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2009 Toyota RAV4 Fuse Location For Power Outlets – Vehicle Jump Starter – USB Volt Meter

2009 Toyota RAV4 Fuse Location For Power Outlets – Vehicle Jump Starter – USB Volt Meter

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This blog article is actually three separate stories but all related. 

Please be advised that the information I am providing you here worked for the vehicle I currently own.  I have come to realize that Toyota, in my opinion, provided me incorrect Owner’s Manual information.  Thus, my solution might not work for your model RAV4.  It seems to me that every Toyota RAV4 year model sees changes in fuse locations.   Be careful!  My advice right now is look carefully at the your car fuse container lid to see where the correct fuse is and question what the owner’s manual tells you.

In the year 2020 I inherited my sister’s 2009 RAV4 car due to her passing away.  The RAV4 had milage in the low 30,000!  It was a great car to drive.  But, I encountered a very frustrating problem in 2001.  I had to buy a car starting device to get my son’s Toyota 4Runner started so we could donate it to a charity.  I purchased a Audew car starter battery.

 Audew 1000A Peak Portable Car Jump Starter (Up to 6.0L Gas or 4.5L Diesel Engine) Auto Battery Booster, 12V Car Jumper, Power Bank Power Pack with Dual USB Ports and Flashlight

I had done a lot of research and chose this device.  It worked perfectly.  It worked perfectly as soon as we discovered a very small switch labeled “BOOST”  in the main power plug which we had to press to get maximum power (see image below). 

 

This device plugs into the side of the Audew Jump Starter when you want to jump start a car. We discovered that the trick is to press the very small button labeled “BOOST” to send a LOT of current into a dead or low car battery. You must be ready to start the car quite quickly after the BOOST button is pressed.

I was so happy with this purchase!  After donating the 4Runner I decided that I wanted to keep the Audew Jump Starter charged for future use. 

The RAV4 has 2 power outlets. One is inside the flip up storage container between the driver and front passenger seats.  It looks like an arm rest but it can be flipped open and inside is a power out connection.  The second power connection is on the driver side of the vehicle just inside the rear door.   I made the mistake of using a volt ohm meter to find out when the power connectors provided power.  My mistake must have been causing a short and I blew the fuse for the user power connections.  I then purchased this next device.  It shows when power is provided by the connector and the voltage and also supplies two USB output connections.

Jebsens 4.8A 24W Dual USB Car Charger Volt Meter Car Battery Monitor with LED Voltage & Amps Display, for iPhone 7 / 6s / Plus, iPad Pro/Air 2 / Mini, Galaxy S7 / S6 / Edge/Plus, Note 5/4

The Audew, jump starter, also gives you a USB cable for charging it’s own battery but also this cable can charge your cell phone or any other device that can run on USB power.  My idea was to keep the Audew in my RAV4 and keep it charged with the power connector near the rear door.  I reasoned that you never know when you might come across a person who needs a battery jump start so I wanted my unit to maintain a constant charge.  The USB cable that comes with the Audew is a bit short.  I do not want his battery sliding around inside my car so I added a much longer cable so the Audew could be placed into a very convenient storage spot. 

 

Small Jebsen Volt Meter is on the left connected with a USB cable so it will charge the Audew Jump Starter (But note that the Audew can slide around. I added a longer cable in the next image below so I could place the jump starter into a more secure location.

 

I already had a much longer cable and used it to place the Audew inside a pocket provided inside my RAV4.

 

Note that I have now included a much longer USB cable so that I can place the Audew Jump Starter into a very convenient storage slot. I do NOT want the Audew to slide around causing future problems.

But, I needed to find the blow fuse in my RAV4. Let me tell you that Toyota was absolutely no help!  The 2009 Owner’s Manual that came with the car was awful, a piece of crap for solving this problem. Pages that were to show the location of fuses were wrong.  I called my local dealership parts office and they were no help.  I spend hours on the Internet, plowing through YouTube videos from wonderful people sharing how to solve finding RAV4 fuses but for me every one was in error. 

Another problem was the location for the blown fuse panel.  It was located on the driver side near the driver door under the instrument panel. 

 

 

It was awful getting light up into that space.  It was simply awful to pull the fuse cover plate off.  I had to lay on my back with half my body sticking out the door to work on this panel.  It was damned awful to pull and replace any fuse for testing and replacing.  I hated this problem.

 

The solution that worked for me was to remove the fuse cover plate and scan the image on that cover and printed it out.  I put copies of the pages into the owner’s manual.   I was to discover that this cover plate seemed to be quite accurate.  Next, I provide to you the image I scanned for both of us to use (see image below).  I found out that a single fuse, number 27, a 15 Amp, PWR OUTLET, had blown. I replaced it and now both power outlet connectors are working.  It seems that in later models of RAV4 there seems to be separate fuses for each of these two power output connectors.  On my RAV4 one fuse supplies power to both power connectors.

