Hi
I have an 01 camry 2.2L when I turn the ign switch I hear solenoid clicking, the starter doesn't crank and the headlights are dim or don't shine. I thought it was a dead battery. I replaced the battery, and it started fine. The next morning, it did the same thing...dim headlights, clicking, no starter cranking, and I had the hood up as my wife cranked it, and noticed a HUGE sparking on the positive battery terminal. It does this huge spark every time the ign switch is turned to ON. The sparking is bright and loud popping almost like a dead short right at the terminal.

Out of curiosity, I checked the first battery, it's fully charged 12V. I have 2 Camrys, I put the original battery I thought was dead in my 06 and it started right up. I then tested the second battery, it's fully charged too. I cleaned both the battery connectors where they attach to the battery terminals.

I've been reading forum topics about camry starting problems, and my next move will be to inspect the battery cables are connected to the chassis and the solenoid properly.

I haven't seen any mention of a huge spark on the positive terminal during starting attempts, if anyone has an idea what might cause this, input would be appreciated

 

The negative battery terminal goes to the chassis.

The positive divides up, one wire going to the starter solenoid, the other to a junction box then to the various car electrical systems. The spark could be from the electrical system.

If the solenoid switch were somehow stuck closed the starter motor would run when the battery terminal was connected.

Find the starter solenoid and disconnect the battery cable (make sure the cable is first disconnected at the battery). Determine if there is still the large spark when connecting the battery cable at the battery.

For the non-start problem check the battery cable terminal connections at the battery, the connections of the electrical terminals to the cables, the battery cable running from the battery to the starter solenoid, the ground battery cable, and the solenoid electrical contacts.

It happens the Pos battery cable resistance increases resulting a large current drop at the starter, the starter solenoid contacts burn too much from arcing, bad electrical contact at the battery, etc. The result is a click but the car starts OK when jumped as there is a lot more current available.

 

Hi toyomoho
It's not sparking when I'm attaching/detaching the positive. It's sparking when I turn the key in the ignition. And I was wrong about hearing the solenoid click...what I thought was the solenoid was/is really the loud POP & sparks on the positive battery terminal.

Today I removed the battery, inspected the ground cable, mine actually splits, one branch is connected to the engine, the other branch is connected to the bottom of the thing the battery sits in. It looked fine.

On the positive, the big branch going to the solenoid looks fine, I didn't remove the booty but the cable is attached snug to the solenoid. The smaller white branch from the positive goes under some plastic stuff and over to the fuse box..that one does spark a little when I take it on/off, but that's expected, I'd guess there is a small current draw on it from the electrical stuff in the car.

I'll do the above tomorrow. I'm not sure how to disconnect the positive cable from the solenoid, I don't know how it's attached to the solenoid, and it goes into the bottom of the solenoid, I can't see it, guess I'll check it out tomorrow. Thanks for the advice

 

I cleaned the white cable connector that is bolted on top of the main positive lead again, and now it seems to start okay. It started 20 times in a row, I hope it's fixed.

 

I think you fixed the problem.

Great job, thanks for posting back with the fix.