Car Broke Down... wtf..

[DjT]

So I was driving down a street doing 60 to 70km/h. All of a sudden, the power steering turns off, radio turns off, pretty much anything electrical turned off. The dome light turned on. Speedometer is not working and the car got stuck in 3rd (auto).

Got to a red light. Turned it off. Then back on. Can't put it in drive. I had to take the cover off the button with a penny, hold the button down to take it out of park manually. It now won't go over second gear.

Additionally, power windows don't work. Could ONE fuse cause all this to happen? Or could it be something else?

It's parked at my house now.
The dealer will come pick it up tomorrow morning.

Toyota Yaris 07. Thanks.

[Loren]

Sounds like your alternator gave up. When the alternator quits charging, you run on battery power until the battery runs out.

I had the same experience in my wife's Saturn a few years ago. In that case, I knew the alternator was dead as the light was on and I'd already checked it... I was just limping the car to the dealer to get it fixed. About half way there, systems started going. First the speedo... then the lights... then the transmission went into limp mode... I barely made it!

Anyway... alternator is my guess... maybe the battery, but the car should run find (once it's started) even with a dead battery. If it were a fuse, it would be a main fuse and the car would be completely dead.

[DjT]

Yep... It can't be a fuse because it would be multiple. Dead battery... the car turned on fine a bunch of times. But everything went at the same time though... which is the weird part. As far as I know, losing voltage causes non- essential modules to turn off one after the other to keep as much juice for vital functions for as long as possible. But this is in one shot... uhhh.

I guess I get to drive the parents Toyota Truck for now haha.

[kurokoma-kun]

Hmmm, I dunno but your symptoms sound so familiar to me.

Behind the positive terminal of your battery is the fusible link block--this is a plastic assembly that holds TWO big fuses, a 60 amp Main and 120 amp ALT.

While working on the car this winter I blew my 120 amp ALT--this put out daytime running lights, tails, power steering, OBD2 port (for scangauge), others. Starter, indicator lights, headlights, dome light were all on.

Is it easy to see if the fuse is blown, I could post a pic that shows where to look. It's a $13 part (had to wait one day for the dealer to order) that took 10 minutes to replace... might want to check it yourself before you pay for a tow truck.

[YarisSedan]

Sounds like your altenator went kaput or your drive belt broke or slipped off. One of the other.

[DjT]

Originally Posted by kurokoma-kun

Hmmm, I dunno but your symptoms sound so familiar to me.

Behind the positive terminal of your battery is the fusible link block--this is a plastic assembly that holds TWO big fuses, a 60 amp Main and 120 amp ALT.

While working on the car this winter I blew my 120 amp ALT--this put out daytime running lights, tails, power steering, OBD2 port (for scangauge), others. Starter, indicator lights, headlights, dome light were all on.

Is it easy to see if the fuse is blown, I could post a pic that shows where to look. It's a $13 part (had to wait one day for the dealer to order) that took 10 minutes to replace... might want to check it yourself before you pay for a tow truck.

I looked in that box and the medium sized fuses all looked fine. But I don't remember seeing the even bigger one. I'll go check right now actually.

[DjT]

Originally Posted by YarisSedan

Sounds like your altenator went kaput or your drive belt broke or slipped off. One of the other.

Hmnn.. well my car was parked underground at work. Although it was raining all day and it was pretty dampy out. Maybe that could have caused it to slip?

[kurokoma-kun]

the fusible link block is under the red plastic cover on the left side of the battery. You have to pry off the red cover to see the two fuses. best to disconnect your negative battery terminal on the right before you start poking around!

the block is made of black plastic, and the two fuses on top are not removable

each fuse has a thick z-shaped wire under clear plastic. a blown one looks like it has been sizzled pretty good, discolored and may even be broken

now none of this is to say your alternator is not effed up! fuses don't just blow for no reason, and when this one goes it is to save your electrical system... in my case it happened because the connection on the alternator was bad

regardless, glad you weren't stranded far from home! hope its fixed soon

[DjT]

Originally Posted by DjT

I looked in that box and the medium sized fuses all looked fine. But I don't remember seeing the even bigger one. I'll go check right now actually.

Nevermind. Okay is it directly attached to the battery? Red plastic cover? I don't know how to remove it lol.

[DjT]

Originally Posted by kurokoma-kun

the fusible link block is under the red plastic cover on the left side of the battery. You have to pry off the red cover to see the two fuses. best to disconnect your negative battery terminal on the right before you start poking around!

the block is made of black plastic, and the two fuses on top are not removable

each fuse has a thick z-shaped wire under clear plastic. a blown one looks like it has been sizzled pretty good, discolored and may even be broken

now none of this is to say your alternator is not effed up! fuses don't just blow for no reason, and when this one goes it is to save your electrical system... in my case it happened because the connection on the alternator was bad

regardless, glad you weren't stranded far from home! hope its fixed soon

Okay! Just read that. Makes sense. I'll have to check it tomorrow morning. Holding a flashlight and doing this is kinda hard. But regardless... I have 3 years roadside assistance and warranty so I guess that should be covered if worse comes to worst.

