Electrical short?? Random electrical issues?

[Fanman47]

Hello all. 2004 limited v6 140k miles. Started to notice some random electrical issues:

1. Right blinker acted as if it was out (blinking fast) then went back to normal. Bulb is fine

2. Radio switches from CD to AM on its on

3. AC goes from low to high on its own

4. Door key chime works sporadically with key in and door open.

These all seem pretty unrelated. However I'm wondering if there could be a common short or area causing all these problems. We are noticing something about every 3rd day. I drove it 500 miles last weekend and didn't notice anything. Any ideas? Toyota wants $125 to check it out.

 

[Rommel]

I seems to be having the same problem as well.

 

[gm350reratliff]

I would check the battery terminals, all grounding points ( chassis, body, engine ), make sure all harnesses are plugged into the fuse boxes, check that all fuses are properly seated, battery voltage ( at rest, running, and cranking ).

 

[BlackWorksInc]

I would check the battery terminals, all grounding points ( chassis, body, engine ), make sure all harnesses are plugged into the fuse boxes, check that all fuses are properly seated, battery voltage ( at rest, running, and cranking ).

This is what I would check first, it sounds like you have one or more poor grounds/powers to the vehicle which is causing erratic operation.

Has the vehicle been in an accident or a shop for major work? Typically body shops tend to forget ground wires and straps in my experience when doing a lot of major work to a vehicle, even shops tend to forget them sometimes.

 

[Rommel]

This is what I would check first, it sounds like you have one or more poor grounds/powers to the vehicle which is causing erratic operation.

Has the vehicle been in an accident or a shop for major work? Typically body shops tend to forget ground wires and straps in my experience when doing a lot of major work to a vehicle, even shops tend to forget them sometimes.

Would using dielectric grease be a good idea?

Also, I tried searching for ground location. How many do we have in the truck? I know there is one that goes off the battery, but where are the other ones?

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Would using dielectric grease be a good idea?

Also, I tried searching for ground location. How many do we have in the truck? I know there is one that goes off the battery, but where are the other ones?

Dielectric grease won't hurt, but really won't do much of anything in this situation. There's a few grounds on the vehicle, typically one or two from the engine to the frame and a dozen or so through out the vehicle for various modules and such. You really wanna check the big grounds such as the battery ground, frame grounds, ect. I will see if I can dig up a diagram of them sometime this week.