Clock and radio flashing

[StarCruiser]

Hmm, I think those are just spare connectors Victor. It may be the drawing that is showing a later loom, has these commoning block connectors I'm referring to where yours doesn't, I can only go by the 1996 drawing. Paying a professional Could work out expensive as it will probably take them ages to find it as typically the fault will go as soon as they arrive. At least that's what happens to me.

Your best bet is moving wires and parts of the loom to try and recreate the problem. There's two times you can do this, one when the radio isn't flashing and the other when it's completely dead. If it's flashing it's difficult to know if you are causing it in your search. It just takes time finding faults like this. Sometimes lots of time.

I wish you luck with it.

 

[Victor Valentim]

Hmm, I think those are just spare connectors Victor. It may be the drawing that is showing a later loom, has these commoning block connectors I'm referring to where yours doesn't, I can only go by the 1996 drawing. Paying a professional Could work out expensive as it will probably take them ages to find it as typically the fault will go as soon as they arrive. At least that's what happens to me.

Your best bet is moving wires and parts of the loom to try and recreate the problem. There's two times you can do this, one when the radio isn't flashing and the other when it's completely dead. If it's flashing it's difficult to know if you are causing it in your search. It just takes time finding faults like this. Sometimes lots of time.

I wish you luck with it.

It is very frustrating, the only place I haven't check yet is inside the passenger's door. Do you think I could find anything in it?
All the other places have been check, moved, turned, bent etc.

It flashes sometimes, but just when I m driving the car. never happened with me moving the wires around.
I am afraid that everything stopped when I was moving the cables, but it was just an coincidence and the problem is actually in somewhere else, and I am wasting my time looking in the wrong place.

 

[StarCruiser]

I doubt it's in the door but to rule it out you could disconnect the door at the connectors on the side of the footwell and drive it for a bit and see what happens. It's frustrating tracing intermittent faults. I've spent days before now searching for them on complex machinery and it's always something simple that's easily overlooked. Often it's best to leave it and come back to it, like a game of cat and mouse.

 

[Victor Valentim]

Well guys,

After almost 2 months I decided to give up and I ended-up putting a new hire from the fuse box to the lights instead of try to find the actual problem.
It was going to cost me over $500 to fix it and I did myself for $0 (But 2 hours of labour)

I still have the issue now and then, and I am almost 100% sure you guys are more than right saying that it can be an earth issue.

I have installed a dc-dc charge for my second battery (C-TEK), 2 sets of solar panels, fridge and made myself a nice set of drawers for the back. Taking the cost of the fridge on the side, I pretty much spent the money I would use fixing the courtesy lights with all above. HAPPY GUY

I do have another issue with electronic stuff, but I will create another post as it is about something else.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH every single one that helped me here! It is very nice to have people commenting here, trying to help you! and not judging/criticizing things, as we are used to in life.!

 

[StarCruiser]

That’s what we’re here for Vic, to help one another. Glad you got it working. The wire you’ve put in is likely to also be a way of testing and eliminating sections of the wiring. You say it still does it but it seems it’s not so much. There’s two possibilities here, either you disturbed the fault by putting the wire in or there’s more than one fault. As long as the wire is fused correctly and of the correct size it can stay put for as long as necessary. The problem may get worse down the line and become something that you can then replicate (cause to happen at will) and find. I’ve had to do this myself before now.

Drawer system and split charger sounds great. How about some pics?

 

[Victor Valentim]

Sorry I could not organize the pictures as I wanted, not sure how :/


This is the CTEK D250SA I am using with my 2x150w solar panels from ebay that gives me about 12A in a good sunny day.

I tilted my 2nd solar panel after my trip to Fraser island as I felt the rooftop tent was dragging way too much air and the fuel consumption went over a bit (a lot).

The engine bay (I did the best I could to make everything nice and tidy, but will improve later)

Side view of the solar panels

The messy interior...

Solar panels...

A trip to Fraser Island in Queensland Australia. (Biggest sand island in the world, Amazing place)

...

Set of drawers (Still need to do the little side doors...)

 

[StarCruiser]

Your truck looks mint Vic! Really nice. I like what you’ve done with the drawers there. They look nice and simple with a great easy access space for the table that has me thinking ‘why didn’t I do that?’.

