Shop says fuse panel/box is corroded and will cost thousands to fix.
- Thread starter NormDuke
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Hey Norm,
It's true that junction boxes can be close to a thousand dollars from the dealer, you can find them online for around $500. The one under the hood is easier to access/replace than the kick panel ones. Here's a thread where someone replaced their #1 junction box, which is under the hood.
This is a vague statement, but one thing they might be trying to say, is that when you install a used ECU, such as from a junkyard, it needs to be reprogrammed to work with a different vehicle. This can be done, but maybe the dealership is refusing to do it, and insisting that you buy a new one. This isn't a technical limitation, sounds like it's their policy.
What symptoms are you seeing that the dealership is diagnosing as a bad junction box? A common issue on these trucks is that a bad windshield seal will cause rain to get in and leak on the junction box, which causes random electrical issues.
It's true that junction boxes can be close to a thousand dollars from the dealer, you can find them online for around $500. The one under the hood is easier to access/replace than the kick panel ones. Here's a thread where someone replaced their #1 junction box, which is under the hood.
This is a vague statement, but one thing they might be trying to say, is that when you install a used ECU, such as from a junkyard, it needs to be reprogrammed to work with a different vehicle. This can be done, but maybe the dealership is refusing to do it, and insisting that you buy a new one. This isn't a technical limitation, sounds like it's their policy.
What symptoms are you seeing that the dealership is diagnosing as a bad junction box? A common issue on these trucks is that a bad windshield seal will cause rain to get in and leak on the junction box, which causes random electrical issues.
- Thread starter
- #3
That's what happened. Rain leaked in from windshield and got into the fuse box by the driver side door. It caused some weird issues like windows not working, locks not working etc. So they're saying it's corroded and needs to be replaced and the dealership is saying it will cost $2000
mdcoa
SILVER Star
Before diving in, ask about harness corrosion, too. I had a 200 (briefly—dealer was a stand up guy and took it back after it became apparent there were major gremlins) that had a sunroof leak that got into the main harness junctions and corroded the harness components themselves—I was looking at thousands to do a total interior gut and harness replacement...
If I were you, I would get the cruiser out of the rain, and put a blower in there over night and get the inside as dry as possible. If you don't have a blower, it would probably work to start the truck and run it for a few hours with the heater on MAX, A/C on, vents set to the footwell, and recirculation turned on. This combination of settings will result in the hottest, driest air. Don't leave the car running in a garage without adequate ventilation! The electrics in the 100 series are fairly robust, sometimes the problems you're seeing can be caused by residual moisture, not corrosion. It's a worth a shot to see if your electrics are still serviceable after being dried out.
The other alternative would be to put your land cruiser in a large bowl of rice overnight
- Thread starter
- #6
Well the thing is that everything pretty much works at the moment. It hasn't leaked in a quite a while. The shop just said it's corroded and needs to be replaced.
Haha, don't do that. It sounds like you caught your problem early enough that your symptoms were only the result of residual moisture, and no serious corrosion has happened yet. The thing to do is: make sure your cruiser doesn't get rained on until the windshield is fixed, and get it fixed exactly like the factory service manual says to fix it. I'll attach a PDF of the relevant section of the FSM. The mistake that is frequently made is that the bodywork isn't thoroughly cleaned up and prepped after old windshield removal, and that the correct nylon rivets are not used to install the new windshield. Carefully read @2001LC 's thread here.
After you get the windshield issue fixed, I would recommend buying a roll of 3M 5557 Water Contact Indicator Tape. This is the same stuff used inside smartphones/laptops to detect water damage. It's white at first, and it turns bright red when it comes in contact with water. After you fix your windshield, remove your A pillar trim and put this tape around the inner part of the windshield seal. Also put some on your junction box and ECU. Then, you can periodically inspect the color of the tape to determine if you're still getting water ingress.
One other thing to think about is your sunroof drains. They run from the holes in the sunroof channel, down your A pillars, to underneath the car. It's clear, quarter inch tubing, you can see it if you remove your A pillar trim. When these get clogged, the water tends to end up in the wrong places. You can test your sunroof drain by opening your sunroof and carefully pouring water into the holes in the front part of the channel. You should see it drain out underneath the vehicle fairly quickly.
Back when I had my 2004 BMW 5 series, I had a large ~5 gallon tub of water in the trunk. I was driving on twisty roads, listening to music having a great time, completely forgetting I had 5 gallons of water sliding around back there. All the sudden, music stops, center stack goes dark, warnings on the dash, etc. The water tub was pierced and about 5 gallons of water was sloshing around in the tire well, where as it turns out, the car's ECU is located. I'm thinking $hit this is going to be an expensive lesson on why you don't let large buckets of water slide around in your trunk while listening to music. With nothing to lose, I did similar to what @khymel5 recommended. I opened everything up, opened the ECU, towel dried what I could, and okey rigged up a couple hair dryers to blow on the affected area from a few feet away. After it was all dried out it looked corroded with white residue, but everything worked again, and I never had another issue.
So long story short, I wouldn't pay $$ to fix unless the problem comes up again.
So long story short, I wouldn't pay $$ to fix unless the problem comes up again.
- Thread starter
- #9
I tried to get the windshield replaced but whoever did it before really ****ed it up and the windshield company said they couldn't do anything for it and maybe a body shop place could. I put a view pics up before of it. Here's one. The pillar is rusty and the rest is bad lol
I have checked those drain holes before though
Wow, they really butchered it. Here's what I would do in your situation. Order ALL the parts you'll need to do the windshield job, including prep chemicals, rivets, trim, moulding, etc. Then have safelite come out and remove your old windshield. Then you can take a few days to clean/prep it yourself, wire wheel away all the rust, POR15, etc. Then, get them to come back and just place the windshield and leave. Then, you can do the rivets and trim yourself.
Alternatively, if you don't have the time for all of this, you could go to the Lexus/Toyota dealership, ask them to totally replace the windshield and all the associated trim, and hand them a bag of those nylon pop rivets, a printout of the windshield section of the FSM, and beg them not to take any shortcuts.
When you say the pillar is rusty, it's just surface rust right? Or is it beyond the point of no return?
Alternatively, if you don't have the time for all of this, you could go to the Lexus/Toyota dealership, ask them to totally replace the windshield and all the associated trim, and hand them a bag of those nylon pop rivets, a printout of the windshield section of the FSM, and beg them not to take any shortcuts.
When you say the pillar is rusty, it's just surface rust right? Or is it beyond the point of no return?
- Thread starter
- #11
Wow, they really butchered it. Here's what I would do in your situation. Order ALL the parts you'll need to do the windshield job, including prep chemicals, rivets, trim, moulding, etc. Then have safelite come out and remove your old windshield. Then you can take a few days to clean/prep it yourself, wire wheel away all the rust, POR15, etc. Then, get them to come back and just place the windshield and leave. Then, you can do the rivets and trim yourself.
Alternatively, if you don't have the time for all of this, you could go to the Lexus/Toyota dealership, ask them to totally replace the windshield and all the associated trim, and hand them a bag of those nylon pop rivets and beg them not to take any shortcuts.
When you say the pillar is rusty, it's just surface rust right? Or is it beyond the point of no return?
I'm pretty sure it's surface rust. I'd like to sand off some of that paint and check though lol
That's exactly what 2001LC does in the thread I linked above, good reading material if you're preparing to do it yourself. I wouldn't attempt it unless I had covered parking at home.
