What the Hell!!!

[AleeCat]

Hope somebody out there might have an idea about what is going on with my '96 camary.
Woke up this morning to go to work...got in my car turned the ignition to on and dash lights came on along with the radio...but when I went to start car all power turned off.
Thought that the battery was dead even though nothing had been on...so I slammed shifter in neutral(since wouldn't move without ignition on?) to get a jump and rolled it back to the street. I figured that I would give the ignition a try one more time and to my suprise everthing came back on and the car started right up without a jump. COOL!
Drove to work with no problems and started after work just fine. Drove home and a couple hours later got in the car and the same thing happened...rolled it back a few feet...but no power at all.
What the Hell!! Is this a battery problem (even thought I replaced it last winter) or is there a possible transmission neutral switch issue or something along that line.

Any thoughts or ideas would be great!!! Thanks

Al

[Strider327]

Might be the fuses. But check the battery life and see how much you got and all the fuses I believe fuse 10 and 30 are the main ones to check. Open the hood and look at the driver side relay and get it checked....should be a slight problem. Unless your having touble cranking it.

[lsj1655]

hey, i have a 94 camry that does, or did the same thing. but i want you to try something for me to see if yours is having the same issue as mine, because if it is, it is kinda complicated to fix. go back out to your car and see if it will do it again ( everything dead.) If it does, pop open the hood and pushed on the battery toward the the windshield. if the cars electrical comes back on, let me know and ill write you and let you know how to fix it.

[Brian R.]

Make sure your battery terminals/cables are really tight and clean.

[Bossman]

Neutral safety switch?

Distributor going out?

[DFBonnett]

Judging by the symptoms, my first thought would be the main power relay which, IIRC, is on a junction block under the dash on the driver's side. It may be on the back side of the block.
FWIW
YMMV

[AleeCat]

Originally Posted by Brian R.

Make sure your battery terminals/cables are really tight and clean.

Gentlemen just wanted to say thanks!! for the info and ideas. I must admit I feel a little lame though...i had checked the terminals after I first had the problem and they were tight...but on second inspection noticed the connection between terminal and battery cable was loose and moving around...tightend it up...turned the key and...BINGO...ignition!! That's why they always say "check the simplest possible problem first!!"
Anyway I'm glad to have found this site and am excited to know that there is so much knowlege out there and hope I can return the favor someday!!!!

Thanks Again

Al

[AccordCodger]

Thank you, AleeCat - few people bother to come back and post a solution (much less admit their own mistake).

One suggestion - a next time you start a thread, you might want to choose a subject line that relates to the problem.