2005 Camry LE, strange problem

[ah91]

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!

[maxwedge]

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.

[ah91]

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.

[CapriRacer]

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.

[ah91]

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).

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted by ah91

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.