99 runner no power

Joined
Feb 21, 2022
Messages
15
Age
45
Hello. I'm new to the site, and would like some help. I recently bought a 99 4runner (3.4L 4x4) with 6 aftermarket LED's on the front. After getting under the hood, I noticed what I would describe as a rat's nest of wires, in line fuses and relays for the lights shoved right next to the battery and all of the light wires connected directly to the battery. Yesterday, I tried to clean it up and run everything through a remote mounted fuse box. Before getting to the mounting and wiring of the fuse block, after disconnecting all of the wires from the battery, the truck refused to start. The dash lights come on every once in a while, after sitting for a couple hours, when the key is turned to ACC. They immediately turn off and the truck makes no indication it wants to start, no click, no thump, nothing. I have checked the fuses under the hood and replaced the ABS fuse and ALT fuses as well as the STARTER relay. I also put a new 6 gauge wire in from the positive terminal to the fuse block. I checked the ignition switch, but that doesn't look like the issue. There is no power to the OBDii plug so I can't check for codes. From what I've read, the 99 does not have a "fusible link" in the fuse box and I didn't see one when I pulled it apart. Even my Toyota dealer doesn't show a "fusible link" for the 99. My grounds are all good and I redid the ground wire from the battery to the body. When we pulled the panel under the steering wheel, we found that the alarm was not connected, but the truck was running great the week before this happened. We also found a jumper wire in the main fuse block from the 10A tail fuse to the FOG relay, and inside the cab, found wires coming from behind the in cab fuse block with fork spade style wire connectors shoved into one side of a fuse slot (the "fork" only has one leg if that makes sense) The truck still will not start and the lights only come one after the truck sits for a couple of hours.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
 

snowtank

Where the fuck did my beer go!?
Joined
Oct 5, 2018
Messages
1,986
Age
40
Location
Somewhere in az I think
You obviously checked the battery. From that point check the ground wire off the battery. You may have disconnected and not bolted it back so it's settling and grounding after a few hours maybe? All the wires You cleaned up were definitely only the wires going to the 6 lights?
 
Joined
Feb 21, 2022
Messages
15
Age
45
Thanks for the welcome. I’ll try to get some pics tonight. How do I check for power to the ECU? I don’t have an immobilizer on the truck that I know if. It just takes a regular, unchipped key.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Nov 18, 2019
Messages
588
Age
41
Location
Glendale AZ
If it has power door lock try to lock and unlock the doors with the key. It may have a factory disable. I have had this happen before when I changed a battery.
 
Joined
Feb 21, 2022
Messages
15
Age
45
Last night, I just started from the beginning and retraced everything. Turns out the connector on the negative battery cable was loose. I clamped it down tight and the truck fired right up. Kinda stupid on my part, but didn't realize it until after checking everything else. Thanks for all the help. I'm sure I'll be back.
 

snowtank

Where the fuck did my beer go!?
Joined
Oct 5, 2018
Messages
1,986
Age
40
Location
Somewhere in az I think
Last night, I just started from the beginning and retraced everything. Turns out the connector on the negative battery cable was loose. I clamped it down tight and the truck fired right up. Kinda stupid on my part, but didn't realize it until after checking everything else. Thanks for all the help. I'm sure I'll be back.
I only figured that cause I have made that mistake myself once. Glad you got it figured out. And it wasn't hard or expensive.
 
Joined
Feb 21, 2022
Messages
15
Age
45
Ok. Follow up question now that the truck is running. The truck has LED headlights that now are stuck in the bright mode, but the “brights” indicator is t on. I think either the jumper wire that I pulled from engine compartment fuse box or the two wires that were randomly hanging under the passenger compartment fuse box and plugged in there may be some sort of bypass for the brights. The two wires under the dash each have a 7 Amp in line fuse in them. Thank you guys for the help. Here are some pics of the wires from the passenger compartment fuse box and some pics of the truck.
 

Attachments

  • 2B8DA899-DF3C-4431-B12A-E09AC49F9DC4.jpeg
    2B8DA899-DF3C-4431-B12A-E09AC49F9DC4.jpeg
    248.6 KB · Views: 7
  • C99BCBB0-6AA9-4960-B193-710639DF98E8.jpeg
    C99BCBB0-6AA9-4960-B193-710639DF98E8.jpeg
    208.5 KB · Views: 7
  • 0C51CCB1-18DC-470B-9BBB-ED70C03F2201.jpeg
    0C51CCB1-18DC-470B-9BBB-ED70C03F2201.jpeg
    100.7 KB · Views: 7
  • 3D7D597D-5B3F-4190-AC1D-306A1624FB11.jpeg
    3D7D597D-5B3F-4190-AC1D-306A1624FB11.jpeg
    91.7 KB · Views: 7
  • 1427A573-49A6-4D9B-9D71-205803FFED14.jpeg
    1427A573-49A6-4D9B-9D71-205803FFED14.jpeg
    102.9 KB · Views: 8
Last edited:

Dukestaco

Stirring the pot 24/7
Joined
Oct 3, 2018
Messages
7,472
Location
Tucson
Find out what kind of lex headlights they are a search for the install manual to see if it requires a jumper wire of some sort to make them only work on low beam. Make sure they are wired in correctly.
 
Joined
Feb 21, 2022
Messages
15
Age
45
Update: the jumper wire that was in the engine compartment fuse box that ran from the “FOG” relay to the “TAIL” 10 amp fuse allows the lights to switch between high and low beams. Kinda a sketchy way to make it happen, but I’ll leave it until I figure out a cleaner way to wire it.

Now to chase the wires that came out of the in cab fuse box.
 
Joined
Feb 21, 2022
Messages
15
Age
45
Ok. Next question. How much space should I have between the A-arm and the bump stop. It looks like I have an inch to an inch and a half? I feel like there should be more distance than that. Thank guys.
 
Joined
May 15, 2019
Messages
162
Location
KY
These things only have like 6 or 7” (I forget the actual number) of factory wheel travel, which translates to like 3” (likely less) where the bump stop hits. So assume at ride height your A arm is roughly in the middle of that arc, which means you’ll have roughly 1.5” of uptravel.

Obv these numbers aren’t exact, but hopefully help it make sense
 

AssBurns

will wheel for beer
Staff member
Joined
Oct 1, 2018
Messages
7,959
Age
31
Location
Yucaipa, CA
Ok. Next question. How much space should I have between the A-arm and the bump stop. It looks like I have an inch to an inch and a half? I feel like there should be more distance than that. Thank guys.
What bumps are you using? Stock or DuroBumps or something else?
How much lift?
 
Top Bottom