Gauge cluster fuse

Hell I have a 99 Toyota Tacoma I recently changed my alternator after it went out on me. I had lost power to my gauges a day prior to my alternator going out. I put a new battery aswell. It ran good for 3 days now when I turn my key to acc I blow my gauge cluster fuse immediately. Trying to figure out where to start looking for what could be causing the issue. The heater/ac also has no power

 

Unplug the connector on the alternator.
See if the fuse blows.

It almost sounds like the connector is grounding out. If this happens, the alternator will also fail to "work".

A test light would be handy, just to save you the cost of a fuse (or two)

 

Would that also cause the heater and ac to not work? I also lost my reverse lights. Head lights blinkers and break lights all work though

 

No, not likely.
Does the blower work?
As in does air blow out the vents?

I will take a look at the diagrams later tonight and see what the commons are among them.

 

Yes the Gauge Fuse also feeds the HEATER Relay Control and Reverse Lights.

 

Well, I just looked.
And yes that fuse can cause all the issues you are having.
Which makes finding the short to ground even harder.

I’m still suggesting starting with the alternator plug

 

Me too but honestly the old alternator was probably still good, you said the Gauge Fuse blew before the alternator went out but if the Gauge fuse is blown the alternator isn't gona charge.

 

Ueah, I was going to mention that earlier.
But I have a habit of feeding people to much information at once.

I figured I’d keep it simple and to the point.
Then if it was the alternator connection, I was going to say “the old one is probably still good”.

But, what’s done is done.
Diag it is, as of now.

 

I had the old alternator tested after my truck died on me and they said it failed. Sounded like bad bearings before it started squealing. I replaced both my alternator and my battery and everything ran fine for about 3 days before I started having the gauge problems again. I removed the new alternator thinking maybe it was a faulty one had it tested and it’s fine. When I put it back together everything worked until I put it in gear to test drive it and that’s when it popped again and now I have the issue with it popping just turning the key to acc without turning on the truck. Never had this issue before the other day

 

Do you have an auto or manual transmission?

 

It’s an auto transmission. I just unplugged the alternator as stated above and still popped the fuse just turning the key to acc

 

So we have an active short.

Give the wiring going to the alternator and the wiring going down to the Transmission Range Switch a good visual inspection for any places it may be rubbing on something and shorting.

My method to find shorts is to put a headlight bulb in place of the fuse so I can wiggle wires and unhook stuff while watching the bulb instead of popping fuses.

Kinda like this video.
https://youtu.be/oKCLzf4va7M

 

Is that the sensor on the passenger side of the transmission?

 

Yes I believe it is.

 

Ok I’ve checked the wiring as much as I can see and havnt had any luck finding anything that looks wore down. There was a plug on the driver side of the transmission that I unplugged and cleaned and it seemed to work for a minute before it blew the fuse again

 

You are going to need to do the test in the video above.
Using a light bulb, then start unplugging stuff, a long with tugging and shaking wiring.

When the light goes out or dims, you are "close" to the problem.

Let me see what all uses that fuse. Then all you can do is start "looking".

 

Tn and Dm===>
Wow
I watched entire video
Hopefully yall know my fear/hatred of electrical issues like that vid
But
‘I’m Trying Real Hard Ringo!’

talk about patience you guys have to go step by step to navigate wire diagrams to locate an ‘area’ to find the issue
Kudos

in yall’s opinion
That vid mechanic, how much $/how many hours would he charge a run of the mill customer (not friend)
Plus all the RI time !!!!!!

I’m guessing 5-8hrs (mechanical rate) at the very least
And
The amount TOTALLY deserved.

 

I don't know what engine you have but it feeds:

Instrument Cluster
Vehicle Speed Sensor
Reverse Lights
Transmission Range Switch
Control side of the HEATER Relay
Alternator

 

Thanks. In most owners manuals it tells you what fuse feed what power supplies.
But finding a 1995 owners manual in .pdf is not so easy. Not even Toyota offers one on their site.......

 

No big deal to me, I love this stuff.

Idk he might have 3-4 hrs in it, hard faults are much easier to find than intermittent's typically.

Probably not nearly that much, I can do a whole dash out evaporator/heater core job in 5-8 hrs on most vehicles pretty easily.

When you consider people like him that do real diagnostics are the minority in this industry yea, the sad part is they are often the "last resort" for people because they do charge what they are worth but in the end they are still typically alot cheaper than the parts cannon approach.