Where are the FJ62 ground points? (2 Viewers)

[JohnCapoccia]

I’m having some bizzare electrical issues. After poring over the wiring diagrams and trying to isolate the problems, I’m stumped. However, there may be one common element, the ground point. Someone said that 90% of electrical problems are grounding related. I hope so...

The wiring diagram says that ground point “b” is on the left front pillar. Can someone tell me where that is with a little more specificity? I’m guessing that it’s behind the plastic panel next to the driver’s left leg, but before I start searching, maybe somebody can point me in the right direction.

Thanks, John

 

[OSS]

I don't know about the 62, but on the 60 you need to put your head on the drivers floor and look up with a flashlight to see the group of wires in a ring terminal bolted to the A pillar. On the 60, the passenger side is much easier to see and access. Same deal. Try looking for it on the passenger side first. Then when you see it and know what you're looking for, take a peek at the driver's side.

On the 60, they look like this. The 62 may be similar. Just guessing about that though.

Driver's side A pillar (FJ60)

Passenger side A pillar (FJ60)

 

[JohnCapoccia]

Thanks, I’ll take a look tomorrow

 

[CenTXFJ60]

If your connections are solid in the A pillars then you may want to look a bit deeper. On the 60 (probably similar for the 62) there are two ground blocks (junction points) where the multiple grounds join up. I’ve seen these melted and I’ve melted one myself (don’t drink beer and install a harness ). On the 60 there is one behind the gauge cluster and another one in the center area of the firewall. Easiest to access if you pull the dash pad.

 

[lcwizard]

You can always add more. New fresh ones never hurt

 

[red66toy]

For the A-pillar grounds, would it be beneficial to run a ground wire from that junction to the main battery ground junction in the engine bay?

 

[doug720]

The body grounds are only as good as the battery grounds connected to the body.

As discussed many times before. you really can't have too many grounds, as bad grounds play all kinds of mischievous games and cause many frustrating problems.

I suggest grounding battery to - engine, starter, body, frame, radiator and dash ground point. In addition, run ground connection between body and frame, and body to engine.

Your results may vary.

 

[JohnCapoccia]

Thanks Everyone. All fixed! The problem could have been in the junction as CenTXFJ60 suggests. That A pillar ground is hard to reach. I extended that ground to another ground point, because I was reluctant to remove the bolt completely to clean the lugs because I was afraid I couldn’t get my hand in there to put it back. So I loosened it and slipped a spade terminal in there and ran the other end to a new point. This helped, but did not clean up all the problems.

The problem was that sometimes my hi-beams wouldn’t work, and when they did, I’d hear buzzing behind the dash, my dashboard turn signal indicators would light up, and if the heater fan was on, it would stop. The problem got worse when the dashboard light rheostat was turned up. And of course, the problem started just after I left for a month long road trip to Alaska. It was a bummer and (dangerous) travelling without Hi Beams in remote areas of Canada and Alaska.

By the way, I have the slcfj62 harness with H1/H4s and I really love those hi-beams!

I was going crazy trying to isolate circuits attempting to sectionalize the problem, until it occured to me after staring at the wiring diagram over days that all the misbehaving circuits had a common ground point.

So I wound up adding a ground to the rheostat, the turn signal indicators and the heater switch. These all have the common ground point on the A pillar. I did one ground at a time, starting with the rheostat, then the heater and finally had to do the turn signal lights to eliminate a faint flicker when flashing the high beam. Everything works perfectly now!

 

[red66toy]

So you disconnected the common ground point for each one of those and ran to a new spot? Sorry it's been a long day.

 

[JohnCapoccia]

So you disconnected the common ground point for each one of those and ran to a new spot? Sorry it's been a long day.

I disconnected and replaced the rheostat ground and the heater switch ground, and I spliced into the ground for the turn signal indicators. The reason I did the last one differently was that I was unable to get the pin out of the connector. I didn’t want to butcher the existing wiring any more than was necessary.

