Hilux 4x4 Forum

Started a new thread, carrying over from this one - viewtopic.php?f=14&t=25023" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Monday morning I bought a second hand harness from another KZ-TE from a scrapyard for R2.5k. And so Tuesday morning began the work.

First I had to unplug and remove the old burnt harness, which was easy because it was a matter of unplugging and marking circuits i.e. additional circuits things like spot lights, camping light, and some other hidden security switches, etc.

When that was done I could then go through the new harness wire by wire checking for broken insulation(s), colour coding and if plugs were the same to those I had taken out. Were there were any damaged insulation, necessary repairs were made using soldering iron and then neatly taped up. Each sub-harness was then also put in black flexi-tube to prevent future damage.

As I went on, I realised that the new harness did not have an ABS circuit (were there KZ's made without ABS? ) but luckily mine was damaged only to a point of still being able to make out the colours and being able to be repaired. This was done and also put into flexi-tubing. (two thick black wires I could not trace their origin but could make out that they feed the two relays located in the engine bay by the driver side bonnet hinge - these I will follow up later.)

Time I have allocated is two weeks of taking my time and doing it thouroghly the first time around

Closer inspection and comparison on the main fuse box cover showed that the following circuits, fuses and or relays are not there as compared to the original:

1. AM2 - 30A fuse not there, also its circuit
2.ECD relay not there, also its circuit
3. Defog - 15A fuse not there, also its circuit
4. STA - 7.5A fuse not there, also its circuit and finally
5. ST RLY (situated next to SUB GLW RLY) not there and so its ciruit.

Except for the defog circuit, which I do not need anyway, does anyone know what these fuses and relays are for?

Please help

Pictures were taken by cellphone do excuse the quality. By last night (day 3) the main harness was pulled in, put in place and the following circuits were connected:

1. park and indicator lights
2. headlights
3. bonnet alarm trigger switch (below bonnet latch)
4. starter
5. ABS (except for the two thick black wires I still need to trace and earth)

GLW RLY ..... Glow plugs relay ???
ST RLY ...... Starter relay ????

Sorry I can't be of much help Tumelo, I hate automotive electrical! :? .... But I'm pleased to see that you put on a heater for your bakkie to keep warm!

I could figure out those two, me thinks, but then what confused me is if new harness has not ST RLY how did it start?

Daai lyk na complicated storie, Donkey, ek haal my hoed af vir jou..... Hoop als kom reg....

Donkey wrote:I could figure out those two, me thinks, but then what confused me is if new harness has not ST RLY how did it start?

Maybe through the IGN relay with a timed cut-off for the glow-plugs? Just guessing here ... totally unfamiliar with your unit.

Did you check the manual at http://www.hilux4x4.co.za/manual" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Don't that have any info?

Thank you for the input guys, just by doing this myself I'm saving some of the R12.5k initially quoted by the auto-electrician.

Pieter the wiring diagram will definately come in handy , no need for guessing what I'll be doing on night shifts , but will definately give some feedback.

Another reason why I'm proud to be a member of this great community

Tumelo, were you able to find a wiring diagram?


-F_D

Tumelo, hope you get this sorter, alteast it's more or less in your field of work (electricity).

I downloaded all the manuals Pieter pointed to and I must say, after a few years of exeriancing the SRS Airbag Warning light flashing I now more or less know where to look for the problem, not even Toyota's smart gadgets can tell what the problem is, everyhone's guess is that it's the spiral cable in the steering wheel but I tested it and proved them wrong!

Hope these manuals will help you to Tumelo!

Oom Eric I did get the manuals, thanks and as Johannes says they are very detailed and going through them yesterday already I can make sense of the ABS and Glow circuits, once that is done will try to start the truck and see what happens.

If it does not start I will then wire in a circuit as per the manual

Will keep you posted.

Tumelo, if you need a KZTE to reference to, I'm more than willing to help, but I'm no sparky so am completely clueless and wouldn't know what to do. I take my hat off for what you are atempting.

Really appreciated Werner, didn't do much this week except go through the manual. Today I installed an amp and a sub-woofer for Sebata and my brother in law also came to have his spots wired in but ended up just washing his engine cos I had to come to work on night shift.

If I'm not too tired tomorrow will work on the truck

Good luck! Hope you come right quickly with no more hitches!

Thanks oom Andy

Just some feedback on progress made so far:

1. AM2 - 30A fuse not there, also its circuit
- fuse wired in as per manual

2.ECD relay not there, also its circuit
- only relay left to sort out still

3. Defog - 15A fuse not there, also its circuit
-not gonna worry about this, anyway my truck does not have

4. STA - 7.5A fuse not there, also its circuit and finally
-fuse wired in as per manual

5. ST RLY (situated next to SUB GLW RLY) not there and so its ciruit.
-relay wired in as per manual

So the truck can crank now, previously it did not, but does not start because the engine management light does not come on, will be following this up from Tuesday (if computer is blown take it in for repairs)

Following circuits are working:

1. main lights
2. park lights front and back
3. indicators/hazards front and back
4. hooter
5. ABS
6. brake lights
7. starting circuit
8. charging circuit - but can confirm when engine runs
9. hand brake and low brake fluid level

What I think was the cause to this mess is/was the "dome circuit - 15A", which still has a short but will follow this too. This circuit controls the dome light, radio and clock - it's only one Blue/yellow wire that is faulty and shorting somewhere.

But so far so good and I'm happy with my progress , thank you to all for your contributions

Oh ja, also working:

10. wiper circuit

Good for you Tumelo, its good to see that people try things them selfs and have success....

I thank you

Not 100% sure but if I remember correctly one of the power cables for the radio is blue/yellow. I replaced my bakkie's radio two weeks ago. So when you look for that one start by taking the radio out.

Thanks Pieter, I've got the colours and have seen it, just a case of seeing where is it shorting out, which I'll follow from tomorrow, but you're correct it is blue/yellow (dome circuit 15A - which is dome, radio and clock)

So today I did some work:

Followed the computer box plugs and eventually the box itself and found nothing strange. Also checked the enigine management light on the dash and that works too, so I figured the ECD circuit ( this circuit is not on the new harness I got and so will be wired in - even though badly burnt I could make out the wire colours) must have something to do with the computer not coming on.

Sourcing some wires tomorow and will carry on. To my surprise when following the computer box wired some led me to a Dastek Unichip which I did not even know I had.

So for now I won't be taking the box for repairs as I thought I would have to tomorrow after work tonight, will sort out the ECD circuit and take it from there.

Interesting that you had a chip, guess it was just behind the cubbyhole?

Above the computer box, behind cubbyhole, but cable tied on the round bar, the face was facing away and so was not easy to notice

So I guess after you have "improved" on Toyota's wiring you are taking Letebele to Dastek or SAC to have the chip mapped again?

Great work so far. After this you will be the local expert on KZ wiring.

Mapping that's for sure , not too sure about being the resident KZ wirer - but thanks for the vote of confidence Heirich

Tumelo this is something bad that happened to you but you know what, the experience you gain from doing it yourself is priceless. You learn so much about your vehicle, not only on the wiring part. Next time you hear a noise you know exactly what it looks like behind the dash and you can trace the fault so much quicker.

Pieter ek stem saam! Dis hoekom ek nie bang is om goed uitmekaar te haal nie, want mens leer die heel tyd!

Thanks guys, did no work today had to catch up on some tonight is my last night and so the workshop resumes tomorrow when I knock off

Last week Thursday the workshop was open, and upon following the dome light circuit, which kept on shorting to earth, I found more burnt wires in the area directly behind the dash, but behind the windscreen vents. These were easy to repair but took time as each repair is followed by soldering and insulation. Worked till late in the night and by midnight I was tired and went to bed.

But the dome circuit has also now being sorted out.

And as I write this report I can say there are no more unknown burnt wires , Friday I could not work much as I had to prepare for our trip home to Lesotho and also allow my mom to abuse me through her shopping that she needed done.

Will resume again this Wednesday. Slowly but surely getting there.

Eish Donkey... I take my hat off to you sorting that mess out. Was this caused by an incorrect fuse or something?


-F_D

Ai Tumelo, I think you missed your calling!!
Maybe I can bring my Lux to you so that you can sortout my bakkies wiring

To be honest I have no idea but could just be the case but working through all this one circuit seems to have started it all cos that's the one that burnt from the small fuse box, behind kick panel, right through to the area behind the dash.

Anyways after work last night I worked a bit on the truck and finished off there soldering and repair behind the dash, tonight I may just put things back together and take it from there.

Bugzy wrote:Ai Tumelo, I think you missed your calling!!
Maybe I can bring my Lux to you so that you can sortout my bakkies wiring

I think I have seen enough wires and different colours to last me for the rest of the year now, even know some circuits off by heart

Last night I got home at 20:00 hrs from work, made coffee and was in the workshop. By midnight when I was packing the following were sorted out:

Radio
Clock,
and windows
for some reason the LED dome light does not work, not sure if it could have been damaged somehow, will check tomorrow.


Then came today, two more relays and circuits were wired in and temporarily connected so that I could test them, connected the battery, turned the key and voila the KZ grunt

Left it idle for about half an hour, also to test the heater radiator which I had repaired a while back but could not test, all is well and so is the aircon.

So yah from tomorrow I must just tidy up , saved myself R9.5k, so month end it should be going in for a overhaul. Thank you to all who helped it is much much appreciated

Tumelo! Hats off is all I can say to that! You took on a HUGE job and made it work! I am VERY impressed! Great job! Glad you got it right!

Thank you Theunis

Congrads and a job well done...

I take my hat off for you, well done.

What I do not understand, and maybe the auto electricians among us can help here, all the circuits has a fuse on it, or is supposed to have a fuse on. So why in this case did the wires get hot to the degree that they caught fire and did the fuse not blow?

Congrats Tumelo!!
Respect!!!

