I was jump starting a silverado 1500 and when I was taking the positive cable off on the 4 runner it hit the battery hold down bracket and sparked and the 4 runner stopped running. Now when I turn the key no power and no power even on the interior door lights when you open the door. I checked all fuses under the hood,behind glove box and on drivers side panel. I also checked the fusible link that is connected to the positive cable. It was not melted and if I put a meter to both ends it shows continuity. What can it be?


Thanks for any help.

 

You told us what you were jumpstarting but you did not tell us what truck you have?
Please see signature.
Did you check your battery?

 

Just because you have continuity on your continuity test doesn't mean it's capable of carrying the 60/80 amps it's designed to carry.

Voltage at battery terminals.
Voltage negative terminal to positive cable end.
Voltage negative cable end to positive terminal.
Voltage negative cable end to plate on end of fusible link.

Etc.. Once you've established there isn't a bad connection the cables and fuses you then proceed with loaded voltage drop tests.

Grounding an external battery to your chassis, which is what you did could have fryed you secondary (body) ground wire which is what most of the things you mentioned rely on.

 

This^^^, and more details...
On first-gen 4Runner, there are 2 negative battery wires - one to engine block, the other to fender ground.
On first-gen 4Runner, there are 2 positive cables- one through fusible link to fuse block, the other to stud terminal of starter solenoid.

 

Typically you will see a redundant ground from a head or intake to the firewall, the 3vze uses one of these while the 22re did not, you can fry that wire by touching positive to a body ground also (current flows through sheet metal to the "rear" ground strap then via the heavy guage battery cable.

It's not even always a melted the wire, one scenario is that there is an arc between points A an B which vaporizers some metal now a and b are further apart.

You need firm contact between clean metal to conduct (high) current.

 

Could have also blown a cell in the battery.

 

1994 4 runner

 

Which engine do you have dude?

 

I have to admit I suck at electronics,meters and any kind of electrical testing. Could the fusible link be melted on the inside and show no signs of damage? I completely took the fusible link out and set the meter to read continuity and place one probe on each end and got tone sound. What is the proper way to know if the fusible link is good? Thanks

 

3zve 6 cylinder

 

man i hope not a brand new battery

 

What would be the best way to test these grounds to make sure they are not fried?

 

So now you'll learn!

Set your meter to read voltage, on some scale higher than 15v (your probably have a 20v scale, which reads up to 19.99 volts). Put your leads on the battery posts. You should get about 12.8 volts (temperature dependent). If you get -12.8volts, you can reverse the leads. Or not.

With one lead still on the positive + post, put the other lead onto some piece of unpainted metal in the engine bay. You should get the same voltage. If you get much less (even with no connection your meter will read a few thousandths of a volt), your ground is open.

If you get voltage to ground from +, move the + wire to the far end of the fusible link, onto the fuses in the junction block (fuse box under the hood). You should get battery voltage to ground.

co_94_pu points out that you can sometimes have a very tenuous connection somewhere; enough to carry the microamps necessary to read a voltage on a digital meter, but not enough to carry enough current to even light the dome light. But do the tests above first; based on your description you've blown something completely apart.

 

Okay sorry to just be getting back with the test results. I live in the mountains in Montana and have no internet access I drive into town once a week.

Okay so I put the red probe on the positive battery post not the cable and the negative probe on the negative post and got 12.30 volts. Then I took the negative probe off an contacted it to exposed metal on a hook to pull the engine I am guessing that is what its for. It read 12.30 volts. Then I took apart the fuse box bottom and pulled out the 80 amp fuse from the bottom kept the negative probe on the negative post and put the red probe onto the flat metal at the end of the fuse link wire ,the square bronze part that the 2 8mm hex bolts are attached and got 9.8 volts

Does this sound like the fusible link wire is bad? If so should I make a new one with fusible wire. The one in it has aux 10 written on the wire,or go to a junk yard and get one. Not sure how to test at a junkyard.

Thanks again for helping.

 

Available from the dealership, reliable and economical.

 

Do you think from the test results that the fuse is bad?

Dealer did not known part number. I did a search found #8299135020 price at dealer $43.98 could not tell me if it would fit my 4runner.

 

You have the correct part number (you could save a few bucks ordering it online, but you'll need to pay shipping. https://parts.lakelandtoyota.com/p/_...299135020.html and wait for it.)

But your test results sound like something else. First, 12.30 volts on the posts is pretty low; you'd clearly benefit from getting the battery charged. And you might even want to take it someplace (with a "carbon pile tester") to test it. Around here, just about any parts store will test a battery (they want to sell you a new one).

9.80 volts on the end of the fusible link is just odd. If the link had completely separated, you should get near-zero. Instead, you're showing a 2.5v voltage-drop. So, IF you didn't blow the link completely, but just made it very weak, AND you're drawing "some" current through the wire, you could get that sort of voltage drop. To test that, you need to increase the current draw. Opening the door (to turn on the dome light) might be enough; the headlights certainly would be. If the voltage drops to zero with the additional current draw (and zero volts won't light the light), check again right on the battery posts. If the battery is damaged you might have a surface charge that will drop to zero with any draw. If the the end of the link goes to zero but the battery doesn't, the link IS bad. If the link just stays at 9.80 volts with the headlight switch on, something is broken between the wire and the headlights, and your 9.80v is some sort of leakage.

 

Thanks for this info. Prior to reading this I picked up a junkyard fusible link wire for $5. I installed it and the interior lights,dash lights, door buzzer are all lit up but will not turn over even with a jump start. Any ideas on what to test next. The battery was purchased 1 day prior to this. Could I have fried the new battery making it so bad it could not but jump started?

Thanks again

 

If it won't "turn over" even with a jump start, either something (starter, solenoid) is not getting the juice, or you've fried the starter. (Your too-low battery shouldn't be an issue with a jump. ) I'd start by running a wire to the solenoid connection on the starter (the "skinny" wire); connect that wire to battery +, and the starter should turn.

 

Thanks for replying. What size wire should I use to test the starter?