I have an 1987 4runner. The last couple months I have noticed that my truck doesn't always start. Sometimes I just hear a clicking and thats it, so I wait a couple minutes and it usually starts up. Well the other day this happened and after it fired up it started acting very strange. 1st I noticed my battery gauge was fluctuating rapidly. 2nd my check engine light was flickering. 3rd I was getting inconsistent power which led to erratic idling. I drove it back home and replaced the alternator and the battery, both the negative and positive battery cables and no I have no power at all. No lights, no radio, nothing. Before I replaced all this stuff I tried starting my truck up one last time to see if it would run correctly but it wouldnt even allow me to roll down my rear window. Obviously it some type of power failure. I have checked all the fuses and they seem to be fine. I am kind of an r&r guy I can remove and replace but do not have the knowledge to do more then the easier stuff.... Any help is much appreciated!!
-rob- Its a 5 speed

im assuming its EFI did u check all the plugs aroung the intake? make sure you have a good ground?

I had an issue just last week with the no gauges and no power to the back window. I simply checked my fuses under the driver side kick panel and one was burnt out. I replaced it and my problem went away. something had shorted and thats what blew the fuse.

Now your problem sounds a little more complicated than that, but maybe this would give you an idea of where to start?

Would a bad starter or relay be a cause??

Nope.

Fuses are either intact or not, which means that low current draw equals fuse still intact.

Sounds like it could be a faulty voltage regulator on your alternator. By now your battery may be toast as well.

Go get the alternator checked.

There is a white wire from the fuse box to the battery that is a fuseable link. It may have burned but will still look ok from the outside. check for volatge from battery to fusebox.

I changed both battery cables..The positive cable just bolted to the starter or starter relay, I don't recall any other wire coming from the battery except negative which is grounded to the lower part of the motor.

to be honest it sounds like you have a bad voltage regulator and/or alternator (originally) and after changing the battery and alternator you accidentally put the battery in backwards. i'd check your posts one more time. assuming you have your battery in correct (and it's charged) i'd say it is probably something in the ignition switch or relay system.

ok Rob so I have the same 4runner. 1987 5 speed with the same problem. My only difference is before the winter, the truck ran just fine. there were no starting problems. Around the feb. time frame i went to start it up and had no power at all. No headlights, deck lights, dashlights. nothing at all. To everyone else, I have tried everything on this thread and nothing has been of use. The only thing i have not done is clean the terminal on the starter where the positive wire makes a connection. Rob did you ever figure out what your problem was? if so could you say how you fixed it?

Did you scrape and re bolt the grounds? These trucks are very picky about grounds

The fusible link that RotaMan2 is talking about looks like this:


Ring terminal piggybacks on positive battery connector, on top of very thick starter wire. Thin, squarish copper plate goes inside fuse block.

Happy Easter!

Was there an answer to this problem? I'm having the same issue with my 87 4runner.