New Battery, New Starter Relay-No Power-1995 Taco
 

Was driving to work at night, truck driving fine, hard right turn and boom- truck dies instantly, headlights gone, stereo amp cuts out, coast to a stop. Smoke starts billowing out from hood fuse box area, open hood, smell of electrical. Thank goodness no fire.
1995 Toyota Tacoma 2.4 .engine, 2 wheel drive, 188K.
Possible cause is the battery terminal slid into the holddown bracket on the hard right . I tested this and it could have happened under the hard right turn.
Alternator fuse checks OK, Headlight relay clicks when I turn the lights on and tested ok. Dome light works, horn works. All the small fuses check ok (Ohm Meter ck) though they look a little black. The headlight relay and EFI relay test ok (Multimeter Ohm test). I didn't check the others.
I turn the key and get nothing but a ck engine light.
Looking for suggestions,
Thanks YOTAtech

Need schematic and test for voltage not just ohms.
I suggest you make a concise, simple, clear list of:
1) Exactly what works and when?
2) Exactly what does not work and when?

Did headlight relay click? Did lights come back on?
No clicks? Absolutely nothing but CEL?

Unless you have the wrong battery or have the correct one installed backwards . Custom battery hold down??

A loose battery sliding to the right will put the positive terminal into the spinning fan blade .

Do you see arc marks on the terminal or hold down ?

What voltage do you have at the battery ??

A major short will keep drawing to the wire opens (melts) or circuit protection opens.

You had smoke at the fuse block maybe inspect the bottom side ?

Battery cable to the starter fell off or is loose ??

Forgot to add the stereo / amp was pretty maxed out when everything went south. Stereo does not work now. I will ck that connection.

Headlight relay clicks- lights are very dim
I do not hear a clicking sound when I turn the key, just check engine light.
I have 11.2 volts at battery.
I pulled apart the main fuse box, everything looks good underneath.
I don't think the battery could have traveled into the fan blade, there is a holddown bracket (stock) but it just came loose. I will dbl ck
Battery cable to the starter is tight, could not pull on it to make it move.
I will inspect under the truck and see if I find something.

Thanks for your replys

11.2 volts is not enough, charge your battery and retest. also check for voltage at your fuses, you may have blown one or more fusible links between the battery and the fuse block.

Hi jabramm
Thanks you for the more orderly problem statement above. That helps a lot when people are troubleshooting remotely.
Need to more thoroughly inspect all connections. Did you ever find burnt part where the smoke may have come from?

Yes^^^
11.2 is too low. Good battery, before any load should have 12V or more.
That's just enough to turn on electronics that take very little power, but not power heavy load like headlights, starter solenoid, maybe even relays.
Your headlights are dim because of that.

You should really take voltage measurements. If you are not sure how to do it we can show you how. Post a high-resolution picture of:
1) Your multimeter,
2) fuse block
3) Fuse Block component ID diagram
4) Connections between battery and fuse block.

A picture that fills the screen would be perfect.
You really should have a schematic, but if you do not, we, your Yota brethren, pretty much have a good idea which fuses should have power and when.

All connections should have bare shiny metal surfaces tightly contacting bare, shiny metal. That you may not see unless you remove and inspect your battery and other connectors.
A Fusible Link may just look like another wire like this. It may look fine outside but metal inside may be melted.

Replaced ground strap from firewall to engine and fabricated one for battery neg to inner fender. Truck fired right up! Happiness short lived though as it threw a P1300 code.
Truck runs and I drove it around a bit but it idles rough and it wants to stall when I come to a stop.
I looked up the code and it gives me a faulty ignition igniter. I read where it can be the coil packs, ignition module, ecm or a bad connection. Bummer but at least she's running!

On our first-gen 4Runners, there is a very thick ground wire from batt negative to the block. That provides ground with minimal voltage drop to block and especially to starter that requires A LOT of current for cranking. did you als inspect that?
Good luck with the ignitor issue.

Yes, I inspected that cable. Heavy duty cable and in great shape, solid connection.
I ordered a new ignitor, 22 bucks from Auto Parts warehouse. I read a similar post where that was the culprit.
Am going to be out of town and wanted that part when I got back so I can hopefully get that truck back on the road asap.
I will post if that fixed the CEL.
Thanks for all your help.

A PO1300 code will shut off the fuel .

The ECM is not seeing ignition so shuts fuel off to a non running engine .according to what it thinks is happening .

Cam and Crank sensors will do the same thing.

I hope your igniter fixes it !!

This could be results of your fire works .

Good luck

Truck is up and running, back on the road! The igniter fixed the problem. Thanks to all who responded. It's people like you who make this site great.