What might cause multiple fuses to blow at the same time?
 

I have a 2007 XLE and recently my wife was going to pick up our daughter and called me to tell me that the car wouldn’t start. When I got back to check it out, it was clear the battery died. I tried jumping it and while it had power from the jump, only lights came on but the power seats and odbII port (wouldn’t power my diagnostics device) wouldn’t work and the car wouldn’t start (push button had the amber light but never turned green). Figured it was the battery since it wasn’t charging, so I replaced it with a cheap one just to test. Same issue as when I had it jumped - lights worked, but no power through the odbII port and no power seats and still no start. I did some research and saw that it could be the alternator fuse. I checked it and sure enough it was blown. I ordered a new one and replaced the bad one and the car started, but died immediately on the first start and there was a strange smell. I tried it again with my diagnostic tool plugged in and it stayed on but had a csv system error and the code I researched pointed me to the engine control module fuse. Checked that and it was blown so I replaced it and reset the error code and all was good. I took it for a test drive and noticed the nav system didn’t turn in. Checked that fuse and it was blown. Replaced it and the nav system turned on but no audio for the radio (hah!). I replaced that fuse and it’s all good.

While im happy that it seems to be back to working order, im a little concerned about why 4 fuses blew at the same time. I didn’t see any issues with the wires I could see when taking apart the fuse box. Maybe that first start after replacing the alternator fuse when the car turned off immediately and had a strange smell did something. Otherwise, has anyone experienced multiple fuses blowing at the same time or have thoughts on if there is any underlying issue that may pop up?

Thanks!

Any chance the jumper cables were reversed even for a short time? This will blow a LOT of fuses.

Any arcing between the jumper cables and battery terminals when connecting them?

I don't think so. I don't have another ICE vehicle so I used my insurance company to send someone out to jump it; I didn't see that he reversed it and would guess he didn't - but who knows about the arcing. It's possible, so definitely wouldn't rule that out. I'll do some research to see if there are any other possible causes, but if you (or anyone in the community) have any other thoughts, it's much appreciated.

Thanks for the reply!

Try Toyotanation.com in the Camry section for more input.

Speculate arcing, a massive surge of amps or reverse cables when jumping. Still reverse cables tend to flow so many fuses the car will not be able to be started.

Hoping that's all it was :) I'll keep an eye on things for a while before I drive it a long distance... or have it checked out when I get my tires replaced. Thanks again.

Harness could be frayed blowing multiple circuits at once or connector has got water into it , suggest you do a parasitic draw test/isolation testing on circuits and observe the amps by pulling fuses?

Do you mean the harness that is in the fuse box? I'm sure there are other areas and I'm not super familiar with where everything is, so that might be a dumb question ;) I haven't done a test on the circuits by pulling fuses, but can certainly try that too. Thanks!

I wish i could say which part of wiring since wiring harnesses span the entire length of the car and can short circuit anywhere :( , start with pulling fuses and check current draw, also you could try to check continuity between the terminals of the fuse box (with the fuse removed) (and with the battery disconnected!) to another circuit that blew indicating a short between the two legs? , its not perfect since the ecu does some switching , but its atleast some form of isolation testing

Also just a couple of things
1. Can you interface via J2534 cable to obd2 port (ebay and buy this) and use techstream (cracked online) to see if ECU is dead/ check error codes?
2. Did you have the alternator load tested, if the battery dies again(dead rectifier will short some windings of the alternator! , which will make the alternator whirr due to imbalance of load across coils and drain your battery overnight)
3. Did you drive it on the dead battery? , i have seen a similar camry and i know one time when i drove with partially flat battery = burning smell from alternator for some strange reason (maybe overload)

Also PM me your email i might send you some stuff?

Thanks again for the replay / info!

Yes, I can connect to the obd2 port (that is how I was able to determine that my first issue was "Throttle Actuator Control Motor Current Range / Performance" - the engine control module fuse). Once I replaced that and reset the error codes (and I replaced the other fuses for the nav system and audio), I don't have any other error codes coming through. I've since replaced the battery and have driven the car a couple of times for maybe 15 miles, so nothing too far, and no issues.

I haven't tested the alternator load tested and haven't driven on a dead battery, as far as I know. My wife last drove the car and there weren't any issues she experienced. We just went to start the car a few days later and it was dead.

Will PM you - thanks!

Email sent :)