SOLVED 15A gauge fuse blowing 2001 LC (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter leveeguy
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
I know this is an old thread, but how did you narrow it down with this light? I'm having the same issue. Lost gauges yesterday. This morning, the engine died while driving. replaced the gauge fuse and it fired back up and made it home (3 miles), then blew again as i was pulling in the garage. I replaced it and tried pulling obd2 codes. No codes. Thinking it's my alternator that's causing the issue, I fired it up and checked the voltage at the battery with it idling, and it read 14.7V. A little high, could that be a faulty alternator that keeps blowing the fuse? How would the light help diagnose that?
Malleus
Far west of Siegen
That is a failed voltage regulator; you won't get a diagnostic trouble code for a failing regulator. FWIW, the alternator doesn't reach its full output until around 3000rpm.
Try turning the on the A/C, blower to high and high beam headlights with the engine at idle, then check the battery voltage. If it's still high, you need a new regulator, or alternator, if you don't want to open it up and replace it.
Try turning the on the A/C, blower to high and high beam headlights with the engine at idle, then check the battery voltage. If it's still high, you need a new regulator, or alternator, if you don't want to open it up and replace it.
Malleus
Far west of Siegen
...that shouldn't necessarily blow a fuse. You may need to fix that just to find your fuse problem.
- Thread starter
- #25
You’d plug the light into the 15 amp gauge fuse slot. It should be lit. Start unplugging electrical connectors and when the light goes out indicates you’re on the trail on the shorted circuit. Your alternator may not be bad as it will not charge the battery when the 15 amp gauge fuse is blown. For the light to diagnose the alternator you would need to be able to unplug the alternator with the light connected to the fuse holder
Replaced the alternator with a Toyota reman. Got a few miles from the house and the fuse blew again. Replaced the fuse and got home. It blew within a mile on my way home. I drove home on the battery. I replaced the fuse again to try to troubleshoot, but now the fuse blows the instant the key goes to ON. ACC is fine, but the second the key turns to ON it blows. I made the test light connected to the fuse to try to troubleshoot, but I have no idea what is connected to the gauge fuse. I don't know if I have the right schematic. But even if I do, I don't know where things are located to start unplugging. How did you guys know where to start? The VSS seems to be the culprit of the gauge fuse for a lot of folks, but I'm not getting any codes. I unplugged it and the test light stayed on. I also unplugged the trailer wires thinking that might be low hanging fruit to check, but the light still stayed on. Does anyone have a list of things to start unplugging to test? I'm mechanically inclined, but not very electrically inclined. I don't know what half of these thigns are... Any help would be greatly appreciated.
- Thread starter
- #29
I remember having a hard time getting a code also but I wasn’t sure if that was due to the cluster being dead that maybe the check engine light wasn’t triggered or the code wasn’t stored for some reason because of that. I can’t remember if I ended up getting a code from TS or not unfortunately
I unplugged the easy accessible one on the center diff.
Thank you for the list, that will definitely help! I didn't realize so many things ran through that fuse. I have my work cut out for me. It's my wife's DD, so I need to get it back on the road. I'll report back as I go through them all in the coming days.
Thank you for the list, that will definitely help! I didn't realize so many things ran through that fuse. I have my work cut out for me. It's my wife's DD, so I need to get it back on the road. I'll report back as I go through them all in the coming days.
Made the light, went through a bunch of plugs disconnecting and checking. Nothing changed. When I put it in neutral and rocked the car forward and back by hand, the test light would dim and the dash lights would come on a little. I thought it was maybe the speed sensors or ABS sensors. I unplugged everything from the transmission and sensors at all wheels. No change. With it all unplugged, I would rock it again, and it would do the same thing, light would dim and dash lights would slowly come on. All of the plugs I checked looked to be good. No burning or anything. I finally gave up and took it to the dealer. Took them 5 hours and cost me $650. Tech said he went through the same thing I did. He said he used my test light, and unplugged everything. Couldn't find it. And was about to start testing the fuse box itself, when he touched some wires and heard a buzz. It ended up being the wire from the 7.5amp alternator fuse to the alternator. Where it passes by the radiator. He pulled the bundle and found a broken wire. He rewired it and it's been fixed!
I would have never found it...
I would have never found it...
