canuck351

Its now Nov 6, 2011 very close to 2 years since I brought this truck home, I am working at a feverish rate at this point, after almost 300 hrs work I sense that a start up, and road test is near.


I bolt the necessities up and prepare for blast off.
Then the unexpected, nothing, zip,
No click, no groan, just dead, this had to be something simple right?
I checked the battery, starter, ignition switch, fuses, clutch switch, I felt like my dog when his ball goes under the fence, you can see it but you cant have it.
Frustration led to futility and then I made things worse, I put unfused power to the clutch safety switch to try and test for stupidity, and I found it!
The wire turned out to be a ground and I quickly smelt burning and that was it.
Some of the wiring harness had melted together.Now this triggered a series of events that I categorize as a downward spiral.
It’s a term originated at our bi yearly poker game, it refers to when the game just turns on you and absolutely nothing goes your way.
The only way out of a downward spiral is to ride it out until you can pull out of it.
I was now faced with not knowing what additional electrical damage I had done to an already faulty system.

canuck351

I had noticed the foam on the back of the vent flaps was crumbling and falling off, it was rotten, moldy, and generally disgusting.





I decided I had to take a break from electrical woes and work on replacing all the foam on the vent flaps.





I didn’t see the need to cover the whole back of the flap with new foam, it may add soundproofing but it also adds weight and the flaps over 20 years old<br/>





some weather stripping from Rona and an afternoon with the paint scrapper and the air should smell better now.

canuck351

I kept reading my FSM wiring diagram and searching yotatech threads for weeks until I found what I thought might be the answer, It seemed a little green starter relay located in the driver side fuse panel was missing, I had used all the relays from the doner truck for assembly and as it was an automatic, it did not have this relay.




I could not find the original so a quick shop on ebay and a used one was on the way $25 + S&H. <br/>I stripped the harness apart to reveal my damage and it appeared to involve just a few wires, I cut and replaced the ground then separated and taped the other wires.<br/>I few zap ties and a good tape binding and cross your fingers. You can see the little green devil here right below where I fixed the harness<br/>

reeveseskey13

Good write up .. Im doing something similar with an 89 extended cab