3rd & 4th Generation (1992–1996 & 1997–2001)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1992-1996 & 1997-2001
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Hello, I was once a member to this forum previously but forgot my login information and what email address was tied to it...anyways I need some help
I have a 1995 camry, and recently the battery and rear light bulb indicator has been coming on at the same time. What will happen is my dash lights will dim then both these lights will come on at the same time. My head lights will get a bit brighter, as well as the lights in the dash.
Anyone know what the cause is? My guess is with the recent winter weather ice/snow/water gets into my rear tail light assembly and causes some type of shorting with the bulb and or wiring? I pulled over to check when the indicators were coming on to see if anything was sparking under my hood or in my trunk area but I only did a basic look as I was on my way into work...infact I an typing this thread now ON THE CLOCK . But i saw nothing. On my way into work the indicators managed to go on and off about 7-8 times, staying on at most 10 seconds. It started doing this on thursday when we had the Bad winter storm, and has been doing it ever since that thursday...even did it yesterday when i took my car out to grab some food.
Let me know if anyone else has had this issue or if my theory sounds logical.
Check the loom of wires inside the trunk, by the drivver's side trunk hinge. Open up that loom and look for freyed or broken wires. Fix what you find. That loom is exposed to a lot of flexing over the years, as the trunk is constantly opened and clossed. Eventually the wires frey and break and can touch each and cause the kind of strange problems you are describing.
I did the above ^^^ when I got off work. All the wires looked good, I had the car started and I was moving stuff around to see if I could get the indicators to come on...
Also I have a spare battery in the back wired up from when I had my audio system installed. A small powermaster 20ah battery, I left a stray ground wire attached to the negative and it was just laying bare in the trunk. I removed it and braced the battery away from any metal or possibly short points. Its been in there for almost 2 years and Ive never seen any such abnormalities even last winter when I had it installed.
On the drive home no indicators came on. The real test will be tomorrow on the drive in. Will update then.
On the way home, FINE!. Everything was dry, took the same route home, turned my headlights on when it was light out to see if I could get the indicators to come on...No luck.
Drove into work this morning, indicators came back on. Even my radar detector was detecting the fluxuation in voltage. Of course by me today its foggy and rainy. Like I said all this started with the first big snow of the year, so the ice and stuff mustve modified something
I am almost 99.9% it has to be something with moisture/wetness in the trunk. Possibly water dripping on the taillight sockets themselves or an exposed wire or something. Hopefully its still wet out later today Im going to pull my car in the garage and trace all the wires inch by inch in the back.
Try to further prove the moisture theory when/if its not raining today on the way home
On the way home it was minorly snowy...no ice or anything on car...indicators flickered for less than a second twice on the way home.
Could drive the speed limit today and plugged my Escort X85 radar detector in. Forgot it has voltage detection built in, whilst the indicators were going off one time on the drive in this morning the radar detector displayed a high voltage message. Switched into the Digital readout, was reading the nominal 14.2-14.4 charging voltage, then randomly id get above 15.1 and say Hi-voltage.
Monitored it on the drive home, never got the warning, voltage maintained properly the whole ride home. So that makes me happy that the "short" is so brief it barely registers a change.
Got the next few days off, ripping down the trunk, going to leave it outside, then inspect in my garage where "moisture" is.
Was happening sort of bad today. Voltage would drop to 11-12v from the nominal 14.3, lights would dim...No indicator lights..then my lights would flare up bright and the indicators would come on.
Also adding to the list, lights in the license plate area, may have a crack or split in the lens causing the bulbs to short when hitting water. And Spoiler brake light. Totally forgot about the lights above the license plate till this morning when I was dusting off the snow from my car.
Seemingly the issues would spur up going over bumps or hitting some slush/water. Was ok at first driving this morning until the rougher area of the roads on the way in.
take it in and have the alt tested. there are a few places that can/will still do this while on the vehicle. napa, maybe autozone? oreillys?
i know that napa can if you have one near you.
But why is the tail light indicator coming on? If it was just my alternator wouldnt the battery or check engine light just come on? Thats what it specifies in the manual....not saying that is fact but im just speculating. The manual states the battery indicator and check engine light deal with charging/electrical issues. Is it not true that if a bulb or wire is shorting in the trunk it could blow out/damage the alternator? Or that it would short/travel up through the rest of my electrical system to reproduce the symptoms I am seeing in the dimming and brightening of my dash/head lights.
I drove it home after stopping at the store yesterday, nominal voltage, not one indicator came on. However after warming it up before this I had the lights go and off several times on the drive to the store. When i started the car the voltage stayed at about 12v whilst the indicators were flickering variously. Then when the indicators stayed off my voltage went back up to 14v +.