[kurokoma-kun]

yup, attached to positive post, it sits behind that post on the rear left top of the battery, here's a pic of it with the cover removed. the little clear windows marked main 60 and alt 120 are your fuses (the writing is upside down in this pic)

yah that red cover is hard to pull off, at first I thought it was permanently attached, I used a screwdriver to pry up one edge and finally went pop.

So, is your car under warranty? If it is then might be best to leave it to the dealer to fix--they can check out everything else as well of course. If you do check it out yourself at least you can tell the dealer what you saw, so they can't you as bad.

[DjT]

Funny... I dated the dealership's owner's daughter for 3 years haha. Hopefully he won't bullshit me. But good to keep in mind. I also have a fuse box for my amp system attached to that... under normal circumstances would that void the warranty?

I've noticed that my fog light has become misaligned. One of them is either lower/higher then the other. Do they cover that?

And BTW thanks a WHOLE bunch for the pic. You didn't have to go out of your way lol :s... But very helpful.

[kurokoma-kun]

awesome just saw your note about the warranty, man you are entitled to the dealer service one way or another so might as well take advantage of it! no idea about how they'll handle it though. good luck and keep us posted!

NP on the pic i took it at the time of my trouble. glad to share, misery loves company, lol

[Loren]

Hint: If this expensive fuse IS the problem, it would be very wise for you to insert a fuse between this location and your aftermarket amp. Then you can blow cheap parts store 30-amp fuses instead of expensive Toyota fusible links.

Good stuff, Kuro!

[DjT]

So it was exactly what Kuro said. They blamed it on the sound system. So obviously it wasn't under warranty. But luckily he didn't charge me for the towing, and the fuse. And gave me half price on labor. Now I'm off to the place where they installed my sound system to choke up the labor part.

The funny thing is though, I do have a fuse between my battery and my sub. And it's 30 amps. Could the sound system really be the cause for this, even with a fuse there? Because if the dealership lied, I'm going back to them instead.

[TinyGiant]

Originally Posted by DjT

So it was exactly what Kuro said. They blamed it on the sound system. So obviously it wasn't under warranty. But luckily he didn't charge me for the towing, and the fuse. And gave me half price on labor. Now I'm off to the place where they installed my sound system to choke up the labor part.

The funny thing is though, I do have a fuse between my battery and my sub. And it's 30 amps. Could the sound system really be the cause for this, even with a fuse there? Because if the dealership lied, I'm going back to them instead.

i wouldn't say the dealership lied they always blame it on stuff we add .. they have no way of proving that it was the amp.. unless it did it again and they witnessed it.

but usually if you make any changes to anything electrical they will try to weasel out of the warranty

[cyberfrogg]

The same exact thing happened to me when I was trying to install my fog lights. Everything electrical inside turned off except for the dome light. I also thought it was the alternator because we tried jump starting it, but then it would die again a little while later. I also couldn't move the gear shift like you. And power steering was gone... I freaked out thinking it was the alternator but it turns out it was just a fuse. It was on the bottom left hand side of the driver's seat. Like right below the steering wheel to the left. But I had to lie down on the driver's side floor facing up with my head right beside the brake pedal. I'm not sure if you already know what I'm talking about but I'm still letting you know because it took me a while to find those fuses... So my dad went out and bought some extra and replaced one or two.. I don't know which ones but if you need me to find out for you, I will.. Hope this is of some help? My car works perfectly fine now. =]

[TickleTimeTim]

Originally Posted by cyberfrogg

The same exact thing happened to me when I was trying to install my fog lights. Everything electrical inside turned off except for the dome light. I also thought it was the alternator because we tried jump starting it, but then it would die again a little while later. I also couldn't move the gear shift like you. And power steering was gone... I freaked out thinking it was the alternator but it turns out it was just a fuse. It was on the bottom left hand side of the driver's seat. Like right below the steering wheel to the left. But I had to lie down on the driver's side floor facing up with my head right beside the brake pedal. I'm not sure if you already know what I'm talking about but I'm still letting you know because it took me a while to find those fuses... So my dad went out and bought some extra and replaced one or two.. I don't know which ones but if you need me to find out for you, I will.. Hope this is of some help? My car works perfectly fine now. =]

hahah. been in that position working with fuses (when i put my tach in), the most uncomfortable position ever. couldn't imagine anyone bigger than me trying to do it. even had to worry about the clutch pedal, less room!