Camry Clunked Out

[Kateye711]

1997 Camry CE 2.2L Standard Shift-122,000 miles- Started out and noticed I had no speedometer, gas gauge, RPMs or Temp Gauge- radio was working and blinkers so I thought oh its just a fuse. Well it was getting late in the evening so I naturally turned on my head lights, all is fine about an hour and half in to the trip when the radio stopped working, and the headlights began to dim, now I am thinking its not a fuse. Then I began to loose power and eventually the car just stopped- thankfully in front of a days inn. Well not I am thinking its the alternator- so I give my information to friends and they bring me one- put that in - rather easy it seemed and we got it started but still no instrumental panel - drive for a ways and noticed the battery light on- I am running on the battery- so I am stopped again and thought maybe a new battery since this one is dead from driving all night with the lights on- get new battery- still noting but running off the batter- ended up getting it towed after all that and now I have to fix it- any clues as to what might be wrong here????

[007Paul]

Bad cabling? Bad relay? Bad fuse? Bad grounding?

If you have a voltmeter you can determine if the alternator is working fine or not. Just connect it to read the voltage on the battery, and when you start the engine it should jump up a volt or two (13V-15V). If it doesn't jump up, then you know there is no power going back to charge the battery.

[Kateye711]

Thanks Paul- that seems like the best place to start!

[Eye8Pussies]

sounds most likely like a relay....the cabling doesn't usually go bad, and if it's loose, it'll probably be sparking everywhere and shorting the alternator