MaK92-4RnR

K so everything has gone smoothly so far today.

Audio express was pretty cool about dealing with it ( even though they hardly doubt that it was the stereo, and think the TPS' that were put in were just "cheap" )

But basically what they did in a nut shell:

- Beefed up the chassis ground from the battery. its now a 4 gauge wire.
- cleaned and wire wheeled the amp, and other stereo grounds
- made the ground wires a bigger wire to be 100% sure its stronger
- double checked everything with a multimeter, everything is grounded

So... now its only a matter of time before the issue happens ( IF IT HAPPENS ) so we'll see.

this only cost me 55 bucks.

dark_fairytales

are your amps located in the back of your runner. If so, the grounds should have all be 4 aug. wire in the first place for that kind of wattage. If audio express used 8 aug. wire all those years ago, I would never trust audio express. that simply ignores electrical common sense. Also does your 450 watt get powered after the 1000 watt amp, or is it powered from the Battery separate. If the 450 was not powered separate with 8 aug. wire. Again, that is shotty cheap work. I am not an electrical expert, but I do know stereos vary well.

MaK92-4RnR

They're underneath my seats now. but they were at the back of the 4Runner. about a year ago I had them relocated because they were mounted to the back of my seats ( kinda stupid especially if i want to drop the seats and have a full platform. so they relocated them for 50 bucks.

but ALL of the grounds are 4 gauge now. Even the battery ground to the chassis is now 4 gauge. and the rig has been running great! blasting the stereo, cruising around town. no signs of losing the TPS what so ever.

snowhite

Glad to hear that not only that your rig will be in tip top shape but bumpin and thumpin on the the trail too.

GO_BLUE!

My head hurts.


I just read this entire post... front to back. Although I am happy that your problem is finally solved it does suck (for lack of a better word) that you had to go through all that before you were happy.

Hey I will be driving through Roseville on my way to Burningman this coming weekend. Probably on Sunday. If you'd like to drive a '92 Runner SR5 4x4 with a 3VZE (126K original miles, headgasket done per recall at 60K) with no issues, rock-steady idle, and a pretty decent stereo, lemme know and I'll stop by. I think you'll be impressed (and amazed) at just how zippy (again, lack of a better word) the 3VZE is when it is set up right (all stock, timing advanced a bit... ISR mod and Deckplate mod, plugs gapped a lil wider) and it has a Magnaflow free-flow cat and muffler.

I did almost all the work myself. And I am a public health employee.

Maybe we can spend 10-15 minutes and talk about 2nd gen Runners. Hopefully you won't give up on your own.

-Tom

BMcEL

I'm still not convinced it was the stereo but I'm glad she's running right again!

MaK92-4RnR

It always "ran" But Honestly? im thinking it was never the stereo either. but! instead, i think it was the battery chassis ground. If it wasn't grounded at all, it would definitely cause some serious issues. all in all its been a couple days, and its perfect!

MaK92-4RnR

i still have yet to call Honest Engine and let them know the issue has been reolved. haha I might mess with them and tell them the motor blew or something.

GO_BLUE!

BMcEL

Haha that would be funny as hell! You might be on to something about the battery ground though.

KelleyC

Holy carp! What a mess, I've been offline here for a while and am just catching up on this since I'm no longer employed and lack intardnetz. Both my old dealership and the one here denied the V-06 work. So I paid for it, saw a person get handled differently and got it done anyhow, now I'm trying to fight for my reimbursement on my headgasket recall.

You got your Runner, hee-hee "Running".

FWIW I've seen both a truck, and a 4Runner with the amps mounted improperly (seatback's, side panel's, or cargo floor only, no ground strap/wire to a main bolt like the cargo straps or seatbelt straps) blow sensors. All it takes is a light surge and there goes your tps, O2's, or ecu, very-very easily.

Keep in mind if a wire rubbed and grounded out you did not verify it yourself and it's not too hard for a stereo shop to go through and cover their side based on "Good Faith and Measure" just as your engine shop did.

IMHO here, just consider this, Call it a lesson learned and keep it running well and enjoy it as much as you can because at this point I think you've earned it.

Shane, some other's and and I are all planning on joining up to do Hollister soon, I think it's time for you to come on down to the Bay Area and wheel or hang out with some of us so all of us can trade horror stories and check out each other's rigs.

RMA, same goes to you, this is Kelly, the brunette that was in the blue pickup last time when your two 4Runners drove past as we were leaving.

If not I want to see some pictures/video of this thing running! Anyone else agree?

BMcEL

The amps were supposedly grounded properly from the beginning but since the stereo shop had a chance to go over their connections, they certainly could have covered their asses if something wasn't right.

Electricity follows the path of least resistance and for a stereo amplifier to surge through a sensor there would have to be no other path to ground between the sensor and the amp. I find it very hard to believe that the closest ground to the amp(s) was the throttle position sensor. While it may be possible, I don't think the stereo was the problem in mak's case.

KelleyC

True to a degree. It will also carry through metal to whatever easy point it finds first. A spark from the seatback through the hinge to the body creates all sorts of havoc. Either way, it's fixed now, I'm just wondering how much his head feels like jello after riding around with that much power to what I assume must be subwoofers in back.