I left the doors open while cleaning my 2003 Avalon XLS and the battery went dead. I jumped it in the traditional way with cables and it started and ran, except my guages and instrument panel are not working. The fuel and temp guage's needle has a twitch but they are not registering. Can you help? Is there a reset?

Try removing the battery cables and cleaning the post then making sure cables are tight

Replace the alternator.

it nice if you do that

The very first thing I would check would be if the battery cables are clean and tight. After that I'd lean towards a bad ignition switch. Do you have a ton of keys on your keyring? wiggle your key while its on to see if you can recreate the problem.

If the car does not crank at all then the anomaly could lie with the starter motor. These suckers have carbon brushes that over time will wear. Usually there are springs that keep pushing the brush onto the commutator but it is possible that the brushes are so worn that the springs have reached the max on their spring and the brushes make intermittent contact at times. That explains why it is dead sometimes and starts after you jostle the unit.

Or if you have an auto transmission you can also check out the switch that is part of your transmission that prevents car from starting unless it is in neutral. The neutral safety switch. If the latter is bogus you can either replace it or just bypass it and save the dinero.

Avalon is a great running car and ................

The doors/windows need to be re-programmed. Take your car to your Toyota service center and they will re-program the doors/windows.

try disconnecting the battery for a few seconds and reconnect may work. this way you will reset the system

No, this sounds like a weak battery. Check and clean if needed the battery connections. Take the car to a local parts store and ask them to check the battery.

You need to remove the battery cables and clean the connections with a wire battery terminal cleaning tool. Then start the car and check the voltage at the battery with a multimeter. It should be between 13.5-16 volts. Any less and the alternator is defective. If this all checks out and you are 100% sure nothing is on drawing power then the battery more than likely has a dead cell. Remove the battery and take it to your parts store and have it tested. You will probably need a new battery.

Sound like you have a bad alternator, poss bad battery too.If you can jump start it with a volt meter check voltage at battery should have above 13.5 volts, do this after you unhook jumper cables and engine running.If bad voltage reading replace alternator make sure you charge battery before starting engine with new alternator or it could damage alternator.If good voltage have battery check.Hope this helped.