Hello everyone,

I am electrically incompetent. However, I do own a multi-meter, so hopefully someone can point me in the right direction. 1989 Pickup 2wd 22RE Manual Transmission. Was driving the other day, turned on my headlights, and the stereo went black, as though I turned off the vehicle. It came back on a moment later, and all seemed fine. Made many stops that day, with no other problems. The next day, go to start the truck, it clicks as if the battery is dying. Go to charge the battery, and it says it is charged when placing it on the charger. Put the battery back in, check all the fuses, fuses are good. I thought that maybe the aftermarket tach might have caused the problem since i recently reconnected it after finding the PO did not make a proper connection. Took out the tach since it was the last variable changed, but still no joy. While trying to find the culprit, and turning the key to start to see if things changed, the dash lights would flash and click as if the whole thing was connected to a flasher relay. Took the keys out, pressed the four way flasher, and it would click the flasher relay non stop. Does anyone have a suggestion or starting place?

 

Recharged the battery just to make sure. Put the battery back in, tried starting with the multimeter on the battery to see if there was a draw. There was no draw at all when the key was turned.

 

What did you "get" on your multimeter when you first put it on the battery? (numbers, units, scale, connection) Then, what did you get that lead you to think there was "no draw at all" with key turned? (I assume you mean "key was turned to STArt")

 

Sounds like you got a short somewhere or a bad ground? Checked all linkable fuses under the hood? Starter to battery connection good?

 

I placed the multimeter across the battery terminals and it read out to 12.57 VDC. Had my wife put the key in and turn it to start the truck and it still read out to 12.57 VDC. I still need to check all the grounds. It started pouring rain, and I was sick being wet since i have been riding to work while the truck has been down.

 

Okay! Sounds like the battery is charged.

Use your voltmeter function with negative on the negative battery post, and positive to any fuse in the under-hood fuse box. (The "regular" ATO fuses have a pair of metal tabs on top. Measure to there; you don't need to pull the fuse.) It's probably not one of the "small" ATO fuses, but one of the big (~40 amp) bolt-in fuses, or working back toward the battery, the fusible link. Just work forward until you get 0v, then work back until you find battery voltage.

 

First rule of any electrical circuit: It will find a ground if the one intended isn't available.

Get a good wiring diagram and start with the basics. Check EVERY ground.

The flashing dashboard makes me think it has done what auto electric circuits often do... and found a new ground through another circuit.

 

Checked all the fuses in the engine bay, with the exception of the 80A fusible link. They all held 12.47 VDC while the battery held 12.57 VDC. Once I tested them all I figured I would try starting it again. It rolled over once then went back to the clicking. This time I tried to see where the clicking was coming from, since it sounded more like crackling then clicking this time. The sound was coming from the Starter Relay in the drivers side fuse panel. You can feel it do something when you try to start it, but it sounds more snap crackle pop then a relay clicking. Would this be the cause? How could I test the relay?

 

All answers are found in The Good Book. http://web.archive.org/web/201102051.../2starterr.pdf

When you pull the relay, examine the socket and adjacent wiring carefully. Neither snap, crackle, nor pop are compatible with electrical. Your problem could be elsewhere than the relay itself. Particularly when you're getting "total electrical failure," which could be due to a high-resistance short to ground.

 

The good book doesn't have the same relay as the one I have, so i tried testing it anyway. I only got continuity when connecting the pictured terminals. Which ones would I test with the battery voltage?

 

That is most likely the coil resistance, so those are the 2 contacts you would put 12V on to hear a click, which will connect other 2 contacts (if the relay is working correctly). Use your meter on the terminals on the socket side of the relay coil in your fuse box to determine which one of the two coil contacts gets positive and which one gets negative so you know which way to connect 12V on those contacts to test it..

I don't think the problem is that relay though, I think you have a a bad ground somewhere.

 

Deleted, wrong thread