Short circuit from hell

[jonsey1886]

Okay friends and fellow camry lovers here is my situation:

I have a '90 3S-FE in pretty good shape, (140-160k miles on it) or at least it was until Christmas Eve of '10. I was driving north to visit some family and the left front quarterpanel came loose from its bolts underneath the vehicle. It had been damaged 2 years prior in a hit & run at of all places, a junkyard!

Due to me not noticing the flapping & scraping sound it bent upwards a bit and cut into my driver's side front tire and the protective covering that was supposed to protect my wiring above said tire had long fallen off. My tire blew up and took some wires with it. Namely two white wires 1 fat one and & 1 thinner one which feed power to the rest of the vehicle. It blew up my 80Amp fusible link, and a few other things (my rheostat and my alternator).

So fast forward just over a month. I've replaced the connector & reconnected the wires managing to get all my lights working again but the following DO NOT work:

Rear Defogger
Turn signals
Wipers & Washer fluid
Radio
Blower Motor
A/C
Cruise control (switch & setting bar)
Fuel & Temp Gauges on my dash
Clock
Most of my indicator lights on my dash
The normal starting process (i.e. you turn the key & the car starts) due to that the guys who originally repaired my car put in a starter switch which is just a wire running to my starter & then to the battery with a nice push button switch stuck in next to the rheostat control in the middle
The automatic seat belts-they don't move
The shift lock mechanism that lets you shift gears. To shift from park I have to hold the shift lock override down & then shift it
The cigarette lighter
The O/D, ECT switch, as well as the nice gear indicator lights on the bottom right of the dash (says P,R,N,D, and O/D status etc)

Also my battery will not recharge.

Other fun factoids:

1.) I have replaced the following:

1. The initial connector that was attached to the wires under the left side (driver's side) kick panel under the dash. It is a BLACK connector with 3 wires, 1 THICK white one, 1 Thinner white one, and 1 Medium thickness white one with a nice red stripe. Yes I KNOW these are the main power leads for the vehicle, starting/ignition system, switch etc etc. I repaired the wires by stripping away enough to expose the wiring and then joining them with a wire nut and copious amounts of electrical tape.
2. The alternator
3. The rheostat-which got my interior (dash & climate control area) lights back on
4. Ignition switch
5. Engine fuse block box with all attendant relays-entire box good from a junkyard
6. Obviously the 80Amp fusible link

2.) ALL THE FUSES ARE FINE. I have checked & rechecked EVERY SINGLE ONE. With the exception of the Hazard-Horn fuse in the engine fuse box which continually blows out.

Yes yes I know my problem sounds exactly like 89 camry/no overdrive,blower,shift indicator lights,etc. but again ALL MY FUSES ARE INTACT

3.) I have an aftermarket radio that I installed myself 6 months after buying the car and it has a nice red blinking light when the faceplate is removed that still blinks telling me it IS still getting power.
4.) The actual TEMPERATURE CONTROL DOES work, just NOT the fan nor the A/C. But it's the end of February and where I live it ain't exactly warm.

5.) Final note here I was driving along nearly 2 weeks ago the day after I lost my job due to not being able to get to & from work (due to the battery dying from not recharging) and sitting at a red light cursing everything I could think of when I noticed my clock was back on. So then I tried my climate control fans (blower motor) and it was working. Same for the A/C. Drove along and then it turned off again. 2-3 minutes later it all comes back again. I try my turn signals. They work. I notice my fuel & temp gauges are moving properly. I quickly slap on my radio's faceplate & it lights up and gives me untuned static. Then everything goes OFF again. 2 minutes later again everything comes back to life. I try my wipers. They work. My cigarette lighter (used to power my phone charger) works. I open my door and the automatic seat belt works. Actually gets stuck in the "forward" position as everything "cycles" OFF again. Another minute later ON again and the seatbelt moves back into place. Finally every time it "cycled" I SWEAR I heard a "clicking" sound from somewhere in the vehicle. Almost like when you re-trip a breaker in your home circuit breaker after the power has gone out.

I have the Factory Service Manuals (All of them) in PDF format from a nice site which is now defunct created by a poster here. So any directions y'all give me I can follow and I have been staring at the Electrical Wiring Diagrams one since I returned and started work on the vehicle the week after Christmas.

Any help would be appreciated. Or in short.......where the h#ll am I losing power at and/or why is it not flowing?!

[atobe]

i know this sounds stupid but have you resetted the circuit breaker inside the kick panel ? it's on top of all the fuses .. there's a hole in the middle of it use a tooth pick or something non-conductive to reset it. or heck replace it sounds like it's going on/off on you anyways. i think it's 10$ @ parts store.

if your battery isn't recharging... check the wire from the alt to the 80A fuse see if it's broken anywhere or the alt is just bad. what's the voltage at the battery when the car's on ??

[jonsey1886]

1.) The alternator is brand new purchased on Jan 22 2011 and installed by me the very next day.

2.) There is no Power CB (circuit breaker) in my left kick panel. I have consulted the wiring section in my FSM and there is no spot for the Power CB there. I have reset the Automatic Shoulder Belt CB repeatedly though. The Power CB is only included if you have one or more of the following: moonroof, power door locks, power windows, power mirrors. Since I have none of those I have no power CB. Trust me I've checked repeatedly. The spot so to speak is there, there is just no metal or wiring behind it for a CB to slide into.

3.) The wire is fine. The 80A FL is fine.


UPDATE:Anyone know enough to tell me what negative or positive polarity in the wires means? The charging fuse-in the engine fuse block- "clips" (whatever the little metal things that you insert the fuses into are called), when removed had negative polarity when used with a tester on one "clip" and no polarity on the other and the wire that supplies the power to my ignition switch & most of everything else from there had positive polarity at the wire nut join.

