Hello everyone,

I have a weird situation on my hand. My dad has a 96 Camry LE. About 2 weeks ago his car suddenly failed to start at work. He asked a coworker to jump start his car and then drove home. Next day he went to AutoZone and bought a new battery. After putting in the new battery for him, the car started and run just fine. Then about 2 days later, the same thing happened again. He was off of work and tried to start the car but it won't start. So he got the car jumped again and drove to a mechanic shop. The mechanic supposedly checked the alternator and told him the batter is great and the alternator is in good shape and it may be that the little light in the trunk isn't shutting off when he closes the trunk. Well, my dad and I checked on that issue and we made sure that the trunk's light shuts off by looking through the folded backrow to make sure the light is off. The car was fine for another week after that. Suddenly, today after driving to and back from church, he went out to turn on the car to go grocery shopping and the car won't start. According to my dad, there wasn't any trace of power when you open up the car door. I confirmed this by opening the door myself and then insert the key into the ignition and turn it over to the accessory notch and there wasn't an ounce of juice flowing into the car. The check engine light wasn't on, the ding dign noise when the key is in and the door is open wasn't on, the door is ajar indicator wasn't on either. I went ahead and jumped the car for him and everything was fine after that. The car started great and smooth and after running it for a few minutes, we restart the car and it started again just fine. I am at a lost as to what could be wrong. The only thing I can think of is that the circuit must be open some where that slowly draining the juice. Any idea as to how to tackle this problem is greatly appreciate guys.

Thank you everyone for taking your time to read and response to this.

In our area you can go to an automotive store and they will check your charging system for free. I would start with this. If charging system (alternator, since the battery is new) passes the test you need to check for excessive current in the battery with the ignition key off.

You need to hook an amp meter in series with the battery. If your current is more than 50 milliamps, pull fuses one after another. This way you will see which line draws the most current.

Good luck,
Sam

What kind of changes should I be looking for on the amp meter?

You should look first like he said at the battery. If it is pulling to many amps, more than 50 mA then have someone pull fuses out one at a time, and putting them back in untill you see the current get to around 50 mA or lower. And the problem is in the last circuit that the fuse was pulled that made the current drop on the meter. You could also do it yourself by going back and forth pulling fuses or just hook the battery back up and take a fuse out and check between the terminals where the fuse goes for each circuit and see if any is pulling more than that.

You can also use a test light to perform the test, do it the same way. With the key off and all doors closed, no lights on, the light shouldn't come on if checking it the same way with the meter at the battery(one cable loose and the aligator clip to the cable and the probe of the light touching the post where you pulled the cable off).

I want to update your guys on some more weird symptoms. So I wanted to verified and took the alternator to Auto Zone and it checked out fine. Now after jumping the car, if the key isn't in the ignition switch the door ajar indicator would come on. Also the green color light ring that's around the ignition switch is on. If I try to turn on the headlights, the headlights wont come on and I would hear clicking noise and the door ajar indicator would dim and looses some intensity. The same would happen to the green light around the ignition switch. If i insert the key into the ignition switch the ding ding noise would come on to let me know the key is in but as soon as i turn the key, everything would shuts off. Nothing would come, no lights, no ding ding noise. nada. However if i pull the key out everything would slowly come back again. Could the ignition switch or the computer chip cause all this?

You may have found a short!

However those clicking and flashing point out to a broken wire: very hard to find and diagnose.

I still would start with hooking ampmeter! See if you can find a bad circuit.

Sam

"Now after jumping the car, if the key isn't in the ignition switch the door ajar indicator would come on"

You may have found your problem. One of the door switches may be showing that door as being open all the time. If this happens while the car is off, it will set off the dome light. The dome light being on will kill the battery if left on overnight. To test this, first try setting the dome light switch to the always off position (not on when any of the doors are open). Then jump start the car and drive around till the battery is recharged, or recharge the battery from an external source. Then shut the car and see if it will restart after being off overnight or after about 8 hours. If this solves the problem, you can start searching the 4 door switches for the source of the problem. The door switches in the generation 3 Camry can cause problems created by rust on the back of them. Lift up the rubber cover on each one from the bottom, exposing a 10MM hex head bolt. Remove the bolt and pull out the switch and wiring a few inches, but do not disconnect the wiring. You will most likely find the back of the switch and spring covered in rust. Clean the rust off the backside with a wire brush and apply some dielectric grease there to keep the rust from coming back. Also clean the rust off the bolt before reinstalling it. The bolt grounds the switch to the car's frame. Cleaning each door switch should only take 5 or 10 minutes. When all switches are cleaned in this manner, you can try to move the dome light switch back to the door position where it comes on when a door is opened.

Mike