way too expensive from dealer or SOR for fj60... check CDan if this is it.

 

[josefgabriel]

Thanks for the image. However I am still not sure where to look or exactly what it does or how to check it. From the pic I am guessing it is something that attaches to the battery terminal???

 

[WES1977]

Ok you are driving and it drops to zero real fast? That does not sound like a short to me. I don't think you could drain your battery that fast with out welding something.

My guess is an open. Check grounds and clean your batter terminals, fussible link.

A wire being hot tells me that it is being overdrawn or a short.

When the car died, did you check the battery for voltage on the terminals with a volt meter or multimeter?
If you read voltage with the meter on the battery, and don't on your truck meter then there is an open. On your truck do you have an amp meter or volt meter?

 

[josefgabriel]

When it died I was in the middle of heavy traffic so I was rushing to get the car started so I did not take the time to measure the battery. However on subsequent starts, the battery was not showing a charge. I have seen several posts in this thread on fusable links. Can someone tell me how to test for this? Thanks again.

 

[SmallManBigMouth]

Josef,

I just bought a few replacement sets of fusible links from CruiserDan. Cheap, I think like 6 bucks a piece. Though they didn't solve my problem, it's definitely good to replace 'em if you feel like they may be the culprit of your problems.

I think, from your photo at the beginning of the post, that what you may be have a prolem with is the Junction Block that connects one of the small leads from the fusible links. When I replaced mine, that junction block was all melted and I had to cut the plastic from the bolt/nut/washer, and then wrap it in conduit. Cleaning up the corroded metal on that part gave me a little more voltage to my accesories.

Good luck.