It's pouring rain out and my battery went down too low to start up again so any response would be great.

[jonsey1886]

Anyone else have any good ideas?

[dem2757]

if you had parts pulling and stressing your engine wire harness, you could have breakage in the covered wires. the fact that the wires have been exposed to the elements for a while would make it more likely too.

unfortunately it seems as if you have a short in a hard to reach, hard to diagnose area. remove fuses and such and see if you keep power and dont lose it (short out) and diagnose individually.

[jonsey1886]

Okay a brief update here.

After obtaining a battery charger from the auto store I can take the battery out & manually recharge it.

So I did that & then went back to testing.

I have POSITIVE polarity from the wires coming off the alternator (white with the nut/cap) on, and the same on the actual white wire that goes into the 80AMP FL box. As well as on most of the wires that I KNOW work. The thick white wire & white wire with red stripe included.

I have NEGATIVE polarity on the white wire (tested on the wire join for the thin white wire I referenced in my OP) that is supposed to power things that are not currently working & I have NEGATIVE polarity Does this mean I do have current flowing in that wire or not?

However I rechecked my fuse box (one next to the engine) and the Charge fuse (7.5A) gets POSITIVE on the right "clip" and nothing on the left clip.

Also I have NEGATIVE polarity on the wire that used to run to my starter and is currently disconnected (cut and covered with tape when the remote starter was installed)

Here's some pictorial help (please click to make them larger)



In this shot the wires that (& area where they were broken)are encircled in RED & BLACK. The GREEN wire is one that did not break but I had to cut when I replaced the connector labeled 1A in the diagram. I reconnected all 3 wires using wire nuts & covered said nuts in electrical tape fully insulating them. Prior to the reconnection all of my damaged wires were encased in a thick layer of electrical type which was done by the shop that installed the remote starter.

The one circled in RED has POSITIVE polarity & the things it is connected to WORK (in the diagram my TAIL & STOP fuses) Same thing for the one circled in GREEN. The one circled in BLACK has NEGATIVE polarity and the things it runs to do NOT WORK.



In this next shot you see where the WHITE wire continues in to the starter switch. Everything in GREEN (or not circled) has power & the components they power work.

7.5A IGN Fuse-Driver's side kick panel
Headlights & related fuses (15A HEAD-LH, 15A HEAD-RH)-Engine Fuse box
15A EFI (Electronic Fuel Injector) Fuse-Engine Fuse box
20A DOME Fuse-Engine Fuse box
15A HAZ-HORN Fuse (continually blows but has both POSITIVE & NEGATIVE polarity at each "clip" for the fuse)-Engine Fuse box

Everything in BLACK does NOT WORK so I am presuming they DO NOT HAVE power because the components they power DO NOT WORK.-All fuses are in the Driver's side kick panel.
15A ECU-IG Fuse
7.5A TURN Fuse
20A WIPER Fuse
7.5A GAUGE Fuse
10A ENGINE Fuse
7.5A RADIO Fuse
15A CIG Fuse

[white90dx]

What do you mean by negative polarity? Do you mean ~0V?

-Charlie

[metrodriver]

Somewhere you crossed 2 wires, where one is ground and the other is positive. By powering the ground wire you will read negative voltage when you put the voltagemeter + lead on the wire you assume to be + (vise versa for -). Now your stuff won't work, and if you are lucky they are protected by a diode.

First, are your alternator cables hooked up correctly? Or your battery cables? One of your alternator cables shortening somewhere?
Otherwise I suspect you crossed the wires somewhere close to the main relay or the engine fuse box since a big part of your system has negative power. Most lights do not care, they are nothing but a resistor. Other stuff does care.

[jonsey1886]

Originally Posted by white90dx

What do you mean by negative polarity? Do you mean ~0V?

-Charlie

I have a very simple polarity tester, no voltmeter or ohmmeter. If the light is GREEN, it is NEGATIVE polarity, if the light is RED it is POSITIVE polarity.

As far as crossing wires that is humanly possible but the only ones I could have crossed would be the 2 white ones.

My alternator & battery are hooked up properly as far as I know. I mean I've rebuilt the engine on this thing 2 years ago so I'm not an idiot.

Also my radiator fans work, my brake fluid pressure has power, and as I've said the "temperature control" lever in the passenger compartment works as well.

The only things I can think of that I might have crossed would be the 2 white wires or also the wires where the 80A fusible link is. There is a LARGE WHITE wire there that comes from the alt & a much smaller GREEN colored wire that eventually becomes white do those have to be in a certain order as it were?

i.e. FL contact-----WHITE WIRE Contact----GREEN WIRE contact----screw

or the reverse FL contact-----GREEN WIRE Contact----WHITE WIRE contact----screw

Starter relay

The second or third picture down in that thread where it shows the FL box. In the picture the wire is blue but in mine green. I'm going to assume the color varies by model or maybe its just the age of the wires where it faded to dark green-no matter.

Sorry for the dumb questions but if I can get an answer perhaps it might help.

And what of the weird power-cycling thing I experienced nearly a month ago now?

[white90dx]

Sounds like you will need to get a cheapo digital multimeter. You need to be able to do voltage and resistance to figure this one out, I think.

-Charlie

[jonsey1886]

The answer was staring me in the face the ENTIRE time. I was too stupid to realize it.

If you'll notice in the first picture I posted there is FUSIBLE LINK in the little green wire I kept talking about. Top left-ish where you see the wire connector labeled 3 2B. And it IS white until it hits teeny tiny .05 FL and becomes the TINY GREEN WIRE I mentioned.

That had melted/blown when the 80A FL went, and I FINALLY today cut out the wires and replaced them with identical wiring from the junkyard that I had pulled back in JANUARY!

Apparently it supplies the BULK of the power to the engine fuse box and the rest of the wiring