[Dan Leusca]

I don't know if this is a common problem, but here is the situation.

After work I got in my truck to start it up and nothing. First thought; I left something on, but checked that and nothing is was. So then the fuses. All o.k. I tried the truck again and nothing , I mean no sounds, no starter, nothing. So I tried to jump start it. Nothing again. I was fumbled. So I bomb started it and... it ran! I was pretty happy till I tried to coil up my winch cable, it killed the engine. No problm just rev it up a little. But I had to bomb start it again for it to run, but the wich wouldn't work it kept trying to kill the engine.

I wrapped the cable around the bumper and started to drive home on the highway, I turned on the lights and the heater and... dead, luckly it started on it's own because of my speed. So drove it all the way home and parked it. I tried starting it up and nothing.

The thing is I could understand if it was the battery, but it is two weeks old, and when it was under another power source it didn't do anything different. Then there is the alternatore, but I was always under the assumption that I couldn't run off my battery that long ( Langly to North Burnaby ). Then there are the gauges, when I turned the key to the on position everything went on, but when I turned it to start, it all went dark.

Any thoughts? Comments? Or anyone wishing to laugh?

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Hey! If it's broke put more money into it, it may not have worked last time, but it should now!

 

[udermind?]

hey this happened to me and i found that there are some wires next to the battery and they have male/female clips and green in color i found that they wear out and rewiring them fix the problem... hope this helps...


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[email protected]
81 toyo
not much but it's my toy
and it's never let me down EVER
remember what we go in with we must come out with even if it is just parts !!

[This message has been edited by udermind? (edited December 18, 2001).]

 

[Greg]

Sounds like your alternator. Are the "charge" and "brake" lights in your dash lit up?

It doesn't take much current to light up your dash, but engaging the starter or winch takes a lot of current. If your alternator is not charging, your battery will be partially dead, and the current draw from the starter or winch will drop the voltage enough to black out your dash and reboot your computer (Ohm's Law).

Have you driven through any dirty water or mud lately, ie. just before this happened? If you did, try taking a hose to your alternator to clean the dirt out of it; hold the hose to it until the dirty water draining out turns clean. If not, it could just be your brushes, which are about $2-3 for a set at Lordco.


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Greg Sue
85 Toyota X-cab
http://media-north.com/4wd/

 

[BBP]

Weren't you saying you sunk it a while ago Dan? Or at least got water in some stuff?

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'86 Toyscrota, currently in too many parts to count.

 

[dagoat]

I would have to agree with the other guys. Check your altenator to see if it works properly and that all your belts are tight. Most shops like Lordco or PartSource will check your charging system for free. Before you do that, make sure your ground wire on your battery is solid and your terminals are clean. I would then check those "little green clips" that udermind was talking about. Those are a simple fusible link that ends up wearing out on older Yoda's. I replaced all of mine with a standard blade fuse holder and put 30 amp fuses in the appropriate spots. Hope this helps.

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Peter
82 Toy, 31" 10.5's, header, Flowmaster, K&N, but still pretty stock

 

[Dan Leusca]

Hey guys, just an update.

The truck is fine now, I went to a mechanic and he checked all my connections and found that they were coroded and that I had some bad grounds. He cleaned them all up and made some better connections as well. That seemed to be it. A simple problem, but we still couldn't figure out why I couldn't jump start it. Looking into the engine conpartment seeing all those wires gives me a headache. Just thought I'd share that.

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Hey! If it's broke put more money into it, it may not have worked last time, but it should now!