Electrical Short

primo · 08-07-2010, 01:45 AM

I have a problem with my 85 Supra that I will try to narrow down all events for. The car is 100% stock, 190k miles.
1.New battery as of 2 months ago
2.replaced fan clutch, belt is separate from alternator. System ran fine, sat for a day, ran fine on way to gas up.
3. After gas up, attempted start and whole system died. No clicks, no wimpy grinds, nothing. No lights on dash, no power anywhere. Looked for smoke and smelled for it, nothing seen or sensed.
4. Sat for half hour, tried again, no power anywhere. Did my wires fry? I looked, smelled, saw nothing smelled nothing.
5. Stop laughing this is absolutely serious ...
6. Called nearest buddy who came out in 15 mins - he's mine, you can't borrow him. At the instant that he laid his jumper lead on my battery all life returned, full 12-13 volts. The car started instantly. Hmm.
7. I tried turning on the lights - ding, all power ended, car dead. No power, lights, clicks, ... nothing.
8. Buddy touched the lead on neg again and all life returned. This time, I kept the lights off. I tried rolling windows down, and this affected the voltage reading which went up, not down. Hmm, shorting? Bad ground?
9. I thanked buddy appropriately and drove off. I noticed that as the rpm reached 3k it began to sputter. Hmm, I kept lights off, radio off, windows untouched, and all special accessories off. I also kept the rpms below 3k. It drove fine for my 60 mile ride back home - mostly freeway.
10. At home tested actions in 7 and 8 which repeated exactly. I have a new battery. None of my wires are smoked. I thought maybe I lost my voltage regulator in my alternator.
11. Removed alternator and took it to Checker auto who had a load tester there. The alternator tested fine at 15.4 max volts. All tests passed.
12. The wiring has a number of "link fuses" all which appear to be normally old looking, none burned or misshapen.
13. Is this the result of a bad ground? burned link fuse/s? still the alternator is at fault? I can voltage test anything, but I don't know what I should read at any point on the bus/wire.

CanadianBak'inSupra · 08-09-2010, 05:25 AM

your symptoms are identicall to what went wrong when some one jumped my car and they put the terminals on backwards...
fried my alternator...

but if you say alt. is fine, i would start by checking all the fuses, and grounds.
do a search for the grounds:
http://www.cygnusx1.net/Supra/Librar...2/default.aspx

in my case i just replaced alt. and everything was fine.

did you check to make sure it was the correct battery??

also try posting @ www.celicasupra.com

there isnt many mk2 people here and i blow @ wiring.

CanadianBak'inSupra · 08-09-2010, 05:26 AM

possibly clean your cables that go onto the battery, could be corroded.

Old Man Supra · 09-20-2010, 10:28 PM

Hi, You can read my thread here and the problems I had when the cables to the battery were mixed........... ZAP!!!!!!!!. Blew fuses but replaced them............darn near all of them, under the hood and in the kickpanel in the driver side,checked everything else out. No fuel pumping..............no spark..............turned out to be the PCM/ECU.Once that was replaced it all came back as before no worse for wear............I got really lucky! OMS

Travis89Turbo · 09-20-2010, 10:53 PM

In my opinion. Unless he unhooked that battery while pumping gas. Which i doubt he did. its not fuses. And fuses are not Intermittant. if they are blown there blown. Now a relay very possible. Corroded battery cable. Or ground, very Likely. and when u jumped it it had enough ampereage to push past the resistance or corrosion. Check cables first.

Old Man Supra · 09-20-2010, 11:05 PM

Hi, I guess what I'm saying is check everything you can and go by the process of elimination. When I replaced all the fuses I got lights, radio, dash lights,..............everything as before the zap due to having it connected wrong at the battery terminals but still no spark or fuel pumping which COULD have been other things. I didn't run any codes I just looked at the wiring diagram and the brain behind those functions WAS the brain of the car............. the PCM.Just putting forth what worked for me in this sitiuation,yours could certainly be different.OMS

Travis89Turbo · 09-21-2010, 02:01 AM

Primo. ..... . I apologize I didnt look at the year of your car... please go to the user cp and edit your signature with the info of your vehicle and any mods. It makes it a lot easier to help you more accuratly. btw what part of Utah u from. I'm around the cleafield area.
Based on ur year check your fusible links in my old mkii I had a similar problem it was actually the first thing that popped into myhead but I now own an mkiii and they don't have fusible links any more (weird huh).

