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Bought a 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid a few months ago. It was a great buy, because it has a rebuilt/reconstructed title and so I was able to purchase for cheap. It has this because it has a flood certification.
Now, before you boo-hoo this, a little back story: Previous owner says he has had no problems since he bought it. Besides needing new tires, it came to me as near to perfect as a car can be. The story is the car came from the Philadelphia area where as new the windows were left down and a big rainstorm caused the interior water damage. Dealer could not sell as new, so made the insurance claim and here it is today with a flood title. I am just the third owner, and it is a gem.
Except: when I got it NONE of the three cigarette lighter/12 accessory plugs worked. One in the center below the radio, one at the floor, and one at the rear of the truck. I checked fuses and one fuse was missing. Previous owner said something about the wife disabling these for child safety. After replacing the fuse, just one of the three, the one one the floor between the front seats, works. I took the console panel off to see if the upper one, just below the radio, had been unplugged. Everything appeared to be in perfect order. I put a meter on the two connector leads, no voltage showing.
So it’s not a big deal but it would be nice if these were working. I’m curious if the one at the rear of the truck and the one on the center console are on the same circuit. I’m also curious where a loss of continuity/power could be for both of these connections could be if all the fuses are good. Am I looking at two separate issues, or the same one? The one in the rear is nowhere near as important, of course.
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When you say you checked the fuses, did you check them to see if all of them were still good? It is possible the other cigarette lighters are on a different circuit and the fuse is blown. An electrical schematic may help. A Haynes or Chilton manual may have this information. A more time intensive way is to try to trace the wiring of an inoperable cigarette plug back to the source using a DVOM. I would start at the plug closest to the battery
Good luck
Karl
Wiring diagram can be found at http://www.bbbind.com/technical.html
I would never consider a water damaged car a ‘good deal’ no matter what the price. Consider this probably only the first of the electrical issues you’ll have. Sorry to be such a naysayer, but I really hate flood cars.
That said, in addition to what has been posted above you may find this information useufl.
http://www.ericthecarguy.com/faq/solving-automotive-electrical-problems
Good luck and please keep us updated on your progress.
it has 76,000 miles. Has no issues. And you’re right a typical flood car would not be in the cards for me either. But what the title says and what actually happened to the car are two different things. There are no signs of mud, debris, and knowing that it happened when new and only two owners on the title history (and I bought direct from the second owner, not a dealer) means the story checks out. What’s the worst that could happen with a rainstorm with windows down? I would expect electric windows and door locks to be a problem, but they aren’t. It’s also important to note the owner said his wife deactivated the 12v cig lighters.
That said, I’m armed with the wiring diagram and I’ll trace and check the fuses again. The one 12v cig lighter started working again not because the fuse was bad, but because it had been pulled and was missing.
That was the help I needed. I downloaded the wiring diagram and when I get home from work I’ll be able to trace and check the wiring and fuses and some of the other components in this electronic circuit. I’m hopeful that I simply overlooked a fuse.
I don’t know how there are so many Highlanders on the road because,
In the end, there can be only one.Okay, solution found, and I feel silly.
I went out to check the fuses again, and the one I had replaced, the 15amp cig lighter, had blown. It hadn’t occurred to me to check it again. Before I put it in, none of the three were working, or so I figured, because one was working afterward. I thought the other two might have been on a different circuit, which they are. I just naturally tied the action of installing a fuse to a circuit working, nevermind that it was a different circuit! Now all that remains to be seen is if the fuse doesn’t blow again.
I guess we can close this trouble report, if there is a way to do that.
– Livemeyer
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