1995 Camry won't start

Tiny
MARCOAM1
  • MEMBER
  • 1995 TOYOTA CAMRY
1995 Toyota Camry, 125,000 miles, 4 cyl, purchased used about 6 weeks ago. Previous owner says one day it was dead, he the had battery replaced and it was fine after, but his wife made him get rid of it anyway. Generally seems to have been well maintained. New battery 4 months ago but it seems to have an excess of powder-blue corrosion on the neg terminal of the battery.

Anyway, when I try to start it with the hood closed, I get nothing. With the hood open I get a buzzing noise. The "door open" light and alarm work with the key in, the radio works, but the headlights don't. When I try the headlights (no key) I get a buzzing in the headlight relay that builds up into a clicking noise. No dim lights- just nothing.

If it was the alternator, shouldn't I see a weak battery?

Checking the battery with a multimeter, it reads 12.65 Volts, so I didn't want to try jumping it or recharging the battery. I cleaned the corrosion off the battery terminals, but no change.

If it was the starter, shouldn't the headlights work fine?

What am I missing or are my assumptions just wrong?
Thursday, September 20th, 2007 AT 10:43 AM

2 Replies

Tiny
FISHERMAN
  • MECHANIC
  • 937 POSTS
Start recharging the battery, Having 12.65 volts doesn`t mean its full charged.

Those symptoms are weak Battery.

As soon you have the battery full charged and if everything works good have your alternator check at the autoparts.

Let us Know.
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Thursday, September 20th, 2007 AT 11:22 AM
Tiny
BUZZSAW
  • MECHANIC
  • 1,198 POSTS
Did you remove the cables off the battery and clean them both?
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Friday, September 21st, 2007 AT 11:02 PM

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