Seemingly I just dug the whole deeper or my alternator went out. I called my dad ahead of time to pull the car out of our garage so I could pull mine in and troubleshoot out of the snow. Well right today when I was about to go out and check some things I found out my Dad went ahead and messed in my car. He is older in age and sort of losing his mind. WE DID find a troublesome bulb in the trunk that was highly corroded and looked over having been shorted. But I have no idea what he fiddled around with prior to this.
Currently I have no charging voltage...stays at 12. When I rev the engine at about 2krpms the Tail light indicator and battery indicator come on. Seems like the alt is bone out shot. However this is the kicker, what if I buy a brand new alt, put it in, and the same indicators come on? That means the alternator is not the problem...correct? Is there a way to test the alternator whilst its out of the car? Does napa have a machine they can hook it into outside of the engine bay?
Help me out folks. I also do not know what my dad did, he may have fooled around in the trunk and made matters worse. He also had a "weird" attitude like he was covering up for something.....As I did not have the above description of problems happening less than 12 hours ago when I drove my vehicle home. Last status was perfect 14v+ charging voltage.
AND btw I have a high output alternator in the vehicle....not a OEM one.
We started the troubleshooting process. Rear parking light on the right side is the issue. Water/moisture is showing up on the inside lens of the light. I shifted into reverse with my dad watching, bulb did not light up. My dad was wiggling this harness/socket and it ended up blowing a fuse, lost power windows, gauges....so we're currently trying to figure out which fuse that is in the block whilst the next step of tracing this "target" area wiring to see what is going on.
We actually unhooked the harness to this bulb and I ended up losing the constant indicator lights while reving the engine, whilst my voltage jumping back up to 14v +. But then when we hooked it back up we ended up blowing the fuse and losing charging voltage. So it seems theres a constant short in this area.
Looks like some positive progress on the situation. I also have my old OEM alternator on hand just in case.
Well you guys be the judge. Check the bulb from the troublesome area, Rear parking light. Luckily its just the backup lights and not a tailight
Bulb is totally toasty and even loose from the base.
pics:
ALSO LMAO, my dad decided to spray wd40 on the replacement bulb we put back in before the fuse blew (10A fuse for gauges). The hole damn socket was wet on the inside....
Comments? going to take it for a test drive now. The socket is unhooked from this area, and I taped up the harness plug away from the entry to the light/lens. Will also snap a shot of the water collected on the inside of the lens area to confirm. Looks like I was right all along, just being lazy to check didnt help the situation
EDIT UPDATE: Just took it for a test drive, voltage maintained 14+, no indicators..looking good
Doesn't when a alternator go bad its just totally dead and you get no charging voltage? I am going to attempt to put back in a OEM known working alternator but I think theres a constant short still in the back, cause its acting like it was back in square 1 on the weekend when we were trying to fix it.
Talked with oreillys and Advaned auto parts...the alt checked out good but from what I described to them they sound like the Alt is on its way out. And the guy at oreillys said if its not your alt it would be your belt/pulley. So since we're going to put in my old OEM alt, got a new fresh belt for it.
Stubborn, but just been burned in the past dishing out $$$ for parts that were not needed to be changed that didnt fix issues...so im am extra cautious.
I had the same thing happen to me last year. I decided to look up on forums to see what the issue was, and i found out that almost ALL threads pointed to the alt going out. Once the lights come on and they come on consistently the alternator WILL DIE. It may not die that day or week but it will die SOON. I went to oreillys and had the alt tested and they said it was fine. I drove the car for a few more months. 1 day i got lunch with a friend and he said i should really change it because what would i do if i got stranded somewhere. I drive up to 2 hours from home for work. Listening to what he said i drove to the oreillys 2 doors down from where I was to price out some alternators, when i got back in my car it wouldnt start. luckily i was in the same city that lived in. I had my car towed home, I bought the alternator since i was stranded in the oreillys parking lot. changed out the alt when i got home and i havent had a problem since. i think the cost is around 100+/-20. i had bought a new belt alt and oil change stuff for 160 but i ended up getting 40-50 back for the core charge. dont quote me on the prices , thats just what i think it was.
My advice to you, change it before you get stranded somewhere.
I put my OEM one back in, kept my stock one after I put the HO alt in.
Well at first glance it was either way you know, but after the latest symptoms it was giving I was leaning towards the alternator. And considering I used the high output and it served its purpose for several years well.
Me and my dad teamed up and got the OEM one back in. Went ahead and put the new belt on as well.
Going to be a test tomorrow as I have a ton of running to do now since I was taking it easy in my car not driving too far hoping not to get stranded not knowing what the situation was.
Another thing as well I didnt think about when it came to the tailight indicator was if the voltage was jumping all over it would probably trip the sensors for the tail light because of it being anywhere from 11-15v+, just confused me.
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1995 camry, indicator lights battery/rear bulb?
. But i saw nothing. On my way into work the indicators managed to go on and off about 7-8 times, staying on at most 10 seconds. It started doing this on thursday when we had the Bad winter storm, and has been doing it ever since that thursday...even did it yesterday when i took my car out to grab some food.
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