93 4Runner stalling and dead battery?

KEITH PUNK

MEMBER
1993 TOYOTA 4RUNNER

Hey guys, I was driving back home when my 4runners engine stalled on me and I couldnt restart, thankfully I was in my drive way already. Anyway before it died it gradually got weaker (power loss) and there was this ratteling sound from the front of the engine around the bonnet area. The funny thing was that the left battery suddenly went flat right at that spot, (very weak cranking) this truck needs two strong batteries to kick the engine, well the left one was totally flat. The next morning the engine didnt crank at all.

Before handing me any advice, My AC fan has been running without a relay for about 2 months now (cant find a spare in my country). The AC guy connected a wire straight from the fusebox right to the AC compressor switch, this meant that even when the engine was off, the AC fan would still be running, so everytime I got back home I had to turn disconnect the wire to stop the fan from spinning. I only connected it when I needed AC.

Do you think my AC fan relay problem has something to do with the engine stalling?

Any Advice would be a Godsend. Thanks Guys!

1 Reply

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

First thing you need to check would be the battery condiion. If one battery is bad, it can affect the other battery. The bad one would keep draining the good one causing it to be drained as well.

The next thing to check would be the alternator and charging system. You need to ensure that the alternator is charging the batteries to keep them in good condition.

As to the fan, if you cannot get the fan relay, something must be wrong, the junk yard should carry plenty of them if you can't get a new one. Even if the correct one cannot be purchased, you can always rewire the system with a generic relay. You need someone who knows about electrical syatems and the guy presently handling your job is not the man you need.

As to the engine stalling, it could be due to the charging system being drained or another problem.

If you are able to get the engine runing with a jump start, then it definitely should be a fault with the battries being drained, if not it could be some mechanical problem as you mentioned the rattling noise which could be anything from a bad compressor to a seized engine.