99 4runner 4wd. I was driving down the street to get a burrito and I noticed a faint rattle coming from inside the dash. I reached the burrito joint and popped the hood, took a looksee. Nothing strange, the engine sounded fine, but there was still a faint rattle coming from the firewall area.

I turned the ignition off, and she didn't stop idling. Pulled the key out and stood outside the truck, the engine was still running. I put the key back in and fiddled with the ignition for a minute, with each turn the lights would dim and the engine would make a noise I have never heard before. It was quite odd. I couldn't think of any way to kill the engine quickly so I just kinda stared in disbelief as my runner fought with the computer.

After about 5 minutes of fiddling and staring oddly at my truck, she gave her last breath of life, and spurted out a large, thick white cloud of smoke and finally stopped running.

No accessories work, cannot lock the door with the key (or unlock it either). I brought it to a local mechanic who is still looking at it.

Any thoughts?

 

no thoughts but any thing like that is going to be a lot of work and money

 

Sounds like the ignition switch, main relay or the harness to the switch.

James

 

Sounds like it's time for a "Taco"... get it... you know, burrito joint.... uh nevermind. It does sound like the computer... Hope it works out!

 

That is definately an electrical nightmare unless you could pinpoint where exactly that smoke was coming from.

 

Too much smoke to pinpoint, but there was a distinct sound coming from inside the dash, and when I was outside the truck, there was a rattle coming from the gear box area. Things went downhill too fast to find my flashlight.

 

maybe a long shot, but also might be a starting point...

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/3rd-gens-w-compass-dimming-mirror-fire-hazard-36484/

 

I recently had my clutch replaced, and the clutch start was acting funny this last week, I would have to pump the clutch to start the engine. Would there be a fuse on the wiring for the clutch start?