2005 Camry LE, strange problem

Hi,

Had an odd problem when starting my car this morning (this is a 2005 Camry LE). The ignition came on fine, but I realized basically all the dashboard gauges were out. I think the only ones working were the gear light and the headlight light. The car also refused to shift out of park—this is an automatic transmission. I shut the car off and tried a second time, a few minutes later. Same thing: the car turned on, but no dash displays and the car wouldn't shift out of park.

I was thinking this might be a fuse issue (?) and went inside to research. But about 10 minutes later, I went out and gave it another try, and everything seemed normal. So now I'm very confused.

Only other thing to add, I don't know if this could have any relation: it snowed about 4-6 inches last night. I have good snow tires and despite the low clearance was gonna give it a go to get out of the driveway, without having the neighbor plow. So prior to this whole saga starting, I shoveled out the car and drove in reverse through the snow, like 30-40 feet, just to see how it went. It seemed fine, so I drove back to my parking spot and shut the car off. I was about to turn the car around and try driving out forward when this whole error started.

ANY THOUGHTS? THANKS!

Have you opened the hood to look for any snow packed around the fuse or relay box, or the wire harness going into the fuse/relay box.

Thanks for reply. Yes—fuse box in the engine looks fine. Engine in general looks fine, doesn't really look like too much snow/water got in.

My reaction was also fuses, and you didn't say whether you checked them. There might be a fuse that control all the stuff that is not working. Maybe more than one.

I've found that sometimes I have to CHANGE fuses or at least move them. Moving them makes for better contact.

Pro Tip: Batteries work the same way. A bit of movement not only gets better contact, but it also agitates the battery to get that last bit of power out if them.

Thanks for your reply. Whoops, yes, I did check fuses. They all looked OK to me.

I started to think this might be a battery or battery connection problem. The battery in this car is getting pretty old, and there's some corrosion on top (not terrible I think, but does not look great).

Thanks for your reply. Whoops, yes, I did check fuses. They all looked OK to me.

I started to think this might be a battery or battery connection problem. The battery in this car is getting pretty old, and there's some corrosion on top (not terrible I think, but does not look great).

Nope, your symptoms don't point to a battery problem. They point to a fuse or related problem.

Again, fuses may look good, but they might not be in good contact with the mating surfaces. Plus, I have found that what I think are good fuses in the fuse box, turn out to have a burnt spot when I remove them and examine them from a different angle.