2001 Toyota Avalon fuse box

KOOSHMOM

MEMBER
2001 TOYOTA AVALON
6 CYL
AWD
AUTOMATIC
95,000 MILES

Had a problem with the starter being stuck on, turned out to be starter relay, which they replaced. Service person then called back and said that after he installed the starter relay, the fuse box started "sparking" and when he opened it up there were metal shavings in it and likened it to someone having used a dremmel in there. The car did have front end damage FOUR years ago, but checked those repair records and nothing was done with the fusebox. They said the fusebox now needed to be replaced. Wondering how the starter problem could have caused sparking in the fuse box and why it hadn't been a problem before? Are they just looking for another thing to fix and charge me for?

1 Reply

SERVICE WRITER

MECHANIC
9,123 POSTS

The way I see it is that you have 2 choices. You can have them fix it and assume the were dealing square or tow it else where for a second opinion.

My hunch is the metal shavings had nothing to do with it, but that there may have been a problem in the box that caused the relay to fail. Why the box has to be replaced is a question mark to me. But I can't see it either.

Maybe when the front end damaged occured the box cover was off and particle got into it. Maybe it is relevant. It is just speculation.