07 Yaris loses electrical power intermittently.

[elcam84]

Been fighting this problem for a while now. A little info is at the bottom of this previous post. http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30758


Basically it started with her getting in and when she turned put her foot on the clutch the starter would turn over the engine with the key off or not even in the ign. Nothing else would work IE no lights nothing except the starter running. After the attempts in that previous thread it worked fine for a few months.

Now it has recently began doing it again and today it died 4 times on her. 3 times right at the house. It died at the stop sign and I put the key in it and turned it on. After a few seconds while pushing it the power came back. Then as I turned the wheel to head into the driveway all power was lost again.

A few times she has driven it the electrical power has died when she had the steering wheel at near full lock. When I was pushing it into the driveway it wasn't at full lock when it lost elec but it was close.


It's beginning to look like there is a possibility there is an issue with the electric steering. Either something is shorting out in it or it's drawing too many amps. Have seen allot of issues over various cars and years related to bad steering control modules. Almost acting like a main breaker tripping and resetting.


When it acts up... Nothing electrical works at all. No headlights dome light anything. Turning the key does nothing. The only thing that does work is that when you push in the clutch the starter runs.
At this time when I check voltages all circuits in the fuse box have power. Using the body as a ground not the battery.


I used to be an ASE tech and this one has me stumped. I have diagrams for the car but they are poorly drawn and incomplete in some cases but that's not uncommon for what I have seen for Toyota cars in the past but not as bad as the diagrams or non existent ones for chrysler of the past.

Any bright ideas are greatly appreciated. This car has become a major money pit and need to get this fixed so we can sell it.
Have already done the clutch,wheel bearings,lower control arms,ign switch,strut bearings need to be done etc. The reprogrammed ECM greatly improved idle and drivability. Still haven't sent the old one back. Arghh.