1995 Toyota Camry Won't Start

I just bought a 1995 toyota camry less then a month ago with about 88,000 miles on it.

Last night was some bad weather, and while driving home i pulled off the side of the road to use my cell phone. Rather then let my engine idle while i talked, i turned it off to save on gas. A little while later i noticed my dome lights, and head lights dimming. I figured i've been standing still for too long, im draining my battery (although i was suprised that it drained in under 5 minutes).

I tried to start the car, and only got clicks. I called a friend who helped me push the car in the rain to a nearby parking lot. I called another friend to help me jump my car. He had some crap ass cables, I was afraid to use them but i wanted to get home so bad i guess i just overlooked common sense. The cables fried (we properly attached them, positive to dead car, positive to good car, negative to good car, negative on metal unpainted surface to ground it), and we had to locate a thick cloth in my trunk to pull off the overheating cables. From what i could see their was no real damage from this thankfully.

When i tried to start the car during that jump and before, it made some clicking noises. This leading me to beleive it was indeed the battery, hence why i tried to jump it :-D. I called a Taxi driver, and asked him to bring some jumper cables. I hoped with some good cables with less resistance i could get my car going. But even after connecting the cables, and him reving his engine for a solid 5 minutes, we got nothing. And i mean nothing. When i turned the key this time i didnt even get clicks. This was probably about three hours since the attempted jump with the crappy cables.

I wiped all of the corrosion off of all the metal posts on mine and the good cars battery. I tried playing around with the connections and everything. Even though i dont see any cracks or leaks on my battery, is it possible the battery just crapped out on me? I know its a longshot, but is it any chance it's the alternator?

I also went through some fairly large sized puddles during that night, as it was raining very hard. But i wasnt speeding through them, at max i was going 10-15 mph through puddles. And i dont see how a big puddle could make my car stop working 20 minutes later. Any help is appreciated, as I want to at least know what the problem is/could be, and try to fix it myself if i can with my dads help before i bring it to a mechanic.

I would start with a new battery. Short of that, disconnect the battery leads and charge it up with a battery charger. That done try starting the car. If it starts use a meter and check for at least 13.5+ vdc across the battery posts. Anything less than that and you'll need a new alternator.

If it doesn't start tap on the starter while cranking and/or clean/tighten the starter connections. Be careful with the connection that has a fat wire on it. That is straight from the battery and has constant power. Don't ground it out with a wrench while tightening it. You'll get a prettry good fireworks display if you haven't disconnected the battery. Turn the key and check for 12 vdc at the connection where the small diameter wire is connected. If you're getting it, the ignition switch, neutral start switch, and starter relay are good. Change the starter.

Other things to try: > Take the battery to Autozone. Pepboys, Sears etc and have it load tested. They will also bench test alternators and starters. Follow the negative battery lead to where it attaches to ground (probably the engine block) and make sure it's tight. Disconnect and clean if it looks corroded. Detach the distributor cap (if there is one) and dry it out with a hair dryer. Face the car into the sun, open the hood, and let nature dry everything.

Of course now that I've written all this I remember this forum has some great info files at the top of the forum. Even manuals. It's the "sticky notes" starting with "important" in red. Gobs of info there. Scroll down on the first one and you'll find a section on starting problems.

Took it to pep boys like you reccomended, had them charge the battery with a battery charger. It held a small charge, but quickly drained. They peformed tests on the alternator, starter, and some other things. They determined that the only problem was the battery. They were kind enough to throw in a different battery to make sure this was the only problem, started up the car and it worked.

I purchased a heavy duty duralast battery, everythings working now.

Unfortuantly it was beyond me repairing it, but thanks a lot for your help! (Not sure if this is allowed but pep boys was great with getting my car back on the road in a timely fashion! i would reccomend them)

Glad to hear you're back on the road. :cheers: