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1999 Lexus RX300

Question: Car died while driving and now will not start and no electricity to anything.

Question

martini13, 3.0L V6, Vancouver, WA, March 20, 2011, 09:44
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 Rookie

My wife was driving her car last night when all of a sudden it died on her and there was a burning smell under the hood. When I got there, she had absolutely no power to anything in the vehicle. I took the battery out and gave it a full charge. I put it back in the car and tried to start it, nothing. Not even dashboard lights, radio, etc. I put a multimeter across the terminal and it read zero. I disconnected the positive battery cable and the mult meter read 8-10. I had a light meter? that I clipped to the positive cable and then connected to the positive stem on the battery and the light lit up. Does this mean a fuse is blown? If so, where would that fuse be? Are there other tests I can do? Is the alternator bad? Please help.

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  • Answer #1

    raiderron March 20, 2011, 10:27
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     Master

    "D" all the above. I recommend having a qualified shop look at it. The burning smell indicates something likely melted, alt prob, underhood fuse and possible fuselink melted, etc. This could get ugly or is simple. Let a good tech see it.

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    Visitor, March 20, 2011, 14:05

    so i had the alternator tested and it was fine. I do not see any fusable links between the alternator or the battery (other than the main fuse box where the starter relay is. I did find a resistor under the battery that smells like what it smelled like last night. Could this be the problem?

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    raiderron, March 20, 2011, 15:26
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     Master

    Sure could be. That smell tends to stick around. I would replace it and check where it plugs in at to make sure it is not melted there. Does your owners manual identify the relay. If not try these links for help.

    http://bit.ly/autozone_repair_info.

    For AllData:
    http://bit.ly/AllData_Repair_Manuals_Online
    Here's the one for Mitchell as well:
    http://bit.ly/mitchell_repair_manuals_online

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    Visitor, March 20, 2011, 22:24

    It comes back as a RESISTOR ASSY, DIM DIP LAMP.

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    martini13, March 21, 2011, 19:06
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     Rookie

    So i confirmed that the battery was holding a full charge (CCA are down to about 500). I have not replaced any parts yet, but I did put the battery back in and the dash lights did come on. Tried to turn the vehicle over, but nothing. Not even the starter clicking sound. I also noticed that the positive cable on the battery was a lot warmer than normal. Also after 2 turns of the key, the battery was down to less than 2 amps? rather than the 12.8 it had.

    Any thoughts?

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    raiderron, March 21, 2011, 23:09
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     Master

    Your starter draw is very high to make the cable get that hot. I would bet you have a failed starter. I would check all wires/fuselinks at the starter connections.

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