Shouldn't Have Washed It!

[OldRaver]

Being a caring owner I washed down the Rav yesterday after much fun in the snow and salt......big mistake?

Because today - central locking wouldn't lock - side lights tail lights and brake lights also gone but headlights are working - instrument panel light gone - none of the powered windows are working and also the electric sun roof has given up the ghost and there might be more! I'm hoping it's just a a fuse or relay but as it's just got dark and I don't have a useable garage (full of old motorbike etc) can't really have a look until tomorrow. I've obviously just driven it home illegally so I'll need to sort this pronto.

Thought I might try and narrow things down a bit before tomorrow so, once again any assistance will be much appreciated. It could be a 30amp fuse that's gone - are these available at places like Halfrauds or will it be a visit to Mr T? I've got loads of the standard fuses but none of the less common ones. Thanks again.

[anchorman]

I would have to trawl a bit but haven't got time now so maybe shcm or one of the others can oblige.

I can assure you that nothing you can do by washing it comes anywhere near the effects of driving it in even modest rain so you can take that out of the equation!!!

[OldRaver]

Yep - thought that was the case! Thanks for your reply Anchorman.

[Ravi Shankar]

I would spray the fuses etc with lots of WD 40 or damp start may help.

[shcm]

I'm not sure what year your 4.2 is (perhaps you can add it to your profile), but I don't have wiring diagrams for anything before model year 2004 (vehicles from about mid 2003). However, I believe the earlier 4.2 wiring is similar if not the same.

Having had a bit of a look, (and diagnosis by remote control is usually harder than actually being there), my first impression is that the common point for all the bits you mention, to me seems to be fusible link F13 (MAIN4). That would possibly appear to be up by the Battery, but here are some diagrams so you can have a butcher's yourself. Been a while since I had a 4.2, so I can't exactly remember all the link/fusebox layout.

There may well be some "click-in" type cable connectors up there and possibly one has come adrift, but a bit of snooping and detective work I think.

As for washing. I'd be surprised. I can tell you from first hand experience, all electrical and ECU survival specifications for that kind of thing are quite severe.

EDIT: The headlights are not on MAIN4 which seems to backup what you are seeing. They are off MAIN1 (100A) F14.

[xr650]

need to look for a common denominator,check your fuse tables to work out if all thes items are linked in some way,check the individual fuses are live,ie has a main fuse link blown not allowing many circuits to be live.cant see the tie up with a wash,unless you have driven into the river to do so..

[old red]

A couple weeks back i also lost tail brake and dash lights etc, but in my case i'd left interior light on overnight doh,thus flat Battery,put it on charge,eldest son said why don't u put Battery off mums yaris on to get it back on the road as it was buried in snow and not going anywhere,so it fitted just, away we went only to discover when i came out of a shop on the way home, no rear lights etc,also i was hearing beeping coming from rear right hand inside panel when left indicator was on,strange i thought,wrongly thought it was something to do with Battery change,but turned out to be after some looking, cursing and swearing on cold snowing night,rear panel removed,some pervious onwer had fitted a towbar, which was no longer there,but electrical spagetti mess was still there,but all outside cables had been cut below back rear panel leaving bare exposed wires and with the snow sticking to rear bottom panel shorted out the lights, blue two fuses in the box below right hand side of steering wheel,with the said electrical mess removed cleaned up and wires repaired thanks to my son we're alright again ......may not be much help,but check if you have a towbar that waters not gotten into electrics,may be worth a try ..hope you find the problem ....

[bothwell_buyer]

Are your front carpets dry ? Just that water can get into fuse box inside... just a thought.

[crofter]

OR

You been under the bonnet with a scrubbing brush and a hosepipe again

Del

[OldRaver]

Wow! Thank you so much for your replies - I'll report back tomorrow when I've had a chance to investigate - and yes I do have a tow bar with fully functioning twin electrics so that will definitely be worth investigating as well.

[OldRaver]

As promised - reporting back on the electrics problem.....

shcm - you were spot on! After having a good rummage around and not finding anything obvious I decided to take the Rav to Mr T. (I have an extended warranty). It was a badly corroded fusible link - the one near the + Battery terminal I think. Mr T gave it a jolly good lean up etc and now everything is working fine once more.

FYI the following were not working:

side lights, tail lights and number plate lights, brake lights, central locking, power windows and sun roof!! Not really sure what triggered the failure - might have been me giving the Battery a quick charge during the cold spell and 'disturbing' things that have lain untouched for years!

Thanks everyone - brilliant forum pages.

[shcm]

shcm - you were spot on! After having a good rummage around and not finding anything obvious I decided to take the Rav to Mr T. (I have an extended warranty). It was a badly corroded fusible link - the one near the + battery terminal I think. Mr T gave it a jolly good lean up etc and now everything is working fine once more.

Thanks for letting us know and glad everything is OK again

It wouldn't have been my diagnosis, but there was a lot of background prompting from Anchorman ;)

(Actually, there certainly wasn't any prompting from Anchs!!!!!, but it's an old running gag on here, so what the heck :P :))

[crofter]

Another gold star then for the learned member

Glad you are now sorted OR

Just in time for some more snow!!

Del