On the electrics, ok tidy when you can but before you do anything get some fuses on every + wire where it connects to the battery. It really is important. Rate the fuse to protect the wire and get it as close as possible to the battery Post. There’s some useful post mounting fuseboxes around if you look on eBay and the like. This is on both batteries as it looks like you have a 12v start rather than the usual 24v start. Then when you do your tidying make sure cables and wires are protected and tied down. Split or un-split ribbed flexi conduit is good for this. This is important long term to stop damage to insulation through rubbing or chafing.

 

[Victor Valentim]

Your truck looks mint Vic! Really nice. I like what you’ve done with the drawers there. They look nice and simple with a great easy access space for the table that has me thinking ‘why didn’t I do that?’.

On the electrics, ok tidy when you can but before you do anything get some fuses on every + wire where it connects to the battery. It really is important. Rate the fuse to protect the wire and get it as close as possible to the battery Post. There’s some useful post mounting fuseboxes around if you look on eBay and the like. This is on both batteries as it looks like you have a 12v start rather than the usual 24v start. Then when you do your tidying make sure cables and wires are protected and tied down. Split or un-split ribbed flexi conduit is good for this. This is important long term to stop damage to insulation through rubbing or chafing.

Thank you very much mate! I will be sincere, it took me over 3 months to find the car I was looking for. I got an airplane to see this car (2x), and drove it back home (about 1000km). But I was a happy kid!
There still some things to do, but nothing major. It has 380k km on the clock but still runs very well.
It is hard to find a good cruiser in Australia, most of them are rusty for living on the beach.

The drawers were a hard decision.. I think it looks and function good the way it is (I love not having to move anything to get my table.... even more on quick lunch on the road) But I will need to be creative, and build a drop-slide fridge. It is uncomfortable to get beers the way it is now. They cost over au$700, and I cannot afford suck a luxury thing atm.

I also cannot stand how bad the head-lights are.. I need to put some LEDs ASAP. I am reading few posts here, and I have an idea of what to get now.

The wiring I have done is pretty much the one below the green line (I am running a conduit around the engine bay)
The green circles is where I have the waterproof fuses (1x25amps for the CTEK + 1x10amp for the fridge)
The pink circle is where I need to improve the protection, and put a piece of conduit, and fixed up some old connections.

Thank you!

 

[StarCruiser]

The fuses are great Vic but you have to protect right from the battery OR have heavy enough cables to your fuses to withstand a short circuit until the battery is depleted. Toyota fit fusible links for everything apart from the starter cables. Your fuses will be fine for overload but not if the cable to to them gets damaged. The larger ones are probably unlikely to get damaged but the skinny one that loops over the front of the battery is a concern. I would fuse at the battery terminals if it were mine. Byron lost his truck to an electrical fire exactly in that area and it’s where the bonnet release cable goes so he couldn’t open the bonnet.

I can’t believe that truck has done that mileage that’s amazing condition. I’m not surprised you took the plane. Well found!!

 

[Victor Valentim]

The fuses are great Vic but you have to protect right from the battery OR have heavy enough cables to your fuses to withstand a short circuit until the battery is depleted. Toyota fit fusible links for everything apart from the starter cables. Your fuses will be fine for overload but not if the cable to to them gets damaged. The larger ones are probably unlikely to get damaged but the skinny one that loops over the front of the battery is a concern. I would fuse at the battery terminals if it were mine. Byron lost his truck to an electrical fire exactly in that area and it’s where the bonnet release cable goes so he couldn’t open the bonnet.

I can’t believe that truck has done that mileage that’s amazing condition. I’m not surprised you took the plane. Well found!!

Uhmmm... I got what you mean and I do agree with you!
Do you have any example of it? I cannot really picture it in my mind how to do it.
I am using 6 gauge cables for the CTECK, the red cable you see going to the front is my LED bar.

 

[StarCruiser]

Something like this Vic.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/391995981917

If you search eBay for battery terminal fuse box or something like, you should be able to find something suitable. This one would be great if you got hold of one from a scrap car with the plug connector for the 3 small fuses. eBay also have a new one as a kit. Pretty good a bit large but has 6 or 8 maxi fuses plus space for one or two mega fuses.

 

[Chas]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/391995981917

.

I can see the fuse links there Rich but why are there three blade fuses as well I can't see slots they would insert into.

