Toyota Yaris Forums - Ultimate Yaris Enthusiast Site
 

 


 
Go Back   Toyota Yaris Forums - Ultimate Yaris Enthusiast Site > Second Generation Toyota Yaris Main Rooms > General Yaris / Vitz Discussion
  The Tire Rack

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-25-2013, 09:03 AM   #1
bitz767
 
Drives: 2010 Black Manual 3 door
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Harrisburg, PA
Posts: 135
Car electrical gone crazy

I had to have my 2010 3 Door manual towed into the shop last night because the car died while driving on the road.

Back in December I was having what I thought was battery issues. The car wouldn't start/no dash lights or anything at random times. I would leave town for the week, get to the car and it would start up fine, then I would try to leave an hour later and it was dead. After the first time this happened, I unplugged my subwoofer, heated seats, and phone charger from the car becuase I thought it might be some of my wires that were draining the battery. But after unplugging those things, it kept happening. So I went and got a diehard platinum battery and the problem seemed to be fixed until yesterday.

On my way to work, the electronics in the car just up and cut off for about 2 seconds, while the engine still ran. I thought it was strange and continued in to work. Then on my way home, same thing happened about 2 minutes into my commute. Lights went out, dash went dark, but the engine kept running. It went back to normal after a second or two, then kept cutting off more frequently (every 15 seconds or so) until the engine started to hesitate when the power went off and within a mile of the first cut off driving home, it cut the engine as well as the power. As my car is a manual, I had the clutch in, pulled to the side of the road and noticed that the starter was trying to get the car going. Once I let the clutch out, it stopped (Strange). So I pulled the key out and was going to try and start it up, but as soon as I put the clutch in, the starter would activate until I let go of the clutch (even without keys in the car). Turning the key would only get a few lights on the dash to come on, then off again after a while.

The car is at the dealer now. It is at 52k miles so no warranty (I assume). I have a 3rd party extended warranty that I hope will cover it.

I'm thinking its an alternator or a short somewhere in the system. Any thoughts?
bitz767 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2013, 10:07 AM   #2
bronsin
 
bronsin's Avatar
 
Drives: 2009 Base Hatch 2 Dr Auto
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: nj
Posts: 4,790
Sounds like you have added electrical accessories? (subwoofer, heated seats)

First thing I would do is eliminate them as the source of the problems.

I try to warn people NOT to install things like that in the first place.

Oh and while we're at it DONT spray and wash the engine with a garden hose unless you want trouble with that.
__________________
Synthetic Oil: Its All In Your Head
bronsin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2013, 10:11 AM   #3
bitz767
 
Drives: 2010 Black Manual 3 door
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Harrisburg, PA
Posts: 135
Quote:
Originally Posted by bronsin View Post
Sounds like you have added electrical accessories? (subwoofer, heated seats)

First thing I would do is eliminate them as the source of the problems.
:
After the first sign of the electrical issue, I removed all connections for the subwoofer and the heated seats, but the problem persisted and got worse.
bitz767 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2013, 10:24 AM   #4
CTScott
ULTIMATE
 
CTScott's Avatar
 
Drives: 09 5dr LB, 2x 08 3dr LB
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: USA, CT
Posts: 13,460
Do you have a remote starter or alarm system?
__________________
CTScott is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2013, 11:26 AM   #5
bitz767
 
Drives: 2010 Black Manual 3 door
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Harrisburg, PA
Posts: 135
Quote:
Originally Posted by CTScott View Post
Do you have a remote starter or alarm system?
neither
bitz767 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2013, 11:52 AM   #6
bronsin
 
bronsin's Avatar
 
Drives: 2009 Base Hatch 2 Dr Auto
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: nj
Posts: 4,790
No CEL?

Sounds like you have done everything possible that I can think of.
__________________
Synthetic Oil: Its All In Your Head
bronsin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-25-2013, 12:51 PM   #7
yaris2010RS
 
yaris2010RS's Avatar
 
Drives: no-longer-boosted '10 Yaris
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Angus, Ontario
Posts: 1,891
check engine ground cable, cables on batteries, and a long shot considering you conditions but check the positive feed cable from the alternator.

Had the same conditions on a friends SUV, the connectors on the battery stretched and oxodized and would randomly do the same thing your describing.
__________________
If it has boobs or wheels sooner or later your gonna have problems with it
yaris2010RS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-26-2013, 10:41 AM   #8
nookandcrannycar
 
Drives: 2('14+'07)MT 3d ,wHandCrWndws!
Join Date: May 2009
Location: S.MontgomeryCnty,TX(HoustonMSA) '07=BayouBlue=300,125miles=OrigOwnr '14=ClassicSilvr=29,059miles
Posts: 4,839
Quote:
Originally Posted by bronsin View Post

I try to warn people NOT to install things like that in the first place.
I agree. The only electrical related item I'm going to add (more that temporarily charging a cell phone or laptop), whether I end up adding it to this Yaris or a future Yaris, is a JL audio 4/300 amplifier I have in storage.
nookandcrannycar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-26-2013, 06:45 PM   #9
bitz767
 
Drives: 2010 Black Manual 3 door
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Harrisburg, PA
Posts: 135
Got it back from toyota today. Looks like Sear's screwed up the ground cable when they installed the new battery back in December. They said the chassis ground was broken. Now I have to take my bill from Toyota over to Sears and make them pay it.
bitz767 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-26-2013, 10:40 PM   #10
frog13
Tw200--excellent!
 
