Major Electrical fault

[atomic101]

My darling bride went to start the car this morning and was welcomed with a dasboard of lights. Although it is the season and all, it come as a surprise.

As the car wouldn't start she called the RACV who explained that a card in the fuse box had blown. (See attached pic)

We are currently getting it towed to our Toyota service centre (my wallet is already shaking with fear and trepidation) but I have to ask, anyone have any suggestions on what would cause this? Does anyone know what that card is?

[holmesie]

That card is a modern day fusible link, and I'm guessing shouldn't be more than $60 for a new one (that *is* a guess). However there might be a more expensive reason behind why it blew. I have read that reversed polarity (like hooking jumper cables up wrong) can cause this, but it's not the case in your situation.... Hope it's nothing too serious!

[atomic101]

Cheers for the reply holmesie. My wife has suspicions that the RACV guy might have got his leads wrong... and after reading the other forum post that you are no doubt referring to, I seriously hope he hasn't. What might have been a simple flat battery is about to become very expensive. How the hell do I prove it was him though?!

[holmesie]

I guess it depends if he found the blown fusible link before or after he tried to jumpstart the car - hopefully your wife will clearly remember. I can't imagine the car was driven there with the fusible link blown, or that it blew overnight (unless a rat has chewed some wiring or something! I live in country NSW and that's not uncommon)

If it was just a simple flat battery, and this is a result of the RACV guy's action I'd be pretty ****** off. I would have thought that they should be using jumper cables with reverse polarity protection though

[atomic101]

You are spot on holmsie. After talking to the Toyota service centre, they have confirmed it was the fuse for the alternator that has blown along with a few other devices, all caused by either reverse polarity onto the battery from the jumper cables or a dead short from the alternator to the chassis. For the record, I couldn't find any 0 gauge wire that was bolted to the frame straight from the positive on the rectified output of the alternator so my money is option A at the moment.

It was driven the day before without an issue and from what the mistress of finance has told me, other than a few lights on the dash when she first attempted to start it on the morning of the incident (forgive the standard male 'anything to do with a car' level of doubt and misogyny but it could have been the standard lighting of the dashboard panel prior to starting. It could also have been pac man doing the Macarena around the speedometer..... and he has no hands. Both are plausible) no other issue other than the car not starting. When the RACV guy tried to start the car with the jumper cables on it, the horn locked on along with every other electrical item like the movie the lawnmower man. (Enough of the 80s/90s references...) Still, far from a coincidence.

And my level of urinary off-ness is at an all time high. Total incompetence from this guy and nothing less.

So the usual plethora of emails have gone out today to all involved and a couple of calls.

Toyota have so far stated that the obvious fuse card is damaged and that the battery is below 6 volts. I figure if he has blown a 100A+ fuse that the battery is less than ok so I have given the go ahead to replace it too. Lets face it, I will not be footing this bill, so replace the whole car except for the fuel tank for all I care. I paid for the fuel and I want it back ^_^

Awaiting feedback from RACV as to what they will do regarding the bill but there has been talk of a hire car already so they might be more understanding than I expected.

Will certainly keep the forum informed as to the outcome. Might be helpful to some other poor bugger that gets an air thief for roadside 'assistance'. <end venting>

I have appreciated you replying Holmesie. It has been a relief to digress to someone during this saga.

Edited December 15, 2015 by atomic101

[holmesie]

Ouch, that does sound like a complete clusterbuck on behalf of the RACV. I hope they resolve it to your satisfaction, even if it comes down to fuel in the tank! I'm glad I was of a little solace to you, and I did get a chuckle from your lawnmower man reference (one that would be lost on my kids).

It just seems crazy that a RACV "mechanic" can get something so simple, so wrong

[holmesie]

What was your final outcome Atomic? Hope it didn't spoil your Christmas!

[atomic101]

It was almost comical Holmesie.... We got the call from Toyota to come and pick up the car. I was at work so the mistress of finance got a friend to run her and the kids to get the car.

I then get the call that I better call in at Toyota on the way home.

Apparently they replaced the fuse and the test drive was from the workshop to the carpark - about 7 meters. So when the missus got the keys and started the car, the dashboard lit up with a heap of faults again. So it was a humble apology from Toyota, please accept this courtesy car, and we will see you tomorrow.

Went back the next day and they explained that the service tech didn't clear the faults on the onboard computer properly and now the car has been test driven properly.

Drove it home and popped the bonnet to see what they had done and much to my amazement (aka ~ consistent with everything that has happened this far) they had replaced the fuse but had not replaced the battery as we agreed to. So once the Christmas crazy is all over, it will be back again to Toyota......

RACV have tentatively agreed to cover the costs of the repair so thats a bonus.

So please forgive the short story long, but at this point we have a running car and it seems like there was no other damage than the fuse thankfully. :)

[holmesie]

Not a bad outcome, in the face of a potentially worse one! Good to hear, and I hope RACV come good with their tentative agreement. B)