 

[StarCruiser]

They’re actually in the slots Chas. It’s quite a neat unit. The three fuses are connected onto the loom by a 3 way plug not supplied hence why a breakers would be useful. There’s lots of different types to choose from with some quite elaborate ones. This one is good as it has a short ‘pigtail’ for the battery connection which is unlikely to be short circuited and the main unit can be located for example on the back or side wall of the battery box.

 

[Chas]

They’re actually in the slots Chas. It’s quite a neat unit. The three fuses are connected onto the loom by a 3 way plug not supplied hence why a breakers would be useful. There’s lots of different types to choose from with some quite elaborate ones. This one is good as it has a short ‘pigtail’ for the battery connection which is unlikely to be short circuited and the main unit can be located for example on the back or side wall of the battery box.

So if those three blade fuses are the protection what are the five links that look like fuses?

 

[Victor Valentim]

Sorry guys,

I got a bit confused now... If I have a fuse in line on every single positive cables coming out of the battery, why and how would I install something like that?
In my head it would be a double fused installation. no?

 

[StarCruiser]

So if those three blade fuses are the protection what are the five links that look like fuses?

They are much heavier duty fusible links Chas. Similar to what Toyota fit but a simpler more modern equivalent.

 

[StarCruiser]

Sorry guys,

I got a bit confused now... If I have a fuse in line on every single positive cables coming out of the battery, why and how would I install something like that?
In my head it would be a double fused installation. no?

You have it right Vic. What I’ve shown there is fuses that fit very close to the battery terminal. I have only seen the photo with indication where you’ve put your split charge fuses which I suspect could be a little too far from the battery leaving the cable(s) between the battery and the fuse unfused. If you were to move your fuses closer to the battery, or use what I have shown instead, that would be the best setup. Now, it may be unlikely that your battery cable to the fuse could be damaged, in a front end shunt for example or wear through over time with vibration and may be ok. All I’m saying is something like I’ve shown is better than having a length of unfused cable from the battery terminal that could get trapped against the air box or other negative metalwork in the event of a collision.

The main concern however is the skinny wire going off to your light bar. At the very least you need an inline fuse immediately it connects to the battery. This is the main concern here.

If you were starting from scratch Vic, using something like I have shown would make it easy and neat to fuse each cable at the battery. Apart from the skinny wire, your setup may be fine, I don’t know, I haven’t seen it. You say you have 6 gauge wire. From the table here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_wire_gauge that is 13.3 mm sq which is probably fine for your load but would get hot enough to catch light if short circuited whereas a larger cable such as 0 gauge would cause the battery to lose charge before it became hot enough to ignite and would not need fusing.

With something like I’ve shown fitted, it’s easy to say that under any circumstances the cables are protected. With lengths of unfused cable from battery to fuse it is less easy to say it’s safe under any circumstances.

Other factors are involved such as length of cable run and insulation material but I won’t go into that here.

 

[Chas]

They are much heavier duty fusible links Chas. Similar to what Toyota fit but a simpler more modern equivalent.

I thought that may have been the case, but there are five of them so do I connect circuits to them, if so what connects to the blade fuses? sorry to stretch this out but I'm a bit confused by this

 

[StarCruiser]

On this particular one there are 5 heavy current fusible links of varying ratings and 3 standard size blade fuses of the same rating. In the setup this was designed for, a VW car, there would be set items ready to connect. In the situation of a Landcruiser, it simply makes for an ideal neat unit to connect various loads using smaller than starter sized cable. It can be used for any number of larger loads up to 5 and/or any number of lighter loads up to 3. It is my reasonable assumption that one side of each fuse is connected to a common bus bar while the other end is available to connect to via either a ring terminal or one of the wires in a suitable connector (here https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/172344419111) that plugs in to the unit to connect to one or more of the 3 blade fuses.

If one were inclined to do so, this unit could conceivably replace some or all of the fusible links that Toyota have fitted to the 80 with the added bonus of providing extra connection points for additional equipment.

 

[Victor Valentim]

Guess whos back???? MEEEEEEEE!!!! LOL

And guess what? We are back to the same issue from 4 years ago! HAHAHAHA

Everything has been great with the bypass I did 4 years ago, but this time I decided to install an alarm and everything went well, until I closed the drivers door. For some reason, as soon as I press the courtesy light switch on the driver's door (or close the door), the alarm does not open the doors anymore.
Well, after 3 hours I remembered... the BYPASS! and yeah, back to square one :/