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Electrical Issues that may be leading to worse problems
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EagleClaw
New User
Feb 6, 2016, 10:25 AM
Post #1 of 4
(1463 views)
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Electrical Issues that may be leading to worse problems
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I KNOW IT'S LONG, BUT I WANTED TO BE THOROUGH THINKING THE MORE INFO I INCLUDED MAY HELP SOMEBODY TO GIVE ME A POSSIBLE ANSWER TO THE PROBLEMS I'M HAVING ESPECIALY THE ONE'S LATER IN THE POST.
Hi - I have a 1998 Camry LE 4 cylinder with about 116,000 miles on it. I bought it from the original owner in 2004 and he had kept it in mint condition. I drove it or several years with no problems at all (I felt it was the best car I've ever had in the no problems department). Then 1 day I was leaving an Rx & when I turned the key - the lights and horn kept going off and it wouldn't start. It acted as I guess an alarm would, but I knew nothing about one in my car.
I was very close to a garage that only worked on Toyota's - so I had it towed there. Seems like the original owner had installed an aftermarket alarm, but he forgot to tell me about it & I never saw any switch or button that related to an alarm. The guy working on it asked me if I wanted it disconnected or taken totally out of the car. I went with the cheaper choice to have it disconnected. So that was done & paid for & off I went. I realized very soon that the drivers side door lock had stopped working for the drivers door. I could still use the button that locked & unlocked the other 3 doors - but now my door had to be locked & unlocked manually.
I took it back to the garage & explained the problem and was told by this kid that my door problem was just a risk that could happen when somebody installed an aftermarket alarm. I was not happy with that answer & said I assumed that when they disconnected it that it wouldn't cause a new problem. Then I asked how much it would cost to get the drivers door working right again and it involved an expensive diagnosis & once that was done there would probably be a hefty bill for the diagnosis & repair. So I just left.
As time went by I had some other problems come up. Such as the drivers window. Often when I had it down or close to it, I couldn't raise it all the way back up. So I stopped taking it down very far. If I got it down to far by mistake, I found that by driving around some, it would give the window more power to close, sometimes I'd get on the closest highway to me, get off at the 1st exit drive home & I'd be able to close it. Then after more time went by I started having the window problem on the passenger side - so I just rarely ever rolled it down.
Now recently, the temperature gauge stopped working right. Instead of being in the middle of H & C, it would usually just stay down in the Cold area. This really alarmed me, because I didn't know if it was a faulty gauge or if I had bad car problems. Oh, I did have a problem with my radiator in the car once and it had to be replaced. This was after he original door problem, but the other problems didn't start for a very long time after I had the radiator replaced. Anyway, even with the H&C gauge stopped working right....the car still seemed to drive O.K.
Then 1 day when I got in it there was an awful smell - really bad - like a skunk had been around or something. I got out of the car to see if I could notice the smell outside of it in the air - but I don't think I could. Then the next night the same thing happened with the awful smell. At this point I was only driving the car if I really had to and I'd never drive more than a couple of miles from where I live. The next time the bad smell was gone. But about a week later it came back again for one night.
O.K. - recently (there has been a big swatch of real cold weather where I live in GA) I realized that my heater and defroster weren't blowing hot air anymore - so now this is getting out of hand. I'm afraid if I take it to a garage to have it diagnosed & fixed, it would cost more than the car is worth. I called the closest garage to me & they told me diagnosis is $125 & hour & could take 2 to 5 hours & then I'd find out the cost to fix it. So if you pay a garage a lot of money to fix a 1998 car - do they still charge you for the diagnosis to find what the problem was?
Money is extremely tight with me - I'm 62 and handicapped. I can deal with window and door problems - but this latest set has me worried that the car is about ready to bite the dust. I know this was a long post, but I wanted to be pretty thorough so someone might have enough info to possibly tell me what is going on now. And it seems to me this car should have lots of life left with only 116,000 miles on it.
I was thinking about getting my oil changed very soon (its almost time anyway), & they check your fluids and other stuff like that and see if anybody working on that might notice something, or even if they don't, I could explain the problems and tell him I'd pay him to figure it out and fix it - or somebody there - I think they have a car bay there other than the oil change one in an adjoining big room. I would think if that's doable it would cost me a lot less than these specialty garages cost.
OK - I'm done. I WOULD SURE APPRECIATE IT IF SOMEBODY MIGHT HAVE A SUGGESTION, COMMENT, ANSWER, ETC. AS TO WHAT IS WRONG. THANK YOU
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kev2
Veteran
Feb 6, 2016, 10:58 AM
Post #2 of 4
(1460 views)
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Re: Electrical Issues that may be leading to worse problems
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OK at @116000miles I would not consider this vehicle worn out,
You need to address the heating cooling issue, and as you said back burner the power window door locks.
OIl change shops are exactly that oil change shops,. Your vehicle will need a professional technician - you doctor charges for their time why would a technician be any different ... If you want you could have the oil changed- if they add fluid ie coolant that would NOT be the end of issue but maybe identify there is a LEAK -
Discuss your concerns with the repair shop technicians you want an estimate should not be expensive I would guess 1hour ....And maybe if they do the oil change you could get a discount on one or the other, as the vehicle is already in the shop we can scan and check the fluuids for $?.
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Feb 6, 2016, 12:14 PM
Post #3 of 4
(1453 views)
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Re: Electrical Issues that may be leading to worse problems
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Wiring to remove alarm and splice wires properly failed somehow. Aftermarket alarms are cause for more trouble from hacked in junk and junk control of them owner get stuck, not a thief more often.
That crap is junk and now hard to fix properly.
That would explain the electrical problems but think there's more.
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The quick lube places same as Kev2 said and I'll bitch even more! Fine, they fill your fluids up included and in and out fast with an oil change. Now know they aren't real tech most of the time. Did the person or more than one know that if a certain fluid was low YOU should also know it's a warning of a problem! Just filling coolant is nice but it never should have been low - got it? Where did it go?
Real shops not these wanna be but handy places are frequently competitive with just oil change and checks services and much more likely to know that something is wrong - in fact ask to look around.
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For alarm bull IDK if you want to go back to same place or what but it wasn't apparently done real well or some corrosion had set in and wasn't found?
Diagnosis of that you said $125! That's high for GA anywhere IMO but not always the point. Higher price and quality may be fast and the end of a problem cheaper than fooling around for lower price?
T
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Rick56
New User
Feb 6, 2016, 5:34 PM
Post #4 of 4
(1443 views)
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Re: Electrical Issues that may be leading to worse problems
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A temperature guage staying cold and no heat inside the car is usually just a thermostat stuck open. It is usually a fairly simple repair, but you have to drain and replace your coolant.
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