97 avalon quits again - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

turkeyt49 · 08-02-2011, 10:45 PM

Avalon quits again
After a week car blew EFI fuse again and in traffic!! Here is what happened this time:

I was going thru a stop light and i kicked the gas down to the floor and car stopped dead.

I turned car off and replaced the 15 amp EFI fuse.

I turned key on and blew another and then another fuse. (2)
.
I put a 25amp in and the car started. (Hated to do that but i had to get two miles to the house).

Got home and took out the 25amp and put another 15 amp in and the car started back up like nothing had ever happened.

I went out later and started the car and checked and wiggled all the 02 sensor wires.

I checked and wiggled evey wiring harness i could touch.

I put the car in drive and put the Emerg. brake on and reved the motor to check if the motor mounts were causing wiring to short.

After all this the car sat there running like a top and nothing changed and no fuse blowed.

This has to be the most frustrating problem to diagnose i have had.

Thanks to to Tech1984 with his help and i hope to get this thing fixed.

If the car would not have started and kept blowing fuses i would have unhooked the fuel pump plug and isolated the pump. The car started back up so that did not help.

Can you run a 12 volt wire to the fuel pump and put an inline fuse to see if that's where the problem is?? If not how do you check the fuel pump with a meter??

BonzoGonzo · 08-03-2011, 08:38 AM

is the fuel pump drawing from the same fuse? jack it up and wiggle the wiring harness to the pump...

turkeyt49 · 08-03-2011, 03:48 PM

You get to the fuel pump by pulling the rear seat out and the cover plate and wiring is right there on the drivers side. Piece of cake Huh. If this car would blow fuses all the time while sitting still i would pull the fuel pump plug and isolate the pump. There are so many posts on this and other sites of people having EFI fuse problems you would think there would be a simple answer. I am leaning toward a fuel pump problem because the car runs fine and then just quits. This time i punched the gas and the car needed more fuel and it quit. This may have caused the overload by needing the pump to work harder and blew the fuse. I have checked so many wires and found no problems and if there is one bad in a harness i would think that there would have to be two touching to short out. All of the O2 sensor wires seem fine. I even checked them with the car running. Anyone out there think this way or am i just guessing??

BonzoGonzo · 08-03-2011, 06:58 PM

a wire can have an INTERMITTANT

BonzoGonzo · 08-03-2011, 06:58 PM

a wire can have an INTERMITTANT

BonzoGonzo · 08-03-2011, 07:00 PM

a wire can have an INTERMITTANT

turkeyt49 · 08-04-2011, 08:33 AM

Tech1984, I checked on my 97 Avalon some after blowing another EFI fuse Mon. I mentioned in one of my previous many post that i had replaced the exhaust and had removed the O2 sensor and put it back in the new exhaust. The O2 sensor had some movement in the neck but seemed to be still working. (no CEL came on) I pulled it out this morning and the O2 sensor broke into while looking at it. That could not have been good with all the vibration and rattling from driving. I hope that i have found my problem. I ordered another O2 sensor today and will let you know if i am up and running and not blowing fuses. Fingers Xed!! Thanks for being patient and all the great info and help.

turkeyt49 · 08-11-2011, 08:44 PM

I put a new O2 sensor on the car last week and have drove it 300 miles on roads from interstate to back bumpy roads and run it easy and run it hard and it did not quit. I had never seen an old O2 sensor break in half before, but they will and the check engine light never came on saying there was a code. I even wiggled the wires when the motor was running and it did not blow the fuse. It sure would blow one when i drove it though. Go figure!!

BonzoGonzo · 08-11-2011, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by turkeyt49

I put a new O2 sensor on the car last week and have drove it 300 miles on roads from interstate to back bumpy roads and run it easy and run it hard and it did not quit. I had never seen an old O2 sensor break in half before, but they will and the check engine light never came on saying there was a code. I even wiggled the wires when the motor was running and it did not blow the fuse. It sure would blow one when i drove it though. Go figure!!

The o2 sensor circuitry on 97s is a... Interesting that your heater in the 02 sensor did not throw a code when it was open!