RAD4Runner

I see. No need to disconnect. I don't think it affects your issue. Just fix the shoddy wiring. Remove the wire nut and solid copper wire, solder or splice a stranded wire same thickness as that black wire, terminate with a 1/4-inch hole ring terminal and ground to inner fender.

95yoda

Okay, I will have to do that and the large block ground.
would you happen to know what I need to do to get the headlight on buzz to work? I almost left my lights on the other day! Realized there is no buzz reminder.

RAD4Runner

Cool. BTW, What did you find out about that odd-looking cable with the appendage? Was that the batt positive cable to starter assembly?


You verified that your truck does not come with stock light reminder?
Piece of cake. I'll start thread for DIY on "Pre-84 Trucks" forum.

95yoda

That beat looking cable was the pos battery to starter connection, correct. I will check if those two locations are threaded. And if so, will use one.
What would you recommend for attaching the current neg ground mounted to inner fender and the new one to block? One will need a ring terminal and one will be the main post over clamp right? Should I got a ring terminal to the fender ground?

RAD4Runner

Cool! That was a nice battery positive-starter cable after all - just needed a make-over

You should keep batt negative to fender.
Second-gen trucks / 1st-gen MoreFunners have te following ground connections (you might as well have all that on the first-gen truck):
1) Batt neg to block (Very Thick wire, same as batt pos to starter solenoid stud terminal).
2) Batt- Neg to inner fender.
3) Block (upper left-hand corner of block) to firewall.

Batt negative to fender ground typically has 1/4-inch ring terminal on fender end and 5/16-inch ring terminal on battery side. I think what you have is fine. It will simply piggy-back on the main terminal/cable.

For the thick block ground, options are:
1) Battery terminal built into the cable with heavy-duty ring terminal on block end, like your positive one, OR
2) Marine type battery terminal (like these), AND thick cable with heavy-duty ring terminals on both ends.

PLEASE NOTE:
This is not bad news, but after this there is one more simple thing that we need to do to make your cranking system truly reliable - Something Toyota missed on trucks all the way to around 1991. This flaw could prevent the solenoid plunger from going full-travel to fully engage the flywheel. Excellent connections, smooth starter solenoid, healthy battery may mask this problem so it is an intermittent.
But we'll deal with that later.

L5wolvesf

OH ! OH ! OH ! I know the answer. The Wizard of Ohms (a.k.a. RAD4) led me down the path of least resistance and relayed the shocking info to me and . . . it was good.

95yoda

So I went to a massive old car grave yard near me, thousands of vehicles easy and only found ONE older Toyota, a 93. And only seen 3 tacos and 3 or 4 newer 4runners. was mainly looking for the front tow hook which I think is the same as the 93 I found on their lot but I could not get those bolts out with my regular sized ratchet. I'm wondering if I bring map gas and a big breaker bar If I can get it.

anyway, on subject. I pulled off the ground that 93 had. It was bolted to the block and has the post end for battery plus a thinner wire coming off for fender ground.
here it is.
I don't think that fender wire is long enough though and it is probably only half the size of my trucks fender ground.
I could probably figure out how to pry that clamp apart and add my fender ground to it.

95yoda

Here is the tow hook I could not get today. I tried with a 17mm but it rounded the bolt a bit or ny socket ha. One of the 2. Wonder if map gas would work? Mounting spot looks the same as mine.

RAD4Runner

You make me sound like a Yota-evangelist - LOL!

If it were up to mw, I'd just buy new parts, but that^^^ would work. Just clean all contact surfaces to bare, shiny metal like that starter shop did, AND piggy-back your existing batt to fender ground wire with a 5/15-inch ring terminal on the tightening nut.

IT WOULD ALSO BE NICE IF YOUR FELLOW FIRST-GEN OWNERS CAN CHIME IN ON MISSING BATT NEGATIVE TO BLOCK GROUND TO HELP OTHERS. It just does not make sense not to have a block ground to carry high cranking current.

95yoda

I don't think my other 82 had one either. Onky the neg post to fender ground.
I am going to head to O'Reilly tonight and see what they have. I'll post up what I find. Thank you again!

also, I might go back to try and get that hook off I wonder if this mystery part starting in 91 you were talking about is on the 93?

L5wolvesf

You are sensei

Here is my 84 - not even close to the block. Perhaps I should update that too. But I do have - bright shiny metal attached to bright shiny metal.

RAD4Runner

"Officially" 1990-1995 schematic is wired correctly. However, JPL's 1991 is wired wrong.

RAD4Runner

Thanks for the confirmation on block ground, Buddy!
Yes, I think there really should be a block ground for cranking.

OOOOH That is a clean terminal! I could lick the salt off of it - LOL!

83

I'm almost positive I've lived in a house with that same linoleum at some point not too long ago...really weird seeing it in your photo.

95yoda

Thats the floor in my truck....jk haha.
Okay, so I cleaned up that 1993 cable really well with my dremel. Also used the dremel to clean up the mating surface on the block to bare metal.
I picked up some heat shrink from harbor freight and it is JUNK. So I ended up using my 3M super 33 elect. Tape. The stuff is amazing I've never seen any other electrical tape even come close. It's like heat shrink almost.
anyway, it's all bolted up and SUPER tight and secure.

I also noticed 2 more grounds! One from motor mount to wheel well and one from motor mount to the mount bracket. Both are stock as they have the same yellow line my neg post to inner fender ground had. So this baby should be good now.

RAD4Runner

Awesome!
You have essentially done THE BIG ONE UPGRADE (owners of later models talk of Big 3).

Those grounds you found are the "collateral / coincidental" paths the cranking current (1kW (starter) / 12V = 83 AMPS) takes before you added the dedicated block ground. The problem with "collateral" paths is you did not even know where they were until now. IF those came loose or contacts corroded and you have issues, you wouldn't know what happened and what to fix.

Now next step toward a reliable cranking system is adding the starter relay: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f199...l#post52297396

OOPS!
Had I known you were going to the junkyard, I would have reminded you to pick up any starter relay from a later gen. That would be better than auto parts store relay.

BTW, what did you do about that stray washer?

95yoda

I was thinking of stopping there tomorrow. Not sure if that truck Had the starter relay or not. Is it mounted into the box on efi trucks on passenger wheel well/fender?
as for the washer, it might be mia or stayed stuck on there and is back in place. I did not have one laying on the ground when I was done though.

RAD4Runner

No relay on trucks before mid86, or those with auto transmission.
i would try without that washer. That was probably a shim as band-aid for the screeching problem whose root cause is electrical, not mechanical fit of OEM parts. Toyota had much better mechanical engineers than electrical engineers back then.

RAD4Runner

No relay on trucks before mid86, or those with auto transmission.
i would try without that washer. That was probably a shim as band-aid for the screeching problem whose root cause is electrical, not mechanical fit of OEM parts. Toyota had much better mechanical engineers than electrical engineers back then.

95yoda

Rad, thank you very much for helping with this.
I cold started it and went two places, so 3 starts total and this thing fires before the first reveloution now. It was starting almost that quick but I swear it cranks a bit quicker now. Could be in my mind. But so far so good.

I guess I'm not disappointed I brought starter in even though it might not have been that but at least it has new contacts and plunger and way better cable.
hoping it's fixed.
now onto oil leak. And also up near starter it looks wet and I need to investigate. Is that a brake line that shares the bottom bolt with starter?