I plugged in the small Jepsen volt meter and it showed power at both power ports.  I keep the Jepsen meter inserted into the rear connector all the time so I can quickly confirm that I am charging the Audew Jump Starter.  I do have to make sure nothing slides into hitting this meter when driving.

I connected the Audew car starter battery to the rear power connector and using a long USB cable put the battery into a nice storage slot over the rear driver side tire location.  Every time I run the car, this battery should be charged.

 

 

 My view of Toyota cars has diminished as a result of the large number of problems I had solving what should have been a rather easy problem to fix.

What I learned from this experience is the following:

  • Before buying any vehicle, check to see how hard it is to replace fuses.  Can you easily get to each of the fuse panel locations?
  • Check to see how accurately the owner’s manual are written.

 

 

Posted April 25, 2021

Blackvue DR900S-2CH Dash Camera Fails To Reliable Connect To WiFi

Blackvue DR900S-2CH Dash Camera Fails To Reliable Connect To WiFi

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I recently, (APRIL 2020) had a Blackvue DR900S-2CH Dash Camera installed in my car.  Everything about this device is quite good except it would fail to reliably connect to the cell phone WiFi.  I quickly found the solution.  I use an Android LGV30 phone.  I went into the cell phone settings and chose Network & Internet portion settings.  All I had to do was to turn Mobile Date Off.  Then the BlackVue cell phone application held a solid connection when I chose the BLACKVUE WI-FI menu selection on my cell phone.  I even drove around a while with my cell phone showing the live front dash camera signal.

Caution:  I did find a possible problem with turning off Mobile Date.  I drove over to Starbucks to buy a drink and I always pay using my cell phone Starbucks application in the phone.  Every time I open the Starbucks cell phone application I must choose “Scan in store”, a small sub menu option.  Pressing that small menu button then presents a new screen that the Starbucks people can scan to take money out of my account.  It would not work.  Was this because I turned off Mobile Data?  Or did I loose Internet?  I was forced to pay cash!  If this happens to you, just turn Mobile Data back on.

Just to check other cell phone menu options out:  I went into the sub menu of Mobile Data, after Network & Internet.  By pressing on that menu selection, “Mobile data”, I found two sub menu items:

  • Mobile: You can scroll down and view all the applications using mobile data.  BlackVue is one of them.  There are two on/off buttons you can choose.  I turned on both Background data and Unrestricted data usage.
  • Wi-Fi:  You can scroll down and view all the applications using mobile data.  BlackVue is one of them.  There are two on/off buttons you can choose.  I turned on both Background data and Unrestricted data usage.

Other Settings: 

  • Special Access > Modify system settings:  BlackVue showed “No”  (I have no opinion for this setting except to say that it was set to “No”.
  • Special Access > Wi-Fi Control > BlackVue “Allowed”  Allow app to control Wi-Fi.  It looks like you had better turn this on if not on already.
Toyota Auto Service Problem

Toyota Auto Service Problem

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After buying a Toyota RAV4 we needed to take that car in for service when needed.  After calling the dealership prior to each visit I soon discovered that when I call the dealership, I am actually talking to someone in a Texas call center.  This posses a problem for me because after making an appointment and arriving at the dealership, the person who greets me at the dealership has utterly no idea that I have an appointment.  So what is the purpose of the call center?  When you drive into the dealership, there are two dedicated traffic lanes.  One if for no appointment and the other is for appointments.  I always pick the appointment lane.   But, I figure there is utterly no difference in both lanes.

The last week in March, 2019, I tried to call my local dealership at about 10:15 am to see if they could do the service in time for my daughter to get the car at 5 pm. She had work at 6 and I needed the car ahead to make sure she would not get fired from her job.  Problem for me is I could not talk to anyone at the dealership service, only the call center.  The call center would not have the answer to my question.  I requested that someone call me from the dealership so I could ask how long the work would take.  The call center lady took my call back number and told me someone would get in touch with me.  I have yet to get that call!

So, why does Toyota have a call center in Texas which, from my experience, has no communication with the local dealership?  Why not allow the customer call the dealership service department?

Posted March 2019
Windshield Wipers For Hook Arm Type Of Attachment For Automobiles

Windshield Wipers For Hook Arm Type Of Attachment For Automobiles

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This review is going to be very short.

