i'm 18 and just barely purchased a 1986 sr5 turbo S.A.S with 150k on the engine and man its a wheelin machine but when i was on a bumpy road for some reason my whole dash and electrical went completely blank. No power what so ever Stereo lost all power, the only thing that works is the intercooler and head lights. The motor works just fine when being pull started and i checked all the fuses and breakers and they are working just fine. when i turn the truck on it doesnt even register that the key is there i.e. (annoying beeping sound when the key is in the ignition and the door is open) and i'm at a loss of where to start lookin....I want this to work so any help would be awesome!!! thanks guys!

 

The intercooler?

Its pretty much impossible for anyone to tell you what is wrong with your vehicle in this situation, you just need to find the loose connector. Obviously you are not getting power into the harness at some point. Usually this is due to a blown high amp fuse, or loose wire in the junction block.

 

I had an 85 chevy with the same issues.found out it to be the ground off the engine just my 2 cents.

 

So if the ground is bad the engine wont even register that the key is in there? i have lost all electrical power and its frustrating! Where would the high amp fuse be?

 

Check the power power wire coming off the positive battery terminal that goes into the fuse box next to the battery, this wire is known for going bad and if it does you will loose power to everything. I had this happen to me. Also check all of the fuses, the ones in the fuse box by the battery and the fuses behind the driver side kick panel, make sure that they are all good and that none of them are corroded. I also had this happen to me.

 

How do i tell if that wire is bad? I feel like a nub but how would i also tell if my ground was bad?

 

To check the wire to the fuse box, unbolt the fuse box and inspect the wire from the battery to the fuse box, a good mod to do is to upgrade that wire to a heaver gauge. For the ground wires, locate all the ground wires you can and take them loose one at a time and clean them with a fine piece of sand paper, Disconnect the battery while your doing any of this.

 

Another thing i just thought of is to pull out the 80 amp fuse and make sure the wires going to it are tight. The fuse pulls out from the bottom of the fuse box, use a screw driver to push the retaining clip out of the way.