My '98 Camry has the TDS (Theft Deterrent System) added and I think it is immobilzing my car....here's what happened: WED. I went to lunch and returned to the office....when I turned my car off, my alarm went off. (I never use the thing...key fob broke a few years ago and I just don't turn it on). I found the broken fob in my purse and after several atempts to silence the alarm, it did. At 6 p.m. I left work, got in my car and it was totally DEAD! A friend jumped me off and I drove the 45 miles home. I left the car running in my driveway to further charge the battery and when I went back out to check on it 10 minutes later, the car was off and dead.
Friday I charged the battery and tried to use the valet switch to disengage the alarm, but it would not work. The light never went solid as the manual said it should. Again, the car was immobilized. Today (Sunday) I took the battery to Advanced Auto Parts and had them check it (it is OK, top-notch)....I came home, replaced the battry and noticed a bit of corosion on one of the cable ends....I cleaned it off, hooked it up and now everything seems to be fine!!! I have successfully disengaged the alarm using the valet switch and the car starts A-OK repeatedly......
Could this small bit of corrosion have kept the engine from getting enough power even to use/disarm the alarm? Is there anything I should do now (besides totally take the darn alarm system out)??? Since I live 50 miles from my work, I want to make sure this doiesn't happen again.....any help would be great.......this site was terrific help in looking up info on the TDS/battery connection.....