Goodyear wipers are simply awful to install.  I had to view a YouTube video to get half the job done which required using a screw driver to force two parts to separate.  I then had a near impossible time sliding on the small plastic part that fits into the hook.  The design of this product is simply awful.  Not Recommended. 

If you are stuck with these Goodyear retarded blades, I recommend you view this YouTube video.  Problem for me is this video is incomplete and only showed half the process.

Michelin wipers are very simple to install.  Strongly Recommended.

There are other wiper blades available.  A review of the best can be found at Best Windshield Blades.

Ford Escape, 2006, Cargo Mat Replacement

Ford Escape, 2006, Cargo Mat Replacement

Our family has a 2006 Ford Escape which my daughter picked out in a used car lot.  I wanted a Toyota but my daughter liked the dash of the Escape.  Personally, there are a lot of thinks I do not like about the Escape.  One of the many deficiencies is the back trunk cover rug.

Original-Mat-flat
Original Ford Escape cargo mat.

It, more than any feature of the car indicates the engineering cheapness.  It should stand as an indicator of the car company screwing the customer with cheap product.  November, 2015, I finally got fed up and replaced the cargo mat.  I went to Home Depot and purchased a 3 foot by 5 foot medium duty mat made from 94% recycled material.  It is made by Apache Mills.  Barcode: 086364028249.  I laid the existing car mat upside down upon the new mat which was also laid upside down.

Mat-being-cut
Image shows the Ford Escape cargo mat upside down and placed on top of the Apache Mills mat, also upside down prior to cutting.

I used the original car mat to cut the new mat.  I good heavy duty scissors is all that is needed.

Mat-final-cut
Image shows the original car cargo mat on top of the new Apache Mills mat cut to exact size.

It took less than ten minutes to cut the new mat to size.

Car-Mat-Finished
Image shows finished cargo mat in place.

In the above image, you can see that the mat looks way better.  The mat will not slide around like the original mat which was our main complaint.  When we placed items on the former mat the mat would slide around when we made turns. The new mat is heavy and stiff and because it is cut exactly to fit the cargo walls, it will not slide around.

AAA Battery Roadside Service Is Shockingly Impressive.

AAA Battery Roadside Service Is Shockingly Impressive.

AAA Battery Roadside Service Is Shockingly Impressive

My wife and daughter tell me that our Toyota Camry will not start up.  I ask them to turn on the head lights and they look dim.  I get my volt ohm meter and read just over 9 volts across the battery terminals.  I tell them to use another family car and I will go get another battery.  I have changed out car batteries in the past and it is very easy, should take a couple of hours to shop for a replacement and swap it out.  I look at the date code sticker on the battery and it shows being over 6 years old.  But, all of a sudden I remember seeing AAA battery service vehicles from time to time.  Our family has AAA Roadside Service (California) and I call their number (800-AAA-HELP).  They can get a person out within 30 minutes, I was told.  The battery cost is just over $100 and the service call is included in us paying for AAA roadside service.   The local company who contracts with AAA, Brea (California) Towing, service technician shows up in about 10 minutes.  He checks my AAA card and pulls out two test equipment boxes, analyzer and I think a battery.   He uses the large analyzer to scan the car VIN identification tag in the drive door frame and knows the year of the car immediately and thus the battery needed for my car.

Camry-Battery-Being-Tested

 

He hooks up the analyzer and quickly determines that the battery has a bad cell.  He then checks our charging system and finds that it is working fine.  The tester prints out two paper reports, one he keeps and the second he hands to me.

Below is partial copy of the print out form the tester that I was given showing that our battery has a bad cell.

AAA-Battery-Service-Test-(cropped)

 

He removes the analyzer and inserts a backup battery across the car power terminals while he replaces the old battery with a new one.  The reason he does this is so we do not loose the saved radio stations stored in the car radio.  The technician has our battery in his truck and installs it.  Their batteries all say AAA but I am told they are made by Interstate Batteries.  The battery we received had a CCA (cold crank amps) of 700!  The whole process is completed within the time they told me the service technician would arrive, 30 minutes.  I was shocked at how fast this whole repair process took.

My analysis:

  • The whole process was incredibly, shockingly, fast.
  • I was guessing that the battery was bad (good guess).  For this company to come out with a very sophisticated tester and pinpoint the problem to be the battery and not the charging system is very important.
  • The battery cost was very reasonable ($119.88 total).  I checked and my research shows that I actually saved money by using this service, about $30.
  • I got a CCA rating that is impressive, 700.
  • The battery has a 3 year free replacement and a 6 year limited warranty.
  • The car radio saved stations do not get erased.
  • I did not have to drive to a store and pick up the battery.  I did not have to drive back to the store to return the bad battery.  I did not have to do the installation.