Hey all! So I recently started driving a 2000 XLS Avalon w/ column shifter that came to me w/ some electrical issues. I've been trying to get them sorted out - when things are working, the car drives great, but it's stranded me a couple times. Just to flag, if it looks like I'm missing something obvious I probably am, I know a little about circuits, but car specific stuff I'm kind of learning as I'm going.
The issues I'm running in to seem mostly confined to the dash / electrical system - occasionally, everything would drop out. It started with just my compass/mpg read and indicator lights, but eventually started to affect the entire dash (including my radio, speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, etc). I haven't been able to confirm but I'm pretty sure I lose my signals and brake lights as well. At first it would be momentary, then longer (a few seconds at a time), then eventually they'd just be gone. The car would still be drivable, but wouldn't shift out of park once shifted in (I understand this is to keep me from driving an unsafe vehicle).
In that state, I was intermittently able to get the windows to operate in order to use hand signals, but I lost that eventually too. But things continued to deteriorate as I troubleshot - the only electrical systems I had were interior lights when I opened the doors, door indicator lights (all the rest of my dash was still dead), and the blinking security light. At this point, my starter was clicking, until I killed the battery.
I took my battery to test and recharge and it was good, and I tested my alternator - it seems to charge my battery (reads >=14 volts on a tester, I haven't tried a straight multimeter). I pulled the fuses I could find related to the issues I encountered: dashboard, brake/tail/signal lights, and anything that looked like it might be related on the wiring diagrams I saw (shotgun approach). All the fuses I pulled were good, but I replaced them with new ones. Most of these were in the cabin but I did 1-2 under the hood too.
After re-connecting my car's battery, I had no indicator lights or issues, and my car drove great. I've been treating it gingerly but I have encountered no issues since - I took it out for about an hour and a half this morning across hills and light highways to try to manifest something (a CEL or other symptom, I had them at one point but nothing since taking the battery out) but it's running smooth.
I did not check for parasitic draw (that was my plan today, after recharching my battery after several days of rest), and I did end up swapping the ALT fuse, which is specced at 120A, up to a 120A from an 80A that someone before me had put in (weird considering what a pain that swap is to do). What surprised me was the 80A fuse didn't blow - could an underspecced fuse cause all those issues without actually blowing out?
The other potential cause is, I'm normally the only one in the car, but every time I've had issues it's while driving with/ shortly after having someone in the front passenger seat. Is there an electrical component that might fail and case battery drain after someone sits in my passenger seat? I saw seatbelt solenoids suggested somewhere but it seems like that would be an overnight thing, not a while I'm in the car thing.
Appreciate the insight!
The issues I'm running in to seem mostly confined to the dash / electrical system - occasionally, everything would drop out. It started with just my compass/mpg read and indicator lights, but eventually started to affect the entire dash (including my radio, speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, etc). I haven't been able to confirm but I'm pretty sure I lose my signals and brake lights as well. At first it would be momentary, then longer (a few seconds at a time), then eventually they'd just be gone. The car would still be drivable, but wouldn't shift out of park once shifted in (I understand this is to keep me from driving an unsafe vehicle).
In that state, I was intermittently able to get the windows to operate in order to use hand signals, but I lost that eventually too. But things continued to deteriorate as I troubleshot - the only electrical systems I had were interior lights when I opened the doors, door indicator lights (all the rest of my dash was still dead), and the blinking security light. At this point, my starter was clicking, until I killed the battery.
I took my battery to test and recharge and it was good, and I tested my alternator - it seems to charge my battery (reads >=14 volts on a tester, I haven't tried a straight multimeter). I pulled the fuses I could find related to the issues I encountered: dashboard, brake/tail/signal lights, and anything that looked like it might be related on the wiring diagrams I saw (shotgun approach). All the fuses I pulled were good, but I replaced them with new ones. Most of these were in the cabin but I did 1-2 under the hood too.
After re-connecting my car's battery, I had no indicator lights or issues, and my car drove great. I've been treating it gingerly but I have encountered no issues since - I took it out for about an hour and a half this morning across hills and light highways to try to manifest something (a CEL or other symptom, I had them at one point but nothing since taking the battery out) but it's running smooth.
I did not check for parasitic draw (that was my plan today, after recharching my battery after several days of rest), and I did end up swapping the ALT fuse, which is specced at 120A, up to a 120A from an 80A that someone before me had put in (weird considering what a pain that swap is to do). What surprised me was the 80A fuse didn't blow - could an underspecced fuse cause all those issues without actually blowing out?
The other potential cause is, I'm normally the only one in the car, but every time I've had issues it's while driving with/ shortly after having someone in the front passenger seat. Is there an electrical component that might fail and case battery drain after someone sits in my passenger seat? I saw seatbelt solenoids suggested somewhere but it seems like that would be an overnight thing, not a while I'm in the car thing.
Appreciate the insight!