CanadianBak'inSupra · 09-21-2010, 05:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis89Turbo

Primo. ..... . I apologize I didnt look at the year of your car... please go to the user cp and edit your signature with the info of your vehicle and any mods. It makes it a lot easier to help you more accuratly. btw what part of Utah u from. I'm around the cleafield area.
Based on ur year check your fusible links in my old mkii I had a similar problem it was actually the first thing that popped into myhead but I now own an mkiii and they don't have fusible links any more (weird huh).

i think they do
http://www.cygnusx1.net/Supra/Librar...ection=FI&P=30

the fusable links are a pain in the a** to get a hold of:
http://www.celicasupra.com/forums/sh...hlight=fusible

mk2 fusibles:
http://www.cygnusx1.net/Supra/Librar...aspx?S=FI&P=29

Travis89Turbo · 09-21-2010, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanadianBak'inSupra

i think they do
http://www.cygnusx1.net/Supra/Librar...ection=FI&P=30

the fusable links are a pain in the a** to get a hold of:
http://www.celicasupra.com/forums/sh...hlight=fusible

mk2 fusibles:
http://www.cygnusx1.net/Supra/Librar...aspx?S=FI&P=29

The fusible link on mkiii is more a fuse then anything. Not the actual jumpers like the mkii. not quite sure why they call it a link. It's about the size of a relay and looks just like one too with the exception of the starter fuse, and if it needs replaced u just buy the fuse. But u are correct according to the tsrm they are fusible links.

CanadianBak'inSupra · 09-21-2010, 10:53 PM

lol, i only know because i had to replace all of them on my 87 n/a and all my fuses as well as main relay, ecu and a couple other things.

08-07-2010, 01:45 AM	#1
primo Stock Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Utah Posts: 2	Electrical Short I have a problem with my 85 Supra that I will try to narrow down all events for. The car is 100% stock, 190k miles. 1.New battery as of 2 months ago 2.replaced fan clutch, belt is separate from alternator. System ran fine, sat for a day, ran fine on way to gas up. 3. After gas up, attempted start and whole system died. No clicks, no wimpy grinds, nothing. No lights on dash, no power anywhere. Looked for smoke and smelled for it, nothing seen or sensed. 4. Sat for half hour, tried again, no power anywhere. Did my wires fry? I looked, smelled, saw nothing smelled nothing. 5. Stop laughing this is absolutely serious ... 6. Called nearest buddy who came out in 15 mins - he's mine, you can't borrow him. At the instant that he laid his jumper lead on my battery all life returned, full 12-13 volts. The car started instantly. Hmm. 7. I tried turning on the lights - ding, all power ended, car dead. No power, lights, clicks, ... nothing. 8. Buddy touched the lead on neg again and all life returned. This time, I kept the lights off. I tried rolling windows down, and this affected the voltage reading which went up, not down. Hmm, shorting? Bad ground? 9. I thanked buddy appropriately and drove off. I noticed that as the rpm reached 3k it began to sputter. Hmm, I kept lights off, radio off, windows untouched, and all special accessories off. I also kept the rpms below 3k. It drove fine for my 60 mile ride back home - mostly freeway. 10. At home tested actions in 7 and 8 which repeated exactly. I have a new battery. None of my wires are smoked. I thought maybe I lost my voltage regulator in my alternator. 11. Removed alternator and took it to Checker auto who had a load tester there. The alternator tested fine at 15.4 max volts. All tests passed. 12. The wiring has a number of "link fuses" all which appear to be normally old looking, none burned or misshapen. 13. Is this the result of a bad ground? burned link fuse/s? still the alternator is at fault? I can voltage test anything, but I don't know what I should read at any point on the bus/wire.

