dixiemuddtoy

What's up guys!

Okay, so I've got a new problem related to an older radio / cig / clock circuit problem that I posted about a little while ago.

1986 Toyota pickup, 4x4, 22re, 5 speed.

So basically, this is what happens: I will be sitting at a redlight / stopsign, and if i'm not carefully slow taking off from a standstill, will result in the volt meter surging low, and causing the radio / cig / clock circuit to pop the fuse (I know this is BAD, but I have even went as far as putting 40a fuses in the radio spot...and it still eventually pops it!!) It appears that the fuse popping is related to the amount of torque / power applied during take off?!? NO OTHER circuit is affected, and once the fuse is popped, the surging of the volt meter no longer happens.

This is what I have recently done to solve other volt / amperage issues, with no resolve of the radio problem:

-new reman'd duralast 120a jaguar alternator, 2ga wire directly to battery; 4 ga ground wire attached to through bolt in alternator to body

-Deka 31M AGM heavy duty deep cycle marine / RV battery....for those looking for the best battery, this is one of the baddest batteries you can put in a truck; with 800/1000 cca's, 200 reserve capacity and 20 AH rating of 105, it doubles the best optima has to offer!! http://www.dekabatteries.com/assets/base/1741.pdf
(OH, and they are all made in the states...which is NOT the case for Optima anymore )

Grounding solutions: I have checked the 4 primary grounding locations for the motor / battery, and regrounded the battery to the frame at the frame-side of the motor mount bolt with 2ga primary wire, and the block has been reground to the frame (at the same spot as the battery ground) with 4ga wire; the head is ground to the firewall with 4ga wire to the rear engine hoist location; the alternator utilizes factory ground in harness, plus additional ground spoken about earlier.

Pulled the fuse block in the driver's kick panel, and checked the ground for the fuse block...appears intact and good at the radio fuse, no corroded, blackened or frayed wiring; also good at the body ground bolt.

Sorry for writing so much, just wanted to paint a picture for yall. So once again, to the electrical wizards of Yotatech, do you have any possible solutions to this problem that I am having?? Please help!!

scope103

Holy Crap! Do you put pennies into the fuse box at home? (Okay, you're not old enough to even know what a fuse box is. Long ago, when someone had an electrical problem that was blowing fuses, they could "get around" the problem by shoving a penny where the fuse screwed in. You've never heard of it because every single one of those houses burned to the ground.)

What do you think 40A is doing to the wiring designed for 7.5A? The only thing downstream from the radio fuse is the radio and the antenna. Both of those together can't draw 7.5A. So you've got a short. And when you gun it, some wires move around and make the short worse, pulling 20, 30, 40A through that circuit, pulling down the voltmeter because of your grossly oversized fuse. Your giant alternator is only making matters worse.

(Did I hear you also removed your fusible link and put in a piece of heavy wire?)

So you can take the fuse out and leave it out. You may be lucky, and the shorted wires are limited to the radio. Or, you can find the bad wiring (you don't have many places to look) and fix it.

Or, you can get an even larger fuse. But then whenever you're in the truck, leave the doors unlocked, so you can jump out quickly.

dixiemuddtoy

[/QUOTE]or you can get an even larger fuse. But then whenever you're in the truck, leave the doors unlocked, so you can jump out quickly.[/QUOTE]

haha, yes, i KNOW i'm going to hell for it...but finding electrical gremlins is my LEAST favorite thing to do, I'm an electrical idoit...clearly!!

SO where are the most likely points of the radio / antenna that could be causing the short? I'm thinking of maybe just pulling the radio out of the dash, leaving everything hooked up and test driving around....seeing if maybe a wire was getting crimped against the metal framework or something.

dntsdad

You have not even pulled the radio out yet?

Factory of aftermarket?

Rare that factory wiring develops a short. I am going to guess aftermarket and whoever installed it left the wire exposed, or the connector that they used failed.

Fairly simple fix probably. You just have to jump in there. Its the gray wire.

And do not ever put a that much of a larger fuse in. If you jumped from 7.5 to 10 in a pinch, ok. Maybe from 7.5 to 15. Jumping from 7.5 to 40 is a GREAT way to melt the interior harness, etc. Fuses are there to protect the WIRE. Use the correct one