JNapolitano

Hey there, my name is Jason. I am new to these forums and have been meaning to join for some time. However, I have encountered an issue with my truck that sadly forced me to register. I need help with this. I've asked a few mechanics about this, friends have no idea what's wrong, and neither do I.

Keep in mind I do not claim to be a mechanic, but I do have some knowledge in auto repairs. I have worked on this truck i have below, basic repairs. And have practically rebuilt the tranny and engine in my 90 Ford Ranger XL. So, me not being able to figure this out, even via Google and research, and mechanics advice. This kinda stumps me. My only mechanical downside is electric, I am no good with it. And someone told me myu issue is a simple electric issue.

Anyways, let me explain my vehicle specs and situation. Any advice I can get here is most appreciated. I've already missed a week of work to this issue. So here are the details.

My Truck
1993 Toyota Pickup Single Cab

• 2.4L DOHC (22-RE)
• 2 Wheel Drive
  
• 342K On chassis. 14K on rebuilt engine/trans.
• No lift, or special off roading suspension
• New breaks, front and rear.
• No check engine light, or warning lights in the dash
• New spark plugs, wires and dist. cap and rotor
• Fresh oil change less than 500 miles ago.
• Freshly installed clutch, release bearing, pressure plate, pilot bearing
• Freshly drained, flushed, bled and filled clutch cylinder/system.
• Fresh tune up and radiator cleaning.
• Brand new battery and battery terminal clamp (positive side only)
• Brand new cable leading from batteries positive terminal to starter
• Brand new cable leading from negative terminal to firewall.
• Brand new starter relay
• Tender love and care, I drive my truck with care 110 miles to-and-from work every day.
• Most importantly, before these issues occurred. This truck drove GREAT!

WHAT I DID PRIOR TO ISSUES
First, I took out my old battery which is crap and old. Replaced it with a new battery from autozone with 700 CCA. Good little battery for the price. During this battery exchange I replaced the positive cable that grounds at the starter.

I installed a new ground leading from the negative terminal to the firewall on the passenger side and used a premade battery cable splicing kit and spliced into a smaller gauge cable (presumably 14 gauge'ish) that leads from the positive terminal to the fuse panel under the hood, also on the passenger side.

I also made sure to hook everything back up the way I took it apart, checked all of my grounds around the entire engine, not just the ones I messed with. Everything added up, and was back to normal, besides the fact that I have a new battery and positive terminal clamp and some ground cables. But......

Now, the issues start!

Initial Issues
After this was done, out of nowhere my truck needs a pop start first try after replacements. Okaaay? No big deal I guess, as long as my truck gets me to work I am willing to pop start it. But, then I notice that the stereo has not power at all, it takes a few moments for the instrument panel lights, headlights, break lights and tail lights to engage.

Now, I am thinking... "This is weird.". I did nothing except replace my battery and hook the new battery, cables and terminal clamp up, exactly the same as I removed it. Then my truck needs pop starting. That lasted about 2 weeks with the truck driving great and getting me to work no prob, besides pop starting. Especially after I fiddled with the cables on the battery, and the instrument panels lights and headlights, breaks, tail lights started working like normal. Still no stereo power, but no biggie to me. But then.....

Getting worse
Now, I need a pop start. Also, my stereo still has no power, my door ajar indicating noise works, ceiling lamps work upon door opening and when clicked to "ON". My instrument panel lights, tail lights, break lights etc start to fail again. Also, I notice two things: When i turn the key into the "On" position, with the door open. The door ajar noise dims heavily. Or, if I turn my headlights on while my door is open, the noise dims heavily. Weird right?

And once pop started, my truck runs for about 1 minute and drives fine. Then, If I let it sit at idle for about a minute, it goes haywire. Haywire in this case means very little of my electrical is working, it still needs a pop start, the starter is getting no sort of power and once pop started it does something strange.

Once pop started, it idles fine. When I press the throttle it wants to die. If I leave it idling for too long, it dies on its own anyways and only after about 5 - 10 minutes of running at idle. I've done tons of research for this issue. No leads except one:

Some forum, maybe even YotaTech, a user posted that in the 22-RE's proper grounding is extremely important. And that that just one improper ground can give your truck tons of false readings. Such include fuel pump failure, starter failure, electrical issues such as I described, etc. Tons of false positive issues can arise due to just one improper ground, depending on that ground.

So, my first question is obviously, does anyone have any clues as to what this can be? Also, what I read about the importance of proper grounds. Does that hold any water? Does that make sense, and would could its relevance be?

Thank you to all who can and want to try to help. This truck is my primary source of transportation until I replace the coils in my Ranger. So i really need any and all advice.

Thanks again;
~Jason

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Yes I can see your challenged in The electrical area !!!

I had to notice the whole post you never once gave any voltage readings.

Time to get a Meter if you don`t have one.

Are any of the fuses open?? Could be some of your problems.

Yes the grounds are very important !!

From negative battery terminal to the block and inner fender for starters.

Without a good ground to the block all the current is trying to go through the body to the starter on the ground path back to the battery.

If you only have a 14 gauge wire running to the fuse block that is a little on the small side.

This is one of those things you need to go step by step .

To me it sounds like a poor ground but that is just a guess.

Why no new negative battery terminal ?? It was at least removed and cleaned .

Robert m

iTrader: (2)

I have to get it out of the way, the 22re is a single cam engine, not DOHC

On to the problem.
These two paragraphs have me a little confused about how you hooked up the new wires. it almost sounds like you have some wires crossed with positives going to ground and grounds going into positives.
The first place I would start is tracing back anything you swapped, changed, or replaced and make sure they are going to the right polarity.

Having good grounds is importnat on every vehicle. without them, all the electrics freak out and it will drive you crazy trying to track down bad parts that are not actually bad.

Odin

It sounds like you spliced the 14 gauge wire to the white 8 gauge wire that runs to the fuse box directly behind the battery. If that's the case that 14 gauge wire is too small. I believe it needs to be at least 10 gauge.
Hmmm, perhaps that splice isn't as good as you thought???

It does sound like a ground issue to me. Absolutely remove each ground and power wire connected to the battery and clean it. If you can move it with medium force after tightening it down it's too loose.
To say grounds are important is an understatement especially on a vehicle that is equipped with a computer- ECU/ECM.


Here's a low cash outlay method of an attempted fix.
Locate and clean all of your ground wires!

This is the 22re Ground Wire Guide.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...-guide-194413/

If you find a ground wire is missing look around for it, sometimes people forget to hook them back up. If it's broke or missing make a new one from at least 10 gauge wire to replace it. Some people go one step better and replace the smaller wires with 8 or 6 gauge which is great. If you make simple crimp connections do yourself a big favor and use adhesive lined shrink tubing to help keep corrosion out of the joint.
Treat all of the connections in the following manner.

1. Go to the store and purchase a small brass bristle brush and a tube of dielectric grease.

2. Dealing with one connection at a time, unbolt the connector and use the brush to clean the area the connector makes contact with until it shines.

3. Clean the ground wires connector with the wire brush until it shines.

The idea here is to have fresh shiny metal to metal contact for low voltage drop.
If there's a ground that is bolted to paint or rust you'll of course need to scrape it to get a good metal to metal contact.

4. Apply the dielectric grease to the connector and bolt the two back together.

Dielectric grease will HELP keep corrosion away but it won't stop it. You'll eventually need to clean the grounds again. That's just the way it is because of the environment your dealing with.

Try the above first but here's some more BS that may or may not help you.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f127...charge-287463/


Also Voltage Drop testing explained: