I read a post that said that the ecu can be shorted out during a detail. I think that is what happened to me yesterday. I had my car detailed and the remote and alarm worked before the detail but not when I picked it up. I tried replacing the battery in the remote. Didn't help.

I saw some instructions for a 1998 Camry with the same problem but I don't think they are the same for a 1997. I didn't see a reset button on the side of it.

If the ecu was shorted out can it be reset or does it need to be repaired? Any suggestions?

 

My husband removed the ecu and opened it up. There was some residue from the detailing inside. He removed the board and used some contact cleaner on the parts and put it back together and it works!

Thank you for the detailing heads up from a previous post. Without it we would not have thought to even try this.

 

thanks for the update...

sorry for late respond, your husband did a good job!

 

In a related topic, the reason I had the car detailed was because I had found water on the front passenger side floor board and the garage could not tell me where it came from. I had it cleaned to remove the water and the smell. Since then it has rained again and this time I actually saw some water droplets on the bottom of the passenger side door under the speaker area. I took it back to the garage and again they can not tell me where the water is coming from. They suggest a body shop or removing all the carpet and taking a deeper look. Any ideas??? The water only comes in when it is raining and when the car is moving. I would assume it comes from the tires but water testing doesn't show anything and the water comes in too slowly to follow.

 

Try to determine if the water is coming from the door or from under the dash.

The door frame is designed to allow water to enter by the window seal then drain out the bottom of the door where drain slots are positioned. Make sure the slots are clear or water will build up inside the door.

Check under the dash for signs of water. It is possible there is an issue with a bad windshield gasket or the water caulking sealant used to seal between body panels.

You might need only pull the carpet in the area back far enough to see the corner of firewall and lower front portion of chassis. Dry the area and watch for signs of water when driving in the rain.

Water dripping from the door is a long way from water dripping from under the dash or firewall area. Check the door first.

 

Thank you! I will let my husband and the body shop know about your suggestions. That will give a couple of very good places to start to look.

 

I finally gave up and took the car to the body shop. At first they couldn't find the problem either. Then someone decided to check the drains from the sunroof. That was it! They cleared it out in no time and thankfully charged me less than $50 to do it. Well worth it. Thank you for your help and suggestions and I hope this case helps someone else one day.