1990 toyota camry rolls in park, brake issues

[kozykids]

Last week my son came home and said when he turns his car on all dash lights for the battery, brakes etc. light, but they wont' turn off. Today he came home, lost power could only go about 20 mph. Parked in the driveway, he put the car in park and turned if off. The car rolled in park, so he put the emergency brake on. Now he says it won't turn over and when he tries to press the brake pedal it won't budge. Any ideas, we've already dumped more money than we cared to into this car, if it sounds like something major we're going to have to junk it.

[Brian R.]

It may be a bad alternator. Many times, when the idiot lights go crazy, it's the alternator.

[xfeejayx]

Originally Posted by kozykids

when he tries to press the brake pedal it won't budge.

brake pedal gets really hard to push when the car is off because the brake booster isn't running. I wouldn't worry about that. Go to autozone and buy a new alternator, should be an easy fix.

[AccordCodger]

The only way it could roll in park is if it really WASN'T in park. I guess bad electrics MAYBE could stop you putting it in park, but it seems unlikely.

I also don't believe a bad alternator would cause "lost power could only go about 20 mph."

I don't think we're getting the whole story here. How old is your son?

[typesix]

Having bad electrics will not stop you from putting tranny into Park. However, in that car, key can be taken out even if tranny is not in Park. Those lights coming on does sound like alternator, I had the same lights come on and replaced the alternator.

[xfeejayx]

Originally Posted by typesix

Having bad electrics will not stop you from putting tranny into Park.

not saying i know one way or the other , but are you sure that's true? doesn't the transmission need electric power to physicaly shift the gears? if it can't shift, might also limit the speed he can go.

[Brian R.]

The gear shifts are actuated by hydrallic pressure from the transmission fluid pump. The gear selection and shift timing are controlled by the ECM.

[kozykids]

My husband thinks he may not have had it all the way in park. I had asked him but he insisted it was (he's 17). Anyway here is where we are at right now.

My husband came home, car started right up, he drove about 1/4 mile and it died. We bought a new battery, we checked the voltage befor starting 12, then checked again after starting it, it went up to 14.4. I was told this was how to check to see if the alternator was bad. When we replaced the battery I did notice corrossion on the leads, could it all have been from a poor connection? Car appears to run fine now. I'm worried it could be the wiring issue. The dash lights that show which gear you are in don't work consistently. All other lights do now go off now though, no longer staying on.

[Brian R.]

Yes, it could have been the result of a poor battery terminal connection. The gear indicator lights may be a totally unrelated and trivial issue.

[AccordCodger]

And the part about "lost power could only go about 20 mph?" That doesn't fit the other stuff - a bad battery and/alternator won't make the car run slow - it'll stop it altogether (eventually).

I still think we're not getting the whole story.

BTW, xfeejayx, I don't have a '90, but I VERY much doubt if putting the car in park needs either electrics or hydraulics. The parking pawl is mechanical - we aren't talking about shifting gears here.

[kozykids]

Friday night my son took the car to a football game. On his way home he said the brake/battery/lights lights all popped back on, he lost his dash instrument lights and his radio shut off by itself. Saturday the car refused to start. Jumped it and it ran for a bit and died. I cleaned the battery connections and put in a new Alt fuse, no start, I decided to replace the alternator and belt. Car started right up, all light including gear lights are working normally now and car ran great.

[Brian R.]

Good job