My car's electrical system just stopped working today..?

[jamhot18]

Hello. My car's electrical system suddenly stopped working. I was driving the car and all lights and engine and absolutely everything stopped working. Ignition lights still works a little bit , but overall car died, but tuns over on the 'AC' point??

I have no idea what is it. After it is happened I felt some burning smell( not from engine, like cables smell). I have no clue what that was?
Maybe somebody could help me and will give good advice? Battery in good condition. Alternator too.
Thanks

[eTiMaGo]

sounds like a fuse blew?

[Tamago]

do you have a stereo system in your car?

[Altitude]

Probably a fuse in the Power Distribution Center. The burning smell is not a good sign, you may have melted some wire insulation. I would have it towed to a shop.

Oh - and check for hamsters too.

[auxmike]

U.K?
Looks like your 10 YO car is starting to give troubles.
Have you added and electronics inside the car yourself?

[CtrlAltDefeat]

Probably a fuse in the Power Distribution Center. The burning smell is not a good sign, you may have melted some wire insulation. I would have it towed to a shop.

Oh - and check for hamsters too.

:laughabove: :laughabove: :laughabove: :laughabove: :laughabove:
http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13238&highlight=hamster

[YarisSedan]

Check the main fuse. Sounds like a loose battery terminal cable. How do you know the battery and altenator is good? What tests have you performed. What it sounds to me really is your altenator quit working. Then your car had no choice to run off your battery till your battery was drained to the point the engine had not enough power to fire the coils. Now your battery has just a little juice left to power minor electrical things but not enough amperage to crank the engine over to start.

Easy way to test my theory is to replace your battery. Cost of a battery for our cars is cheaper than what most places will charge for a diagnostic. Most factory batterys dont last more than 4 years. I notice you say you drive a 1999 yaris????

[CtrlAltDefeat]

kinda sound like this person's problem
http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13331

Disconnected the negative battery terminal and removed the alternator to install the NST alt pulley. When I got everything back in order and started up my car, the following don't work: power steering, power windows, power locks, radio, heater and controls, and the airbag light is lit on the dash. Any suggestions? Thanks!

The car turns over, starts, and runs perfectly fine. I just have no power to any accessories.

I believe I found my problem. The 120 Alt. fuse within the fuselink on the positive battery terminal was fried...we'll find out on Tuesday when the replacement arrives. Thanks again for all the replies!

[lr306]

Good morning all,

I struggled to find anything on the web that related specifically to the above, till I came across this specific thread.

My issue is very similar and happens 3 times, the last of which yesterday, and I got really really (I mean really scared).

I was driving with my girlfriend when all of a sudden I saw a number of lights all of a sudden lighting up in the dashboard (which I seem to remember was a sign of this fault about to happen) and then within a couple of minutes the car went from doing about 30mph to a complete and sudden stop, and since I lost he electricals, I could not even put the emergency lights on!! :-(

So I had to suddenly come out of the car and start waiving to incoming cars to make them aware of me.

Luckily I had a jump starter with me and was able to jump start the car immediately and go, but I was really freaked out and this 'incident' could have had serious consequences, say if it had happened on the motorway!!!?!

I am going to bring it to a garage soon, but have read that my local toyota dealer is not great, do you think a good electrician could find the fault, even if it is not a Toyota dealership?

Very grateful for any help you can give me

RL

[CTScott]

Good morning all,

I struggled to find anything on the web that related specifically to the above, till I came across this specific thread.

My issue is very similar and happens 3 times, the last of which yesterday, and I got really really (I mean really scared).

I was driving with my girlfriend when all of a sudden I saw a number of lights all of a sudden lighting up in the dashboard (which I seem to remember was a sign of this fault about to happen) and then within a couple of minutes the car went from doing about 30mph to a complete and sudden stop, and since I lost he electricals, I could not even put the emergency lights on!! :-(

So I had to suddenly come out of the car and start waiving to incoming cars to make them aware of me.

Luckily I had a jump starter with me and was able to jump start the car immediately and go, but I was really freaked out and this 'incident' could have had serious consequences, say if it had happened on the motorway!!!?!

I am going to bring it to a garage soon, but have read that my local toyota dealer is not great, do you think a good electrician could find the fault, even if it is not a Toyota dealership?

Very grateful for any help you can give me

RL

It sounds like your alternator is not working and you are running off the battery until it too falls too low to power the car. Check the battery voltage with the engine running to see if the alternator is outputting. It should be at least 13.5 volts.

[lr306]

Thanks for your prompt response! 😉

One other silly question if you don't mind me asking...

If the alternator would need replacement:

1) could this happen so sporadically? (E.g. 3 separate instances in the last 2 months, though we normally drive the car 2/3 times a week)

3) would the battery be flat? (It doesn't seem the case for me)

Thank you in advance!

[Bluevitz-rs]

Make sure you battery terminals are all clean too. Corrosion from battery acid or a loose connection can also cause intermittent problems.

[CTScott]

Thanks for your prompt response! 😉

One other silly question if you don't mind me asking...

If the alternator would need replacement:

1) could this happen so sporadically? (E.g. 3 separate instances in the last 2 months, though we normally drive the car 2/3 times a week)

3) would the battery be flat? (It doesn't seem the case for me)

Thank you in advance!


Typically no, but the fact that jumping it brought it back to life made me think alternator. The comment above about a loose or severely corroded battery terminal is actually more likely with the sporadic nature of the issue.

[lr306]

Guys,

Just been to kwik-fit for a free (always a bonus 😊) battery and alternator check. Alternator was working fine, but battery will need replacement soon.

What it was, though, was a loose negative cable (so loose it would have easily disconnected by going over a speed bump). How annoying and how frustrating that I could have even checked something like that myself....

So thank you very much for all of your comments and patience, I am sorry I am still learning the very basics of car maintenance, so appreciated your help!

[Walker]

Thanks guys for sharing. I am a new old-yaris owner. Just bought a 2004 yaris last week.

Same happened to me a couple of hours ago. First the abs warning light showed up. It then disappeared when making another trip. When reaching home, every indicator lighted up and the car felt like losing power. I managed to park the car though. Being curious, I went to check car but this time, I couldn't start it. It cranked but after a number of times, there were no more cranks.

A mechanic came and gave a jump start. It worked. After a brief check, he told that alternator and battery should be fine for now. He asked me to let the engine run for about 30 minutes (so as to get the battery charged) and update him tomorrow. While engine is running, I thought I would make charging more effective by driving the car nearby. This time I notice power steering (P/S) light was on. Not far after I drove, at a road side, the speedo meter display started to dim intermittently together with other indicators. The car struggled to stay alive and the engine stopped again.

When I turned the ignition on (before starting), the display blacked out and appeared. I was unable to start the car as if the battery was dead. I managed get help from neighbours to jump start and drove the car back.