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Troubleshooting a particular combination of body electrical issues
This is a sticky on fixing a particular combination of body electrical issues.
The real heroes here are Margate330 and OldSurfer. I just showed up later, sucking my thumb cause Salim keeps taking away my pacifier.
Specifically, keep reading if you have the following issues:
- Engine coolant temp indicator doesn’t move on warmup
- Oil pressure and battery power indicator dash lights don’t light
- PRND lights don’t light
- Door lock switches don’t actuate the motors
- Power windows roll down each window but master drivers switch won’t roll down other windows.
- ECT snow button does not light upon pressing the button
- Interior dome lights don’t work
Here is the link to the discussion thread where Margate and OldSurfer pinpoint the issues.
- Locate the J3/J4 connector, drivers side floorboard, behind the body panel on the left side of the drivers side footwell. The connector is black and sits between two main cable runs.
- The J3/J4 connector is a two-sided female connector with male plugs on either side.
- Put a flathead screwdriver in the middle of one side of the connector, depress the tab, and work the male plug from the female connector. Repeat for the other side.
- Pull the connector from the body of the car. It’s just a simple plastic body harness holding it to the car.
- Use a toothpick to clean any debris or signs of corrosion from both sides of the female connector and the pins on both of the male plugs. Mine didn’t look like much at all but apparently that made the difference.
- Reattach the connector and Reseat the male plugs.
- Reconnect the battery
When I did the steps above, at first nothing changed. But the next day everything worked again. For OldSurfer it was immediate. I actually performed the steps above twice, so don’t lose hope.
Washed the car again and just as before the odd symptoms recurred.
Followed same steps as above and let everything dry overnight. All good again.
So I wrapped the J3/4 junction in electrical tape. But I want to find where water is getting in. First guess is the plastic drainage line shown to the right of the junction in the attached pic.
Appears to be a drain for the roof or hood. Any idea where this tube runs and which body panels to remove for inspection?
Nope. And when I dab around the cabling I can’t find any moisture but I could definitely see moisture on the pin set most exposed to dripping from above.
That hose runs perfect to deposit moisture if there is a leak at the hose intake. This weekend I am going to pull the plastic shield for the hood along the windshield, betting the intake is under there and rotted out.
Had a leak around the windshield on my RAV4 that allowed water to drip onto the fuse panel. Took a while, but eventually it caused corrosion. First sign was a run down battery. Then I noticed a few of the warning lights on the dash would start to illuminate shortly after the car was turned off. I got lucky, came home one night in the rain and when I got out, I happened to glance down and saw a drop of water fall from under the dash. I began investigating and surmised that the windshield gasket was leaking. Had the windshield replaced, removed the fuse panel, cleaned the corrosion away and all was well. The glass company said he had seen situations like that numerous times. He had recently replaced a windshield in a truck that was leaking and causing the alarm to go off. You never know!
To debug, you will need 2 or three people. [the need for the third person would be there if the leak happens when driving]. One in the cabin and one to pour water and the third to blow air [leaf blower]. Pour water around the sun roof, windshield [top edge, driver side edge, lower edge], and the cowl. Use the blower to direct wind to mimic driving.
Found the leak. Sunroof on the driver’s side towards the rear of the car. Pinhole leak that eventually drips down onto a gear housing under the dash, onto the cable assemblies.
Found the leak. Sunroof on the driver’s side towards the rear of the car. Pinhole leak that eventually drips down onto a gear housing under the dash, onto the cable assemblies.
Dry left foot rest.
Poured out of a cup onto the sunroof gasket, drivers side.
We left foot rest pedal.
Looking up under the dash at the J3/J4 junction. Black cable joins a mount. Just to the left of the blue mark on the cable junction is a drip of water. Same but different angle.
03-04-21, 02:45 PM
Troubleshooting a particular combination of body electrical issues
