Electrical Problem

[jmm39531]

I am having a problem with my 85 MR2 (218000 miles). Yesterday I had the fuel pump replaced in the gas tank, for a total cost of $670 at a local shop. I went to pick up the car and it seemed to work fine and I drove it home. However the inside of the car, and engine compartment smell like gasoline. But here's the bad part. Today I took it out for a drive, stopped it at a store, got back in the car and it would not start, nothing worked (lights, starter, windshield, nothing), it acted like the battery was totally dead. But the battery is not dead it measures 12.6V on a voltmeter.
With the key NOT in the ignition, I could hear a buzzing clicking sound near the fuse box under the dashboard. It was a relay turning off and on like 20 times a second. So I pulled the relay out, and then a different relay, in the front trunk, started doing the same thing. Turning off and on so fast it made a buzzing sound. So I pulled it out too, and then a third relay, also in the front then started to do the same thing. After the third relay I stopped pulling relays out.
Does anyone know what could cause this? Could the shop possibly have screwed up some wiring when they replaced the fuel pump?
The car is stranded in a parking lot right now, I am going to have to get it towed tomorrow...

[Ncturnal]

Check the cables connected to the battery and make sure they are tight. They probably disconnected them when working on the gas tank. Also, take the voltage reading when you are trying to start the car. A dead batter can ready 12 volts or more but drop below 9 under load, ie. trying to start your car. The clicking is indicative of low voltage output or a bad connection.

[jmm39531]

Ok I went back to the car today and got it started. All I did was wiggle the key around in the ignition while I was turning it. The key is very worn down, I guess I need a new ignition switch and key.
Also I checked the wires connected to the battery terminals. There are two cables connected to the positive terminal; a big thick one and a smaller one. On the smaller cable at the crimped ring terminal, 75% of the wire strands are frayed and broken. So I will need to fix that also.
Yeah you're right about checking the battery voltage while its under load. The repair shop burned down my battery while they were working on it. How much damage does it do to a battery when its been run down for example by leaving the lights on? How many times can you burn a battery down before it should be replaced?

[Ncturnal]

Batteries can vary greatly. Sometimes they can deep cycle many times and be fine, and sometimes they are shot after one cycle. If the battery is 3 or more years old, it's common for a deep cycle to put an end to that battery. 5 years is the max life of pretty much all batteries on the market today. I've been using Optima batteries and they don't seem to be very resilient to complete deep cycles at all.

Is it the negative connector that is frayed? It's a good idea to replace or repair that frayed connector as soon as possible. The frayed wire is not able to carry as much current and can get significantly hotter under load. I'm pretty sure the part number for the negative terminal is 82123-17080 for the 85.

[Mista 2]

you shouldn't need to get a toyota terminal, most auto stores should have aftermaket one's quite cheep. when mine were in need of replacing i put gold plated audio terminals on and it looks heaps better now