I have seen a fuse melted, the wires cooked, but the fuse did not blow!
Could it be a "bad fuse"? Maybe the fuse wire was wrong?

well i'm speechless, , though you had such a huge task to complete, you still made time to get your mind off the job, fitting my AMP & sub + spot lights , you finally got the KZ(Letebele) to start well done once more

Thank you guys

@ Pieter - I'm no auto electrician but what I understand, also as said above, it could be a wrong fuse rating, bad fuse, insulation breakdown from chaffing against metal body. The current caused at the fault may not be enough to blow the fuse but enough to start heating the cable therefore causing the insulation breakdown.

It happens also in our houses where wires will burn without the breaker tripping irrespective of it being of a correct rating and the wire of correct thickness. Maybe someone can explain better.

Donkey wrote:Thank you guys

@ Pieter - I'm no auto electrician but what I understand, also as said above, it could be a wrong fuse rating, bad fuse, insulation breakdown from chaffing against metal body. The current caused at the fault may not be enough to blow the fuse but enough to start heating the cable therefore causing the insulation breakdown.

It happens also in our houses where wires will burn without the breaker tripping irrespective of it being of a correct rating and the wire of correct thickness. Maybe someone can explain better.

I think what Tumi is saying is that it's something like a partial short, not a dead short .... drawing enough current to slowly heat the wire without the fuse blowing. The plastic insulation gets hot and ready to easily ignite when it melts through somewhere and there is a spark to ignite it or it just ignites spontaneously? The possibility of an incorrect or faulty fuse seems to be more likely to me.

I saw tonight that I had one of those. When I took out the fuses so that I can replace my VHF, I saw one of the fuses were completely melted away, but the fuse did not blow.

If I can find it again tomorrow morning I will post a pic.

Here's a pic...
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13063&p=259781#p259781" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

:alvarin:

Roy, the way it has melted at the bottom suggests that it was not making good contact and that the pins heated up. This would indicate bad contacts rather than a faulty fuse IMO.

Yep!


-F_D

It is caused by a loose connection. The clever guys call it a hot connection. The current doesn't "flow" thru but "jumps" thru the connection and heats up the wire or fuse or connection but there is no dead short and that is why the fuse is still intact. Only when the isolation material is melted away and it causes a dead short against the body the fuse will blow but by that time there is plenty of damage done. That is why it is always safer to solder a connection and make sure the terminals are clean and tight. It happens on 12v dc up to 380v ac. Had to rewire a whole 380v start up panel on a mixer because of one slightly loose connection, the breaker didn't trip and was only stopped by the overload when a phase dropped away.

If I can give some advice,try and bend the leg of the fuse and check the thikness off the leggs.The bad fuses is thinner and bends easily.The thinner leg sits loose in its holder resulting in a hot connection.

Hey Roy, mine looks worse than yours
This is on the line I use for my compressor, the fuse did not blow. It was melted into the casing so I cannot comment on the connection anymore.

OK, I now see what you guys mean by hot connection, check out the pins on pic below, you can clearly see one side good connection and other side bad connection. With these twisting the legs wont help because it is an external inline fuse holder which use normal connectors.

Yep! Pieter, you can clearly see that the bottom pin in the last pic had been arcing .... it's very badly burnt and pitted. The thing is now that the connectors in the fuse holder may be similarly burnt. This will mean that the new replacement fuse may also be making poor contact, giving rise to the same problem. Either one removes the contacts, cleans or replaces them, or one uses a contact cleaner that removes the oxidation. Bear in mind that even though the oxidation is removed, there may still be a poor connection due to bad pitting so if replacement is not an immediate option, it may be better to steal / borrow one of those emery boards from your wife / girlfriend ... the ones that they use to file their talons , and use that to clean up the connectors in the fuse box.

Agree Andy, but the casing of the fuse holder is also melted so I will sommer replace the whole thing, it is one of those inline single fuse holders.
Will make sure I it makes better contact on the new one.

If it's a single inline fuse then yes, it's not even worth the hassle .... just replace. The emery board rick may be useful to remember if you are traveling and have a fuse problem.

Hi Guys.
Tumelo, How did u extract the fuse housing from the outer shell?
I am trying to replace the 80amp fuse on my kz te for the glowplugs and cant get to the screw so sounds like i need to unclip everything?
Is there anyone that can help?

Is this the same as yours? Should be similar, if not. ......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8awmuE78Mxs

Wildside.tt wrote: ↑Tue Nov 17, 2020 11:27 am Hi Guys.
Tumelo, How did u extract the fuse housing from the outer shell?
I am trying to replace the 80amp fuse on my kz te for the glowplugs and cant get to the screw so sounds like i need to unclip everything?
Is there anyone that can help?

Thanks, Yes i saw that 1. Not 100% but there are 4 like plastic things you need to push back forcibly with a screw driver then i could get to the fuses bolts at last.
So easy but wasnt to straight forward.

So those 4 clips need to be unclipped with force and then the whole fuse thing comes out and then u can see the 80amps fuse bolts.
You have to loosen the whole cover from the vehicles body aswell as the wires that go in on the engine side. Also removed battery

Glad you came right.