08-09-2010, 05:25 AM	#2
CanadianBak'inSupra Official hall monitor / search nazi - NO SOUP FOR YOU! Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Canada, BC Posts: 837	your symptoms are identicall to what went wrong when some one jumped my car and they put the terminals on backwards... fried my alternator... but if you say alt. is fine, i would start by checking all the fuses, and grounds. do a search for the grounds: http://www.cygnusx1.net/Supra/Librar...2/default.aspx in my case i just replaced alt. and everything was fine. did you check to make sure it was the correct battery?? also try posting @ www.celicasupra.com there isnt many mk2 people here and i blow @ wiring. __________________ 1984 supra - 1uzfe - w58 - 4.10 - 1 piece aluminum shaft.

08-09-2010, 05:26 AM	#3
CanadianBak'inSupra Official hall monitor / search nazi - NO SOUP FOR YOU! Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Canada, BC Posts: 837	possibly clean your cables that go onto the battery, could be corroded. __________________ 1984 supra - 1uzfe - w58 - 4.10 - 1 piece aluminum shaft.

09-20-2010, 10:28 PM	#4
Old Man Supra Stock Join Date: May 2010 Location: Minnesota Posts: 13	Short on a Supra? Hi, You can read my thread here and the problems I had when the cables to the battery were mixed........... ZAP!!!!!!!!. Blew fuses but replaced them............darn near all of them, under the hood and in the kickpanel in the driver side,checked everything else out. No fuel pumping..............no spark..............turned out to be the PCM/ECU.Once that was replaced it all came back as before no worse for wear............I got really lucky! OMS

09-20-2010, 10:53 PM	#5
Travis89Turbo 12psi boost Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Utah Posts: 332	In my opinion. Unless he unhooked that battery while pumping gas. Which i doubt he did. its not fuses. And fuses are not Intermittant. if they are blown there blown. Now a relay very possible. Corroded battery cable. Or ground, very Likely. and when u jumped it it had enough ampereage to push past the resistance or corrosion. Check cables first. __________________ 1995 Toyota Supra SE 71k miles. Master power T70 stock 2jzge 1989 Toyota Supra. 1jzgte swap 5 speed of course.. Driftmotion 60-1 single turbo kit. Cxracing FMIC. 2jz 550cc injectors... soon to come..... EMS Stinger. BC 264 cams 680cc injectors Spec stage 4 clutch and A LOT of boost!------SOLD 1999 Ford F350 diesel 2004 Jaguar XJR Supercharged If it hasnt broke you haven pushed it hard enough!!

09-20-2010, 11:05 PM	#6
Old Man Supra Stock Join Date: May 2010 Location: Minnesota Posts: 13	Supra Hi, I guess what I'm saying is check everything you can and go by the process of elimination. When I replaced all the fuses I got lights, radio, dash lights,..............everything as before the zap due to having it connected wrong at the battery terminals but still no spark or fuel pumping which COULD have been other things. I didn't run any codes I just looked at the wiring diagram and the brain behind those functions WAS the brain of the car............. the PCM.Just putting forth what worked for me in this sitiuation,yours could certainly be different.OMS

09-21-2010, 02:01 AM	#7
Travis89Turbo 12psi boost Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Utah Posts: 332	Primo. ..... . I apologize I didnt look at the year of your car... please go to the user cp and edit your signature with the info of your vehicle and any mods. It makes it a lot easier to help you more accuratly. btw what part of Utah u from. I'm around the cleafield area. Based on ur year check your fusible links in my old mkii I had a similar problem it was actually the first thing that popped into myhead but I now own an mkiii and they don't have fusible links any more (weird huh). __________________ 1995 Toyota Supra SE 71k miles. Master power T70 stock 2jzge 1989 Toyota Supra. 1jzgte swap 5 speed of course.. Driftmotion 60-1 single turbo kit. Cxracing FMIC. 2jz 550cc injectors... soon to come..... EMS Stinger. BC 264 cams 680cc injectors Spec stage 4 clutch and A LOT of boost!------SOLD 1999 Ford F350 diesel 2004 Jaguar XJR Supercharged If it hasnt broke you haven pushed it hard enough!!

09-21-2010, 10:53 PM	#10
CanadianBak'inSupra Official hall monitor / search nazi - NO SOUP FOR YOU! Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Canada, BC Posts: 837	lol, i only know because i had to replace all of them on my 87 n/a and all my fuses as well as main relay, ecu and a couple other things. __________________ 1984 supra - 1uzfe - w58 - 4.10 - 1 piece aluminum shaft.

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