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- #41
Smoked Harness: Lessons Learned
- Thread starter atomicshawn
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- #43
I feel like there are parallels:
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- #44
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- #46
What? You don't think I'm suffering enough here!?!
About two weeks ago I would have traded you problems. Electrical is easy for me.
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- #48
Yes. I've been following your heating issues. Not fun. Thanks for putting it in perspective. I can still think of a few things I would rather do on a Saturday...
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- #50
I was out of town first of the week for work so had to abandon my little "project". Back on it today. Things are coming together. Not quite as nauseating to look at...
I"m sorry i must have missed it, did you decide to get a new wiring harness or a used one?
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- #52
I bought used from Colorado80. $190 shipped. More than fair considering a new is $3k. The used harness is in pretty good shape. There was one connector that sits low on the drivers side floorboard that was corroded with broken circuits. I had to replace the connector. I have a few to spare now. The antenna connector was wonky too so had to do some work there. Otherwise the used harness looks good. I guess I won't know for sure until I hook up the batteries and turn the key.
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Fuses, breakers, links, are great safety nets, but not infallible. Have seen shorts where the draw is just shy of popping the fuse, will heat the insulation enough to soften it, causing multiple wires/circuits to come together in the harness. When this happens, the short can be fed from several fuses/circuits. Make sure you find/repair the root cause, under those conditions it can be a challenge, what looked like the smoking gun, may not be. Found this to be handy in testing, unfortunately the battery saving function turns it off too quickly, so have to keep dicking with it, but still useful: http://www.harborfreight.com/30-amp-automotive-fuse-circuit-tester-67724.html
We recently did the same type of repair, would have preferred to replace the harness, but was ~$4000 and there are multiple types of harness for that year 4Runners, so made getting the correct used one challenging. The dealer took it apart, said the short was in the passenger door, more investigation brought the passenger kick panel theory, etc, the root cause ended up being the lumbar switch in the driver seat, a real puzzle! https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/toms-wiring.779093/
Once it's back together, do plenty of testing, be sure you found the root problem. May want to run one step smaller fuse in the suspect circuit(s) until you are sure.
We recently did the same type of repair, would have preferred to replace the harness, but was ~$4000 and there are multiple types of harness for that year 4Runners, so made getting the correct used one challenging. The dealer took it apart, said the short was in the passenger door, more investigation brought the passenger kick panel theory, etc, the root cause ended up being the lumbar switch in the driver seat, a real puzzle! https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/toms-wiring.779093/
Once it's back together, do plenty of testing, be sure you found the root problem. May want to run one step smaller fuse in the suspect circuit(s) until you are sure.
Holy cow, yea a new one is super expensive. Didn't realize they were that much.... was thinking $300-400... but wow! I was asking because i would want a new one if they were not that cheap just to ensure all the wires and wraps were in great shape and not already damaged from years of heat cycles and being brittle.
But man.....
But man.....
Main cowl harness is always the most expensive one in any Toyota vehicle.
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- #56
I've been dragging my feet on this. Cleaning out my file cabinet, weeding my garden, doing the dishes, anything sounded better than standing on my head buttoning this up. But finally finished tonight! Actually I've been driving it around for a week with everything plugged in but with all the panels off just to make sure I got everything. No smoke. Everything works. And amazingly nothing left over, not even an extra screw... except for this:
Anyone know where this belongs?
Anyone know where this belongs?
Wow ,that is one s*** job ..I don't want to have to do that anytime .
I hope you find the source for sure . I have always too just assumed that a fuse is a fuse..but now I'm going to be checking that they are all Toyota or reputable brand.
I hope you find the source for sure . I have always too just assumed that a fuse is a fuse..but now I'm going to be checking that they are all Toyota or reputable brand.
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- #60
Thanks for the ideas.
You know, maybe? I helped swap an engine a few weeks ago: https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/help-near-willard-utah.811274/ lots of duplicate parts. Maybe somebody found it on the shop floor and decided to 'help me out' and threw it on the floorboard.
My first thought, but the brake pedal return spring is in place and it's significantly larger.
You know, maybe? I helped swap an engine a few weeks ago: https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/help-near-willard-utah.811274/ lots of duplicate parts. Maybe somebody found it on the shop floor and decided to 'help me out' and threw it on the floorboard.
My first thought, but the brake pedal return spring is in place and it's significantly larger.