Electrical Problem - draining battery - relays clicking with vehicle off

[MisterCruiser]

Ok, so this is an issue with my 90 Colorado 3.0 1KZ-TE model.

I've had an issue with the battery going dead, checked the voltage with the vehicle running and was over 14v so I thought the alternator is working ok. So I blamed the battery and bought a new battery. This vehicle doesn't get used a lot so I thought in the freezing cold weather the battery was just old (it's 4/5 yrs old) and that it's struggling to hold charge in the freezing weather. I charged the battery etc, etc,, prior and still discharged.

Anyway, new battery seemed to cure everything. It's in it about a month. Until yesterday evening, I went to move the vehicle out of the way and the battery was flat as a pancake.
Strangely, after I jump started the vehicle yesterday, when I checked the battery voltage with engine running it was reading 12.9v, it wasn't up at the 14v you'd expect,,, could this be because the battery was so flat that the alternator was charging correctly and as the battery became more charged it would eventually read at 14v or should a completely flat battery still charge at 14v right from the start?

I had the battery charging whilst it was connected in the vehicle, (my CTEK charger allows this) and I was working on another car parked beside it when I started to hear clicking noises coming from the cruiser. I pulled the "SUB GLW RLY" relay and the clicking stopped, which I assume is the glow plug relay.

There was also another part clicking up at the top of the engine which when I disconnected the electrical connector the clicking stopped, I'm not sure what this connector is, if someone can identify the green circled connector in my pic that would be great!

Also, the seatbelt warning or SRS? red circle with seatbelt pic was flashing on/off on the dash, this was the only thing flashing on the dash.

So I think this means I have a short somewhere which in the form of a live wire touching some chassis or such?

Also, I think I "broke" the main Alternator fuse link in the pic below. Are these designed to be removed to check or how do these work? How do I remove the old one? Can these only be got from Toyota, I never see these type in motor factors, etc...?
If I go to a breakers, how do I remove that main Alternator fuse from the fuse box without breaking it?

I need to get that main alternator fuse link as at present, I get absolutely nothing when I turn the key, I assume because the main Alternator fuse link is broken?

Also, to check for a parasitic drain, I put a test light between the neg battery post and it's disconnected cable clamp and it glowed very dimly, I pulled every fuse in engine bay and interior and the light stayed on. I put my multimeter on amps in place of the test light and couldn't get a reading on either of the 3 amp settings so I assume it's miniscule amount and hence wouldn't read it?

 

[Towpack]

The fuses with the clear plastic tops look like PAL fuses and are generally available at motor factors etc. The alternator fuse looks slightly different. Did it have a plastic top like the others and are the connectors underneath the same?
I had a 350ma parasitic drain some years back which was enough to flatten the batteries to the point of non starting in a few days.

 

[karl2000]

Get an amp clamp type meter to put around the battery wire to measure your drain - I noticed Lidl have got cheap ones at the moment if you havent got one! Anything more than about 50ma I'd investigate further....

Don't know about the 90 specifically but I'd expect the volts at the battery to be around 14v a few seconds after starting even if the battery is flat...

 

[MisterCruiser]

I figured out the fuse, they don’t just pull out, the cables are bolted to the bottom of it. I had to unbolt the fuse box and separate the top half of it, not too bad though. @Towpack - yeah it had a plastic surround case + clear lid like the 2 beside it, I had it removed hence it’s not in the pic. So PAL fuses they’re called, I’ll look them up, cheers.

 

[MisterCruiser]

@karl2000 - I have an amp clamp accessory for my multimeter, never used it, I must dig it out. I’ll have the main Alt fuse fixed tomorrow hopefully when breakers opens.

Anyone any tips on finding the short or whatever might be causing my glow plug relay /solenoids to get power when vehicle switched off.

 

[karl2000]

Think I'd start with a wiring diagram... Might be one in the Haynes if you're struggling to find one!

 

[karl2000]

Just rereading that again about your multimeter not working on amps - and I know you already know this and it's pointless me saying it but most multimeters need the +ve lead moving to a different connector (IE not the usual voltage / resistance one) on the front for measuring current. Don't take that the wrong way, just wouldn't want something daft to be missed!

 

[MisterCruiser]

Just rereading that again about your multimeter not working on amps - and I know you already know this and it's pointless me saying it but most multimeters need the +ve lead moving to a different connector (IE not the usual voltage / resistance one) on the front for measuring current. Don't take that the wrong way, just wouldn't want something daft to be missed!

Opps,,, I'm a muppet, haha. I forgot about that! No wonder I'd no reading, I hardly ever use amps feature. Cheers dude, I'll check again tomorrow and see what it reads out of interest.

 

[MisterCruiser]

Ok, I got a new Alternator main 100A fuse today and have the 90 running again.
Checked the battery with vehicle running and it's up at 14.4v and when I switch on all the accessories and rev it etc, it's doing what it should be doing.

Here's a pic of the amp's being drawn when I put the multimeter in the proper ports. Using the 10A port gave a reading of 0, I'm guessing because the amps measured is too small to display. However using the other amp port gives me a reading only when on "200m" setting. The reading obtained as in the pic is 23.9mA which I'm guessing is very small.

 

[karl2000]

That sounds OK to me, I dont think your parasitic draw is running at that point. Is your glow plug relay back in, was it clicking - do you think its still activating?

Watch you dont send too many amps through that multimeter, best case you'll blow the fuse!

If you suspect your glow plugs are running, maybe find the fuse for the glow plug, and do a voltage drop test (meter on dc volts leads in normal place) across the two pins of the fuse. Then you can take that (small) voltage, and use a table (google voltage drop test if you havent got a table) along with the fuse size (amps) to convert it to a current, to see how many amps are flowing in that circuit. For a parasitic draw test doing it that way when you suspect a circuit is handy because its non destructive - ie you dont have to disconnect your battery -ve to put your meter in series. Also you could measure higher current that way that would blow your meter if it was in current mode!

 

[MisterCruiser]

Yeah, the fault wasn't present when I got that 23.9mA reading. The fact it's an intermittent fault is going to make it a bit more difficult.
I have the glow plug relay back in, everything is back fitted as normal.
Thanks for that voltage drop test method via the fuse!

I checked the connections at the alternator and the cables around the fuse box when I was in there, couldn't see anything obvious.

I wonder if the glow plug clicking has been giving power to the glow plugs and killed them, I might pull 1 or 2 of them out and check. I never had good success testing them the resistance method via a multimeter when they're still installed. I like the old skool way of testing them on a 12v batter when removed. If they're good I might disconnect the power wire to them before it does kill them.

I think my next move it to figure out if the glow plug relay shares the same circuit as that vacuum switching solenoid valve that was also powering / clicking at the same time when the fault occurred. Or if these 2 circuits have something in common?

 

[Towpack]

If the glow plugs have been permanently energised while running they will almost certainly be dead. I had this happen, unknowingly, on my Discovery (excuse my language) and only suspected something was amiss when it became harder to cold start. I would guess just one glow plug is going to pull at least 10A which would flatten your battery in a few hours. If the glow plugs are dead but the relay is energising then that would give a relatively small parasitic drain. A healthy glow plug should give, effectively, a full short on a multimeter. The duff plugs in my Disco were all open circuit when I tested them.

 

[Wavs21]

Hi guys
Too add my 2cents

I would examine the glow plugs and the immediate areas around them when mounted in the cylinder head.

The tolerances are very small around them and they could ground very easily with some debris or foreign item in the wrong spot or (perhaps a wire is damaged off the top of them)
Maybe some debris contacting the plug to ground.

I’m all for obvious stuff first.

 

[MisterCruiser]

Ok, I removed the glow plug nearest to the front, easiest to access but I still had to remove all the nuts off all 4 to remove the common metal strip. All nuts were tight, they seem ok as regards foreign objects grounding them, etc..

So this plug tests fine directly on a 12v battery, heats up as it should.
When I test it with a multimeter it only displays a reading on the 200 setting which is also my audible continuity function and it beeps indicating continuity. Should it if the glow plug is ok?
See pic for clarity. What does the 0.09 mean in terms of the 200 range, how many ohms is it or what resistance is my glow plug showing?

Seems I can rule out the glow plugs causing the intermittent drain as if they were doing it they'd be burnt out. So the relay clicking was just getting power to it, it wasn't passing the power on the the glow plugs. At least I can rule them out but would like to know the ohms I detected out of interest and so I can compare to test the remaining 3 without removing them.

 

[karl2000]

I think that's saying 0.9 ohms which I think is probably about right. From memory about 1 ohm is alright - if it's knackered you'll get an open circuit or infinite resistance....