2010 Camry Blows fuse in cold weather
 

I hope someone has seen this before. I purchased a 2010 Camry LE 4Cyl with 39K miles on it. I had an aftermarket remote starter installed about a year ago. This winter we had temperatures in single digits. On two occasions when I tried to start the car remotely it blew a fuse. I am not convinced the issue is related to the remote starter. This only happens in really cold weather. I use the remote starter every day, either to warm the car or cool it down on really hot days. I only started having the issue in the past two months. In fact it has only happened twice. The first time I paid over $100 for towing and service just to have a fuse replaced. The second time it happened, which was today, I tried to find the blown fuse with no luck. I am not sure it is a fuse again but the symptoms are the same as last time. No radio, no turn signals, can't take the car out of park (had to use the trip button to bypass). The blower for the heater will not work and the dashboard lights up with all the warning lights. I know this because I accidentally figured out the car will start if I press the remote start button and then turn the key to the start position. It must somehow bypass some circuit this way. I am not sure which single fuse can make all that happen. I was on the road and there was no dealer closer than 60 miles. The guy from a local shop who repaired the car the first time said it was one fuse that fixed the issue. I should have asked which one. Today I dropped it at a Toyota dealer. A dealer I don't trust but they were close. I am worried they will blame the aftermarket remote starter and not cover it under the extended warranty. Have any of you heard of this kind of issue?

Check the following fuses:

ECU-IG
ECU-ACC
Stop
Gauge No 1

There is a fuse box behind the far drivers side ash try/coin box on the dash. If you still have the owners manual this may have the fuse location.

It is possible the aftermarket remote is the issue as a fuse blowing on a unmodified and undamaged Camry is extremely rare.

Try to remember if the fuse blew when using the remote versus taking action such as door or trunk opening, etc.

Thank you for the feed back. I looked at the fuse panel under the driver's side dash. I copied the specific fuse locations you mentioned and will keep them for future reference. I visually inspected a few high amperage ones yesterday. I also pulled a few under the hood. Not sure how to check the larger box shaped ones, if they are even fuses. It was getting way to cold for me and I was getting frustrated. I hope the dealer can pin-point the problem.

That's always the concern about using aftermarket electronics. Not sure why it would be a year later that the problem would happen but I can see it happening. Maybe a poor wiring job that is only affected by the cold. Thanks again,

Jim

The fuses listed in the last post are low amp such 7.5, 10, 15A (color denotes amp rating). There should be a selection of spare fuses in the various fuse boxes or any auto or department store with an auto parts section sells them. Replace any blow fuse with the same color fuse (the amps is also printed on fuse).

The larger boxed fuses are between 40A and 100A. These power large branched circuits most having their own smaller amp fuse for each branch. The boxed fuses are bolted to the fuse box. You need to view them when still in place to determine if they are blown. Don't attempt to remove them unless if you don't know how. The internet will have posts on checking and if needing replacing.

The cars "modern" electric systems are blended together. This is the reason for checking multiple fuses.

It cold be some other issue such as a short in a device, wiring, perhaps combination of events only happening when the temp is cold. Or items only used when the temp is cold.

Still aftermarket remotes have caused a lot of problems for a lot of people!

When you get the car back, please post back with the fix.

I just received a call from the dealer. They said the fuse that blew was a 7.5 amp AM1 under the dash. They tried to trace the wire and they think it was poor routing of a wire from the remote start system around the parking brake system. I have my doubts about this because of other blatant un-truths they have told me, like making a caster adjustment on a Camry that doesn't have a caster adjustment. It's costing me $132. If this makes it never happen again I will have been worth it. I never would have guessed it was a 7.5 amp fuse. Had the temperature not been in the single digits, I would have checked every fuse and most likely save myself a few bucks. Thanks everyone for your feedback

Thanks for posting back with the repair.

If not already done so, locate the fuse in a warm garage and carry a few extras, plus flashlight.

3rd party remotes and security systems can cause all kinds of issues due to bad wiring.