Help! Got a Question about my car

I had that happen one time. Turns out it was a little indicator light on the door. For some reason, it wouldn't go off. I know someone who had about the same problem. His was the light in the trunk! Who knew? Anyway, look around and make sure everything is off, when it is supposed to be off. It worked for me, thank Goodness!

PS It works better if you begin the 'search' when it is dark outside, LOL! .....I know you knew that...

I'd be checking for an interior light that is not switching off (glovebox, trunk, underhood, etc.) Can you hear anything running like the fuel pump when the engine is shut off?

If you have a multimeter, go to the fuse panel and using the current setting place your leads across the fuse holder with the fuse removed. If you indicate any current flow, then you found the source. You can see what that fuse is feeding from the panel legend to fix the root cause. Make sure your multi-meter leads are in the correct slots on the meter before you do this, otherwise you may blow a meter fuse.

I've got an older Camry as well. 180,000 miles and still runs great.

I am sincerely IMPRESSED that your vehicle has nearly 300000 miles!!!!! I hope you find the problem and that it's inexpensive to fix.

You may have a bad starter that has a dead spot on the armature. When you jump it off the extra voltage is strong enough to pull it off the dead spot.

quote:

Originally posted by rramlimnn:
You may have a bad starter that has a dead spot on the armature. When you jump it off the extra voltage is strong enough to pull it off the dead spot.

I have thought it may be the starter, we have to make sure the radio is completely off or it continues to run.. which in turn has run our battery down.. I have checked to see if there was interior light on.. I did notice that the little LED clock is on all the time... Would that run the battery down in a day or two?

In interim, disconnect battery when you park it for a while.

Sound like a faulty alternator, to me.

quote:

Originally posted by Yankee thoughts:

quote:

Originally posted by rramlimnn:
You may have a bad starter that has a dead spot on the armature. When you jump it off the extra voltage is strong enough to pull it off the dead spot.

I have thought it may be the starter, we have to make sure the radio is completely off or it continues to run.. which in turn has run our battery down.. I have checked to see if there was interior light on.. I did notice that the little LED clock is on all the time... Would that run the battery down in a day or two?

The clock will not run the battery down.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr. Hooberbloob:
I'd be checking for an interior light that is not switching off (glovebox, trunk, underhood, etc.) Can you hear anything running like the fuel pump when the engine is shut off?

If you have a multimeter, go to the fuse panel and using the current setting place your leads across the fuse holder with the fuse removed. If you indicate any current flow, then you found the source. You can see what that fuse is feeding from the panel legend to fix the root cause. Make sure your multi-meter leads are in the correct slots on the meter before you do this, otherwise you may blow a meter fuse.

I've got an older Camry as well. 180,000 miles and still runs great.

Sounds like good advice for tracing down the problem. If a person just wants to treat the symptom without finding the source of the problem, you might just install a switch of some sort that will open the connection from the positive battery cable to the battery. If you don't want to get a switch, then just disconnect the battery if you know that it is going to sit for a long time. But I believe Mr. Hooberbloob offers good advice for tracking down the problem. If you don't know how to use a multimeter, you might simply remove the fuse to the suspected source. If the battery continues to drain, then next time remove a separate fuse. When you finally remove the fuse that stops the battery from being pulled down you can trace that circuit down further, and check for bad switches or sockets. If you have had any work done on the car before it started acting this way, then you might want to see if any damage was done in the area of the work.