Best way to Battle Multiple Electrical Issues???

[Jonas111]

I recently purchased a 1993 4Runner and I have been fixing all the minor problems but came across a few large electrical issues. I am assuming there is some broken wires somewhere in the body or quite possibly one or more of the electrical relays are faulty.

I have been playing around with the power windows trying to fix them and also installed a new radio. While doing that I have found numerous electrical issues.

Before installing the new radio the old radio wouldn't work unless I turned on the lights. The continuous power was not being supplied to the radio. I found a different continuous power and used it and now it's working fine.

Instead of trying to explain all the electrical issues I wanted to ask everyone, what is the best way to get the electrical fixed on a 4Runner? Is it better to pay an experienced person or attempt to do it myself? I can't imagine it being cheap to pay someone to fix this issues.

Thanks in advance.

 

[KidVermicious]

Electrical repair can be lengthy and tedious. Because it takes so long and people are willing to pay a high price to have it done for them, shops charge a lot to do it.

You can do it yourself. Get an FSM with wiring diagram and a multimeter and start tracing wires. It's boring, and sometimes confusing and frustrating, but it's not hard. If you run into a specific roadblock feel free to post up what you're looking at (and a screenshot of the relevant section in the wiring diagram if you can) and we'll try to help.

 

[RAD4Runner]

... Get an FSM with wiring diagram and a multimeter and start tracing wires...

Exactly. No other way if you want it restored to stock. The fact that radio is taking power from the light circuit means it had a hack-job.

Toyota's are (maybe "were"?) made to last a long time. It's when people do shortcuts/short-term fixes, thinking they're not keep the truck for long, that trucks end up with multiple issues. Like one lie leads to another lie, one shortcut leads to more shortcuts.

Do it cleanly, no shortcuts and document everything so problems do not come back and get you stranded at the wrong time in the wrong place.

Best of luck.

 

[Jonas111]

Thanks guys.

I have gotten a few different FSM and will most likely start the process over the winter months.

I believe I have gotten into a slight hack job. But any help I can get is greatly appreciated.

I will be trying to do my best to get it back to stock. I really like stock so I can use the FSM to find issues.

 

[RAD4Runner]

Plus it will make it easy for others to help when u have stock wiring. Of course, there are parts of the stock circuit that definitely should be improved upon; like the headlight system, maybe your starter relay wiring, etc.