Drives: 2010 yaris..absolutely red.
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Ohio
Posts: 209
Quote:
Originally Posted by bronsin View Post
Sounds like you have added electrical accessories? (subwoofer, heated seats)

First thing I would do is eliminate them as the source of the problems.

I try to warn people NOT to install things like that in the first place.

Oh and while we're at it DONT spray and wash the engine with a garden hose unless you want trouble with that.
Bronsin: How are folks suppose to keep the engine clean....alternative to a garden hose?.
frog13 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-27-2013, 09:03 AM   #11
bronsin
 
bronsin's Avatar
 
Drives: 2009 Base Hatch 2 Dr Auto
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: nj
Posts: 4,790
Quote:
Originally Posted by bitz767 View Post
Got it back from toyota today. Looks like Sear's screwed up the ground cable when they installed the new battery back in December. They said the chassis ground was broken. Now I have to take my bill from Toyota over to Sears and make them pay it.
Good news at least the problem is solved!

Sears is a scurvy place to have your car worked on maybe except for tires. You would think they could be trusted to instll a battery however...
__________________
Synthetic Oil: Its All In Your Head
bronsin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-27-2013, 09:12 AM   #12
bronsin
 
bronsin's Avatar
 
Drives: 2009 Base Hatch 2 Dr Auto
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: nj
Posts: 4,790
Quote:
Originally Posted by frog13 View Post
Bronsin: How are folks suppose to keep the engine clean....alternative to a garden hose?.
By washing the engine down with a garden hose you are risking water dammaging/shorting out parts of the electrical system, thus making the car so you cannot drive it. Fixing this problem, even for a competant honest shop, can be expensive and time consuming. If they can fix it at all.

I will leave to your imagination what putting this problem in the hands of an incompetant, dishonest business is likely to result in.

But to answer your question it is not necessary to clean your egnine so it is like the outside of the car. I ride motorcycles and people who own them like the bike clean. They wash the engine all the time. Then it wont run right or maybe even start. I cant tell you how many times I have been called to fix this problem without success.

My advice is get the idea out of your head you need to wash the engine!
__________________
Synthetic Oil: Its All In Your Head
bronsin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-27-2013, 09:30 AM   #13
nookandcrannycar
 
Drives: 2('14+'07)MT 3d ,wHandCrWndws!
Join Date: May 2009
Location: S.MontgomeryCnty,TX(HoustonMSA) '07=BayouBlue=300,125miles=OrigOwnr '14=ClassicSilvr=29,059miles
Posts: 4,839
Quote:
Originally Posted by bronsin View Post
Good news at least the problem is solved!

Sears is a scurvy place to have your car worked on maybe except for tires. You would think they could be trusted to instll a battery however...
Perhaps in PA and NJ, but Sears did a great job for me re a battery in TX (install fine and got 3y and 85k+ out of a 1y battery) and 21k miles later an alternator in MN.
nookandcrannycar is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-27-2013, 09:38 AM   #14
nookandcrannycar
 
Drives: 2('14+'07)MT 3d ,wHandCrWndws!
Join Date: May 2009
Location: S.MontgomeryCnty,TX(HoustonMSA) '07=BayouBlue=300,125miles=OrigOwnr '14=ClassicSilvr=29,059miles
Posts: 4,839
Quote:
Originally Posted by bronsin View Post
By washing the engine down with a garden hose you are risking water dammaging/shorting out parts of the electrical system, thus making the car so you cannot drive it. Fixing this problem, even for a competant honest shop, can be expensive and time consuming. If they can fix it at all.

I will leave to your imagination what putting this problem in the hands of an incompetant, dishonest business is likely to result in.

But to answer your question it is not necessary to clean your egnine so it is like the outside of the car. I ride motorcycles and people who own them like the bike clean. They wash the engine all the time. Then it wont run right or maybe even start. I cant tell you how many times I have been called to fix this problem without success.

My advice is get the idea out of your head you need to wash the engine!
What about the old school practice of steam cleaning the engine? I've never heard of anyone having any electrical problems re a properly steam cleaned engine.
nookandcrannycar is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
enobmort42 - Photo-Scavenger Hunt! enobmort42 Photo-Video-Media Gallery 9 03-05-2009 10:52 PM
CtrlAltDefeat - Photo-Scavenger Hunt CtrlAltDefeat Photo-Video-Media Gallery 0 03-04-2009 02:14 AM
Custom Lftback - Photo-Scavenger Hunt custom Lftback Photo-Video-Media Gallery 2 03-01-2009 11:12 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 11:09 AM.




YarisWorld
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.