So I jump in the 4Runner this morning to head to work and the first stop sign I get to I am turning right. I push up the lever to engage the turn signal. No turn signal and all of the gauges just die. The truck is still running fine, so I drive a block or so to drop the kid at daycare. By the time I get there the charge light is on, but still no gauges. I unhook my seatbelt before I shut it down and when the fasten belts light and the buzzer come on all of the gauges kick back on. I click the seatbelt back in and all the gauges go dead again, this time no charge light.

I shut off the truck and take the kid in. When I get back out the truck starts up fine, but no gauges. I drive it back to the house and switch vehicles.

Seems pretty obvious that it is a short to me, but I don't have a clue where to start. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> Any ideas?

This is an '85 with stock 22RE. I haven't done any electrical modifications to the vehicle.

Chris Sutton
Golden, Colorado

Try jiggling the key next time... Probably worn out contacts in the ignition switch.

On my '87 4runner, I kinda had the same issue. When my gauges went out, I couldn't roll down my rear window via the cousole button (no it wasn't locked either). When this happened I blew a fuse, don't remember which one though. I had a short somewhere because it kept popping, somedays worse than others. One day I desided to just leave it alone to see what happens. It later stopped running due to a dead battery. When I new this i looked for everything, I finally ran out of fuses and just jumped the fuse terminal. Saw smoke, pulled jumper, inserted my very last fuse, and it has been operating fine ever since. After my rebuild I noticed that the wires comming from the intake manifold harness area to the trasmistion area were burned, (my reverse/4wd indicator lights I think) were massivly torched. So I am guessing that is where why sort was, but I'm not for sure.

I don't know what to tell you about the seatbelt though, that's where I vary from yours.

Good luck,
GOI

The fact that the gauges come back on when the seatbelt switch closes that circuit suggests to me that you may have a poor/broken ground connection to your gauge cluster (i.e. the gauges are being grounded thru the buzzer and the seatbelt switch?).

I don't have a wiring diagram for your truck, so just a guess. Good luck.

Chris, we have an 85 FSM sticky'd here; you will need the download tool; follow the instructions for it to open the document. *dialup beware*

The seatbelt thing doesn't make it work now, so I guess I will start with the fuse box. If a fuse is blown then I guess I will try to trace that circuit.

Thank you for the responses. I have this huge phobia when it comes to electrical troubleshooting. I will let you know what I find.

Chris Sutton
Golden, Colorado

No fuses are blown. When I compare the list of things that work vs don't work while the truck is running I am leaning back toward the ignition mechanism on the steering column. It is like the gauges, blinkers, seatbelt light, etc. don't know the truck is running. The only things that work are the ones that work with only the accessory on. I removed the cover to the steering column, but I couldn't see any worn wires or cracks in the solder. How could I test for this?

Chris Sutton
Golden, Colorado

I think Whizkidder is on the right track. A poor ground connection to the instrument cluster can cause all sorts of weirdness, with seemingly unrelated actions causing unusual symptoms.

A temporary jumper from a grounded point on the cluster to a know good ground is an easy way to test for this.

Dave

I spent some more time on the truck this morning and am really confused. It still starts fine, but the gauges and turn signals don't work. If I pull the 10 amp fuse in the top right corner of the fuse block and then put it back in and start the truck the gauges are working again. If I try to use the turn signal all of the gauges go dead again and the turn signal doesn't work either. That fuse is still good, but I have to pull it and put it back in for the gauges to come back on. I am trying to go through the FSM, but I am not having much luck. I suck at this electrical stuff. I was hoping someone would have another idea.

Chris Sutton
Golden Colorado

Check the cab ground point (shown in the FSM) or usually located behind the driver's side kick panel. Bolt into the sheet metal with lots of brown ground wires coming off of it. Remove, wire brush all the terminals and the sheet metal and reassemble and see if it works better.