Resolved no fuel, no spark I think (1 Viewer)

[Hammer45]

Hey Mudders. I have had an intermittent no start and intermittent sudden dying for the last few months. Runs beautiful and idles perfect when running but suddenly and completely quits with no spark and no fuel. When trying to start during these episodes it sounds like the battery is straining. Battery came with the vehicle but I would charge it and it would seem to hold a charge. Long story, sorry. I reviewed the dozens of no fuel/no spark threads all the way back to like 2007 and felt ready to tackle this today. I bought new fusible link wires and had planned on deleting the connectors just to avoid the multiple sites of failure to conduct properly. I replaced the battery today and cleaned up the one ground by the battery tray and it has done great all day for like the last 3 hours Turning it off and on and pretty much constant driving. This was never the case as it would die after just a few minutes previously. I doubt changing the battery made this miraculous cure and suspect the problem was in the fusible links or elsewhere downstream that the likely higher volt/amperage is overcoming currently.

So the question, do I go ahead and delete the connectors by the battery and crimp and solder the fusible link wire into place? I was planning on a bus bar as well for the smaller wires. Hard to decide when all is going well. I appreciate the feedback. Included some gratuitous images for your help! Darren

 

[OSS]

You’re probably on the right track - bad electrical contact somewhere.

Everything (except the starter) ultimately grounds through this cable marked with yellow arrow. Remove its bolt and burnish up the ring terminal and it’s contact surface around the bolt hole so it’s all shiny metal then snug the bolt back in. If the bolt is gross, replace it.

Cleaning up this key grounding location will take one unknown variable out of the equation.

 

[Hammer45]

Yep. That’s what I did today and used a tap to clean the threads and grinder on the metal and dielectric grease after snugging it back down. So the question remains, should I delete the connectors on the fusible links as suspect that is where the problem actually lies? I messed with them a lot changing the battery and cleaning that ground up. Hate it when I think I’m done just to be away from home and figure out I’m not as smart as I thought.

 

[OSS]

Probably 99% of the time the actual fuse part of the fusible link (the fusing wire) is fine and doesn’t melt. What goes bad on these things is the crummy spade connectors linking the wires together. So yeah — replace the connectors but keep the fuse wire as long as possible.

 

[Hammer45]

That’s what I was thinking as well. So many areas for loss of conduction over time. Thanks for the feedback. I bought a bunch of spade connectors from Toyota matt expecting to redo all of the connectors but then figured out the wire was the fuse not the connectors so I’m kinda bailing out on that idea. Thanks again for the feedback. D