Question
Hello, I have a Toyota Camry 1991, manual transmission, installed a remanufactured
alternator 2-3 months ago. I did not drive the car for a few weeks and had it
parked all this time, then I decided to degrease the engine and washed it off
with plenty of water, also washed the car outside and cleaned inside ( 6 hours total
work) and the trank and all four doors were kept open for most of the time I was doing
the work. Afterwards, attempts to start the car were unsuccessful although battery and
starter worked just fine, there was water in the distributor cap as I found out when
I removed two left screws on the distributor cap and water run down about 2-3 spoon fulls
of it altogether. Then the car run well but after a block of driving it would hesitate
every so often, presummably because of more water inside the distributor cap which I had not
removed completely as third screw on right hand side had the phillips head stripped and could
not simply use a screwdrive to remove it. Also, the instrument panel showed the lights on
for "Charge" and "Brake", and lights would not go off when driving the car or idling it
with the parking brake handle off, of course.
Next day, I went to the store bought a new distributor cap which for a Camry 1991 comes with
the spark plugs wires attached as one piece and snapped the older
cap, removed the third screw with plyiers and installed the new distributor cap and
spark plug wires. When I removed the old cap there was a little bit of oil and degreaser
goo at the botton of interior of cap, but rotor and all spark plug wires were dry and clean.
The car battery was down so starter would crank but engine would not start for lack of
battery juices, so I jump started the car, which started immediately.
When I test drove the car again, the instrument panel still showed the lights on for "Charge"
and "Brake", and while idling the car I noticed that turning the headlights on at the same time
as the switch for rear window defroster this in turn would turn off the "Charge" and "Brake"
lights on the instrument panel. I checked the fuses box next to the battery, all fuses
are ok. I recharged the battery with a charger for about 6 hours at the end of the day.
I checked the condition after the battery was fully charged, and
the "Charge" and "Brake" lights on the instrument panel would still remain on after starting
the engine. Please provide your input on :
1.- how to connect the OBD I (for pre 1996 cars), on this camry 1991 where is the
OBD I connector located?
2.- since the alternator has recently been replaced, then maybe there is something
that went off in the charging system, but what could that be? the battery is fully
charged now as the car starts easily.
3.- how to 'reset' or 'turn off' "Charge" and "Brake". Is there a shortcut to reset
these lights without specialized equipment or tools?
4.- is there a sensor somewhere which may have been turn on/off by the distributor
cap water when I first attempted to start engine?
5.- any suggestions? the car runs fine, only the lights "Charge" and "Brake", are on all
the time.
6.- is there any other sites that address technical issues with toyota camry models?
Thanks in advance for your feedback.
AnswerThe charge and brake indicator lights normally come on because there is a charging system problem, re-check the alternator output and make sure it is charging the battery, I think you will find the problem there.
There is no reset procedure for the lights or the effects of the water contamination in the distributor cap.
The diagnostic connector is under the hood near the battery it has a small gray plastic cover on it, open the cover, by putting a jumper wire between terminals TE1 and E1 you can get diagnostic trouble codes for EFI or emission control malfunctions by reading the number of blinks the check engine light produces and then looking up the code in the manual or you can let me know and I can give you the trouble area but I have to have a code.
You apparently don't have a problem in that area because if there was,the check engine light would be on.
