Efi Fuse Blown

[waqar_lionheart]

Hello All,

Hope you are all well.

Over the weekend, my car just cut out on me when making a turning into a major A road. I tried to restart but nothing. It was as if its not getting any fuel. I spoke to Konrad who is also a member here who said that you might have blown a fuse and most likely an EFI fuse. I had the same hunch as I said to him it feels like there is no fuel supply. My initial thoughts were fuel pump has packed up (i run a 1.8 vvti gs 2001). But I couldnt check as I had broken down in a very dodgy spot and wouldnt have seen cars ramming into mine and wouldnt have had a chance to get out of the way. I waited for the recovery driver who was going to try and fix the car. When he arrived we check the car and sure enough, EFI fuse was blown. I had a spare in the fuse box and when used, it fired right back up. Thank GOD.

Now a bit of history. On friday, I tried to jump start my neighbour who owns a 55 plate lexus is 220d v6. he said his Battery had gone flat. So i said no problem. I left my car running pulled up next to his and he had connected jump leads correctly to his car. When he tried to connect to mine CORRECTLY, there were sparks and my car died. Then i thought oh ok not a problem lets try again and we did and same again but my car would start right back up. But after about driving it for a a day or two, it suddenly died. When I broke down and after fixing it, I drove nearly 16 - 18 miles back home without any problem and still going fine.

I have heard and read opinions that sometimes fuses can age. Yes agreed but all my other fuses are exactly the same age.

EFI Relay has been cooked. Well if it has then how am i running.

Alternator is surging after the sparky business or may be sparky business has nothing to do with this. How can i tell.

I really appreciate your input.

Thanks in advance,

Regards,

Waqar

[Mike169]

Hi Waqar

First of all i cannot help you with the blown fuse of your car but why i am emailing you is with today's modern cars you simply cannot jump start cars like we used to in the past.

Cars of yester-year had no computers, no ECU's and basically they were pretty bullet proof when it comes to using jump leads to start another car.

Today cars have too many electronics that can easily go wrong and using jump leads is not an option.

It is very admirable you helped a friend out but the damage done to your car as yet is unknown.

To jump start a car with a flat Battery a jump pack is needed available from Halfords, Amazon and lots of car shop outlets....i personally have this one....

Ring 40ah jump pack.

The video itself does not show a car being jump started but this is the safe way to start a car with a flat Battery without damage to your own vehicle.

I hope you get your own car sorted.

Mike.

[Konrad C]

It was a pleasure to help Waqar again.

When Waqar phoned me, he had an idea of the problem. He also mentioned that the pre-check EML did not light on first turn of the key. That is when I told him the EFI or ECU was not powering up. That is when I said check all fuses relating to those items.

I also feared the worst for Waqar, because the short or overload when trying to start the Lexus may have done damage to the car. This probably affected an aging fuse.

Better the fuse than an expensive component.

Mike is right about car with lots of electricals and electronics. I have jump started a few cars, and what I do is make sure the car needing the boost has turned off every unnecessary item. What ever flattened the Battery, may have knocked Waqar's car out when he connected the booster cables.

Mike has done the right thing buying the starter booster unit.

Konrad

[t-spiritpete]

Here is some great advice from th AA, couldn't have put it better myself :-)

Before connecting any leads
make sure the vehicles are the same voltage and that they're parked with
their handbrakes on and ignition off. The vehicles must not touch as
this can cause sparks or an explosion.

1. Use the red jump lead to connect the positive terminal of the donor
   vehicle's good Battery to the positive terminal of the flat Battery.
2. Then use the black lead to connect the negative terminal of the good Battery to a suitable earthing point on the engine or chassis of the other vehicle. This earthing point must be away from the battery and fuel system.
3. With both leads connected wait three minutes for the voltages to equalise before starting either engine.
4. Start the engine of the donor car and allow it to run for a minute.
5. With the donor car engine still running, start the engine of the
   other car and leave both running at a fast idle for ten minutes.
6. Don't remove the jump leads while the engines are running as this can cause serious damage to the electronics on either car.
7. If the jump leads get hot switch off both engines and allow the leads to cool to avoid a possible fire.
8. Turn off the ignition on both cars and then disconnect the leads carefully
   in the reverse order to the way that they were connected. Be careful
   not to touch the clips against each other or against the car bodywork.
9. Start the car that had the dead battery using its own battery power.
   If it won't start this could indicate a more serious problem with the
   charging/ignition system that will need investigating by a professional.

Regards,

Pete.

[ToyotaAuris]

Great feedback, Ive done some jump starts and touch wood nothing happen

[korat102]

9 times out of 10 it'll probably be fine but there's always that small chance of doing some damage to either or both vehicles. With the ridiculous expense of diagnostics and repair these days, is it really worth the risk? Just get one of those jumpstart units (or whatever you want to call them), basically a rechargeable Battery that you can leave in the warmth at home where it'll last for years with just an occasional recharge. They're a bit heavy to cart around all the time so just use it when you need it and decline any requests to jump start without it unless it's a real emergency of course. I've had one of these for nearly 10 years, still going strong. Originally bought it when I got my Jeep, it had no trouble turning over a 4 litre petrol lump.

They have other uses as well, I use an electric pump to put air in the tyres when they need it. Instead of using the car's Battery, I connect the pump to the jumpstarter (it has an accessory socket). It can run 12v emergency lights for *ages* and even ran the old CB rig for hours on end whenever the mains failed! Whatever happened to CB by the way? The channels are all static these days.