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Jim Grant's Tech Tips
'91
Toyota Camry, No Start With Headlights On
Q: I have a ‘91 Toyota
Camry. The problem I have with the car is that I can't start the car up
when I turn on the headlight at the same time; or the car will die right
away when the headlight is being turned on. If the key is not in, the
headlight will not be able to be turned on. They have checked the battery,
distributor, spark plugs and wires. Can you point the direction so that
they can fix it?
A:
The headlight wiring in your vehicle comes a couple of different ways.
Not knowing which system your vehicle is equipped with does create a problem
with diagnosing. First, I do not believe that the ignition system is the
problem on your vehicle. After all, there’s no reported starting
problem with the headlights off. The first thing I would ask you to do
is to pull the fuses to the left and right head lights and try to start
the vehicle with the headlight switch on. If I’m going down the right
path the problem will still be present. I’m inclined to believe that
the integration relay (which is tied into the headlights and some other
systems), one of its diodes, or there is a ground problem. The ground
that I’m concerned with is right at the base of the fuse and relay
block found by the driver’s kick panel. A bad ground here can create
some challenging problems. The integration relay is located in the same
area and happens to use the same ground too. I believe that if the integration
relay is isolated and its operation checked you may find that there is
some miss direction occurring. You need to know which headlight control
system your vehicle is equipped with. Having that information and the
problem being related to headlight operation, you should be able to track
down the cause.
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