tump Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Just flown in from a 10 day holiday to be told by my meet and greet parking company that they couldn't start my 2006 RX 400H. They said they had tried jump starting from another car, but still no joy.I got them to give me a lift to the car and, sure enough the battery was completely flat despite having a solar panel on the dashboard. Put the jump leads on, but still nothing - no dash lights, no door locks, nothing at all. I know there is a good 12V across the battery as I have a red LED on the solar panel that glows bright when I put the jump leads on. I've located the 3 fuse boxes under the bonnet and visually checked all the fuses, but nothing seems blown. I'll be going back to the car in the next day or so with a multimeter, but can anyone advise me if there is a main battery fuse that I've missed? Any idea where I can find a wiring diagram for the car? I know there are horror stories about ECU being fried, but I want to check out all the basics before calling the experts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tump Posted March 17, 2015 Author Share Posted March 17, 2015 All sorted, but remains a bit of mystery. A quick check with a meter showed no voltage on the main input terminal of the large fuse box. Tracing the cable between the battery and this terminal caused the battery clamp to come away in my hand, showing the cable had parted about 1 inch from the clamp. The battery end shows signs of melting, but when I stripped back the cable, the strands showed a clean break. Anyway, patched out the break and the car is fine. I can't think of a reason for this - if it did melt, then there must have been excessive current into the fuse box, but no fuses are blown... I can only conclude that in removing the red plastic cover from the battery terminal, the car park guy must have broken an already weakened cable. Still, all's well that ends well, and a fairly simple fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lenore Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 I have seen that before, corrosion in the lead eats the cable....Make sure to keep those terminals clean, and use some of those battery savers around the post. I always put a little protectant around where the cable enters the outer insulation.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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