electronic system blown

[stevanom]

Hi,

My 87 3.0 blew up all fuses, lightbulbs and realys in 2 seconds.

My voltmeter jumped suddenly up when driving slowly with a cold engine, the warning lights from the brakes and the charging system turned on and the next moment the car blew up ALL the fuses (even the 100A main one) alle the lightbulbs that were on and the relays of climate control, abs, door control, wiper control, blinker control, etc...

I replaced the alternator by a new one, replaced the lamps and a number of relays, put in new fuses. (short sentence for a bloody lot of work)

Now the car runs again, but ...suddenly the voltmeter got to 17v again. So I shut it up. I am afraid to do anything. I do not want to blow everything up again. This is expensive enough as it is already.

Anyone any ideas?

Perhaps oxidated or bad wire from alternator to battery?

Thanks already

[mrnickleye]

Since you haven't found what is causing the problem, it might be time to take the car to an auto electrical repair shop. They have experience. It may be cheaper than for you to spend weeks on hunting it down.

I would charge up the battery, then unplug the alternator before driving it to the shop. run on the battery to protect the system from "blow out".

[stevanom]

Wel, there's a good idea.


The toyota dealer did not hav a clue what so ever, but I saw the dollar signs in his greedy eyes, since I called him when everything was blown.

Now most of it works again. I just do not want history to repeat itsself

[mrnickleye]

Yea...the Toyota dealer techs just aren't experienced with MKIII's. They are old cars. Those guys only work on cars about 1-10 years old.

An experienced tech at an electrical shop should be able to figure things out.

He will understand the systems, and the wiring diagrams.

You might be able to find a shop in town that specializes in Toyotas.

[stevanom]

any idea of how I should describe the prob? Is what I wrote in the beginning making sense?

[mrnickleye]

Originally Posted by stevanom

any idea of how I should describe the prob? Is what I wrote in the beginning making sense?

Yes, your first post makes sense. It seems you had a major voltage spike, that wiped things out.

[SupraDupra]

Sounds like your voltage regulator isn't cutting the alternator off when it has enough power.Since the alternator is constantly producing power at a rate greater than your using it ,that little component would be my first suspect.

[mrnickleye]

And the regulator is built into the alternator.

Have the new rebuilt one checked out. It been my experience (more years than I care to say), that about 1 out 10 rebuilt alternators will be bad right out of the box. And...3 more outa the good ones put on will fail withing 3 years.

Lifetime warranty don't mean a thing when you have to use it several times, or the thing fails when you are deep in the middle of nowhere.

But... new one from Toyota will cost you your first born male child, (and a taco).