 

[red66toy]

I disconnected and replaced the rheostat ground and the heater switch ground, and I spliced into the ground for the turn signal indicators. The reason I did the last one differently was that I was unable to get the pin out of the connector. I didn’t want to butcher the existing wiring any more than was necessary.

Ah got it! Thanks

 

[plink01]

Hey guys does anyone have a picture or are able to point me in the direction of this supposed grounding/negative point behind the dash??

I have a HJ61 but it should be the same as an FJ62. My fuel gauge is barely reading above empty even though its full. It is still moving a little bit when I turn the key on.

The sender appears fine, the gauge itself looks ok, it seems like a negative issue and I'd like to check this one behind the dash but I can't find it without tearing the entire dash apart.

I've just cleaned the ones on the A pillars best I could without full dismantling it.

 

[red66toy]

Hey guys does anyone have a picture or are able to point me in the direction of this supposed grounding/negative point behind the dash??

I have a HJ61 but it should be the same as an FJ62. My fuel gauge is barely reading above empty even though its full. It is still moving a little bit when I turn the key on.

The sender appears fine, the gauge itself looks ok, it seems like a negative issue and I'd like to check this one behind the dash but I can't find it without tearing the entire dash apart.

I've just cleaned the ones on the A pillars best I could without full dismantling it.

The one behind the dash is behind the gauge cluster. It’s like a 6-8 pin terminal that is capped and taped to the main harness. It looks like an orphaned connector since nothing is plugged into it, but it’s actually a ground junction for a bunch of wires.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

I’ll take a look at one of the 61 harnesses I have in a tote.

 

[red66toy]

The one behind the dash is behind the gauge cluster. It’s like a 6-8 pin terminal that is capped and taped to the main harness. It looks like an orphaned connector since nothing is plugged into it, but it’s actually a ground junction for a bunch of wires.

Found a pic when I took my dash apart.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Here’s a 61 harness. Similar to the gas version. One block behind the gauge cluster and one above the fuse area.

 

[plink01]

Awesome thanks so much for your help! I'll have a look tomorrow night. That shouldn't be too hard to find.

I'm not liking my chances though, I doubt that block would be damaged. The one above the fuse box is nearly impossible to get to. I loosened it a little bit, sprayed contact cleaner in there and tightened it again. If I removed the bolt I'd never be able to get it back in again without dismantling half the car!

I've got a feeling it must be the gauge that's not working. It's unbelievable. I've been spending that last month getting the car ready for a 1 month trip in the outback. Then the fuel gauge dies for no reason a week before I leave!

Any other gauge I could have just put in an auxiliary one and worried about it later.

 

[caladin]

Cruiser Trash shared this on another thread. I'm adding it here as this is where Google lands you when search for these grounds.

Please be aware that this image is from a 1982 Fj60, and is no promise for later models. Be aware that for the triangualr brackets, you are not looking up at them from the bottom so much as out as they are parallel to the outside skin of the truck. The triangle bracket appears to stiffen the connection at the bottom of the a pillar.

CruiserTrash:
Start from the backside of the choke knob as a reference. No look towards the front of the truck a few inches. Now look as far as you can towards the outside skin of the sheet metal. That’s the backside of the upper door hinge - boom there’s your ground.

 

[caladin]

Here is my pic of the passenger side, I've removed the glove box and am looking through the hole where it was. Each pic I zoom out to give more context.
Note the bracket stays in the same top right of center in each pic, I just zoom out and pan slightly left.

The closest pic the brackets's bottom bolt is in shadow of a cable

 

[caladin]

As this is where Google lands you looking for fj60 grounds, it's worth mentioning that earlier fj60 don't have the two grounding blocks mentioned at the top of this thread, each ground is spliced individually in the wiring harness. Not sure when the change occurs, but my 82 model built in 12/81 looks differently and does not have them.

The main obvious difference is
More of the plastic corrogated conduit and less of the smooth foam backed wrap.

Herer Are pics of behind the instrument cluster.

Center and right side

Left side

Hoping to save someone all the time I wasted trying to find them.