Literally Stranded in Mexico... electrical problemo

IBallEngineer said:
Yeah, its happening to me too. Put the relay back in for now, and after you check that fuse, I want to try starting in neutral.

I broke one of my rules, always check the easy things first. :ear:
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Ok- redid 7.5 fuse check... it's reading battery voltage. I can tell by the dash lights that it's not being fussy anymore, but it will tomorrow I'm sure.

Starts in neutral.
 
IBallEngineer said:
So are you saying there are no more symptoms? That's disappointing!!
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This is the problem. It absolutely will resume not working tomorrow. That I'm sure of. I can tell by the brightness of the instrument lights that it's working now- and that's why this is maddening.
I've read a few other posting and will crawl under and check the starter wires tomorrow a.m.
I'm shattered. Up since 5am. I'm going to sign off IBall, but thanks for troubleshooting with me. I'll write back tomorrow, and perhaps you'll be online. I'm safe in a hotel parking lot so I'm not too worried about having to be here for a day or two. There's also an auto parts tienda in the next village...

Thanks again to all who weighed in!
 
OK, so I'm not disappointed that your truck starts, I'm disappointed the symptoms are gone so we can't NAIL down the failure. The next step would have been checking the Main Fuse Block where it feeds the relay block in the dash. You can see the process in the link posted by ltsr if you want to look to be familiar. If it fails again, try jumping the relay and double check all your voltages. You can always pull those fuses and check for corrosion. If you have time while circumnavigating the World!

PICTURES PLEASE
 
IBallEngineer said:
OK, so I'm not disappointed that your truck starts, I'm disappointed the symptoms are gone so we can't NAIL down the failure. The next step would have been checking the Main Fuse Block where it feeds the relay block in the dash. You can see the process in the link posted by ltsr if you want to look to be familiar. If it fails again, try jumping the relay and double check all your voltages. You can always pull those fuses and check for corrosion. If you have time while circumnavigating the World!

PICTURES PLEASE
Click to expand...

Time is on my side- this leg of the trip is 4 months! Heading to Panama, or thereabouts. I like that jump-relay trick- this may save me arse someday. I'm going to look at the starter wires tomorrow, and someone put up something about fuseables inside the relay box, and the ground straps to the chassis too. (Whoever owned this beast before me certainly sprayed the oil stuff everywhere- which I am now wearing!) There's quite a bit of corrosion down here (yucatan) and it might be something inside that black box. I pulled every single fuse, large and small, cleaned them, electric-jellied them, and replaced them. Battery charged, disconnected my dual battery system too in case this was the issue (it's been in for more than a year and hasn't been a problem) I agree- when the symptoms disappear it's maddening because there hasn't been a fix! It's so random.
Anyhoo- goodnight internet. Thanks for looking out for me. More tomorrow if you're there...
Cheers,
toronto
 
toronto said:
Time is on my side- this leg of the trip is 4 months! Heading to Panama, or thereabouts. I like that jump-relay trick- this may save me arse someday. I'm going to look at the starter wires tomorrow, and someone put up something about fuseables inside the relay box, and the ground straps to the chassis too. (Whoever owned this beast before me certainly sprayed the oil stuff everywhere- which I am now wearing!) There's quite a bit of corrosion down here (yucatan) and it might be something inside that black box. I pulled every single fuse, large and small, cleaned them, electric-jellied them, and replaced them. Battery charged, disconnected my dual battery system too in case this was the issue (it's been in for more than a year and hasn't been a problem) I agree- when the symptoms disappear it's maddening because there hasn't been a fix! It's so random.
Anyhoo- goodnight internet. Thanks for looking out for me. More tomorrow if you're there...
Cheers,
toronto
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Update: The truck continues to work. I'll be examining the starter cables for wear/corrosion more closely when I get to a calmer spot. Thanks again everyone for the help/suggestions. To be continued...
 
Would love to see pics of this epic journey... Perhaps some day I'll be able to partake in such a journey. As it is, with a wife, 2 kids and a mortgage... it won't be happening any time soon, lol.

Godspeed and safe travels!
 
I have experienced this problem before, but not in a hot zone. The negative battery ground wire is probably corroded. Not just the end but under the plastic sheath. If you have access to parts, replace the ground from the battery to the engine block. In my experience, the corrosion slows electrons which flow on the surface of copper strands. It also makes it harder to recharge the battery. But even a good battery can't fix this. Its even worse when its hot.

And it can be intermittent as well.
 
IBallEngineer said:
OK, so do you have a voltmeter? We got this man, I'll help, and so will [MENTION=10169]TheDurk[/MENTION] because he's a real cool guy and we will live vicariously through your travels. By the way, We need pictures, of your rig and ALL your travels!

To me it seems you are dropping voltage, like a bad cable or wire or connections. Let's start at the battery, read voltage, then at the Main Engine room Relay block, check voltage at the input terminal. Let's do it!

:popcorn:
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Sorry I missed this one, but, speaking of the third world, I was on a plane back from Brazil (visiting my '97 HiLux SW4 and two of my kids) and came back into a snowstorm. Glad you are running again and I hope I don't have to, but I'll be glad to help, too, if needed. Where in the Yucatan? I'm partial to Tulum.
 
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