Guage fuse electrical A/C issue 1994 Camry XLE

[joem]

Last week my wife's car started to get a little strange. She filled up with gas got back in the car and upon getting on the highway noticed the speedometer and other gauges were not working, then the windows, then the sunroof, then the A/C.

Thinking it was a fuse I checked them all and determined the fuse for the guages was blown. I replaced the fuse and the guages, windows and sunroof worked. I turned on the A/C and the fuse blew again.

I can only assume that turning on the A/C created a surge that somehow blows the guage fuse. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what diagnostic direction I should take?

Any help would be appreciated as it is about to get a little toasty down here in Texas.

Thanks

Joe Maluchny
1994 Camry XLE
1993 Corolla LE
Sherman (In the middle of no where) TX

[zoni]

will turning on the heater do the same thing?
or is it just with the a/c button pressed that this happens?

check the 40amp heater fuse, the heater relay, and the 10amp A/c fuse

if the fuses all check out fine, it might be a bad climate control unit, a bad fan motor, or even a bad servo motor that controls the amount of air coming into the car.

but if it were me, i'd throw a 20 amp fuse in and see if that blew too... definitely not the right thing to do, but im ghetto like that.

[joem]

The fuse blows if the A/C is on or off. Noticed this am that it sounds like the bearings in the akternator are going so I'll probably replace tomorrow and see what happens. Any other ideas?

Thanks

[zoni]

if you arent good at figuring out electrical shit, i'd take it to a dealer... the gauge fuse has a lot of stuff hooked up to it... and thats a lot to have to eliminate as causes...

[joem]

It turned out that it was the A/C clutch that was trashed. Had to replace the entire A/C unit as it crashed the A/C bearings etc.

[granadaCoder]

I was driving my 1993 Camry.

95 degree day. After about 1.5 hours of driving I "sensed" the a/c wasn't so cold.

I look down and I see the blinking light for about 2 seconds.
Then BOOM.
Speedometer Tach(Tachometer) Cruise Control Power Windows Gas Gauge Temperature Gauge all go dead.

I pulled over. I knew there was a fuse box near the battery.
I check everything. Nothing wrong.

I go home and google my butt off and find this post.

NUMBER 1 THING TO KNOW:
My 1993 camry has a fuse box near the battery AND near the turn signal. Mine is behind a little pull out drawer. I never knew it was there (duh).
I've only had the camry for 3 months, so I guess I get a pass this time.

With this post, I find and replace a 10 amp fuse.
I get everything back .... minus the A/C.

I checked the A/c belt, and its frayed.

Tomorrow I'm gonna get a new belt, and replace it.

Maybe my a/c blew up, maybe it just went nuts for a moment when the belt frayed or something. Or maybe the a/c blowing-up did the belt in.

Anyway. I will replace the belt and ~then~ try the a/c button.

Thanks for the post. I found alot of "relay this, relay that" stuff, I think for later years.

At least I can drive with most everything in tact.

I may have never looked for a steering wheel (turn signal) area fuse box if I hadn't seen this post. Thanks again.

[Kep]

The fact that your AC belt is frayed and the AC light blinked makes me suspect that your magnetic clutch fried or your compressor is frozen. The alternator is on the same system so you will need to monitor your battery charge pretty close until you get the system fixed. Look closely between the AC pulley and the body of the AC compressor. Does there appear to be a melted plastic ooze? Are there flakes of melted plastic in that area of the engine compartment? If yes, you will likely need to do more than just replace the belt. Do a search for my name and "magnetic" and you should find some pictures of what I am talking about.

Kep

[granadaCoder]

I checked your photos (kep) and I checked my car.

I didn't have anything near extreme like you did.
There was a tiny bit of a thin-something ... which could have been melted plastic. But mine was about 1.5 inches by 3/4 of an inch piece.

I didn't get the belt on tonight. I got it from autozone, but it'll be Wed before I get to it.

The old belt is hanging in there, I check it in the morning each day...at least until I get it replaced.

I'm feeling you're right, that something did blow up.

Looks like at least $300 just for the condensor.
Sweet, just what I needed.

Is that a possible do-it-yourself?
Or do you have to reclaim the freon and stuff like that?

I'm not very knowledgable on the a/c stuff.

Thanks for any hints.

[Kep]

If you are slow I may have a post up in a while after I do mine. However, if you get right on it you will beat me. If you have R12 you will likely need a tech to evacuate the freon and add in new r12. If you decide to retro fit to 134a then get a tech to evacuate the R12 and you may be able to do the rest yourself. If it is already 134a you should have a tech evacuate it and then you may be able to DIY. If your system is pristine clean it is simple. If you have gunk in the system it is pretty extensive but doable (I think & ho;pe...) I have multiple oil types in mine so I am planning to do the whole thing.

If you do decide to DIY look into auto zone for "loaner" tools. Xtremeskier just let me know that his carried a loaner vacuum pump. With that and good gauges you can do a lot of your own work.

Kep