RX2DO

16 gt4, about 3K miles now, I drive short distances to work, take car probably 2-3 days per week, about 4 miles each way is probably not enough to keep battery topped off. Long story short battery went dead, ended up using portable power supply to get car started and took straight to local dealer. On my way to dealer, it basically had a seizure, every warning light would come and go, battery charging voltage would jump from 13--15.5V. new battery installed, 600 dollars later, and all the faults went away, except I have a failure of left and right turn signals as well as headlight washers no longer working. Dealer attempted to see if refresh/reboot would fix, but alas no luck. Now they want to keep car to remove nose and see if "loose" connection, which seems ridiculous to me, why would this affect both sides as well as headlight washers just after battery situation??????? Any help with similar experience is greatly appreciated.


sincerely,
J

Pep!RRRR

RX2DO

live in so flo, plenty of cockroaches but no mice here. thanks for the thought, i hadn't thought of it as i usually equate mice chewing wiring harness etc to a north of Florida problem


thanks,
J

TMc993

I agree with PEP!RRRR, but before taking your car apart, your dealership should take the time to perform a few tests to specifically isolate the location of the interruption of current. It could well be a loose/damaged wire/harness, but it could also be a switch, a relay or a control module issue. Sometimes, battery issues cause problems within systems, sometimes issues in systems cause battery problems. They need to determine which it is.

algiorda

Here in Florida we have Rats, no mice. I wonder if Rats like wire insulation too? You might want to get a boroscope and start scoping the nooks and crannies to see if there is some wire damage anywhere. It's cheaper than taking parts off and putting them back.

MyNameIdeasWereT

A bunch of short drives without any long spurts can definitely shorten the life of a battery. It can also hurt the life of the engine since most of its operating time is spent just getting up to temperature...

Battery issues can cause all sorts of weird electrical problems.
$600 to install a new battery and they didn't check to see what else might be wrong?
I can't imagine what they'll charge to pull the front bumper, even though it only take 10 minutes.
Also, the harness connection point to the washer sprayers is accessed through the wheel well liner and doesn't require taking the whole bumper off. They can easily access this and measure it with a volt meter to see if it's getting power.

I would check the grounds and fuses before anything else. Have you inspected the bulbs to make sure they didn't blow during the weird battery power spikes and drops?

If your headlamp washers and fog lights went out, I'd believe it was a harness issue since those are zip tied together. But the turn signals are part of the headlight assembly harness, so other lights would likely be out as well.

Is it just the front turn signals or also the rears? When you lock/unlock the car, do the signals still flash? What about the emergency flashers?

RX2DO

the front side indicators are working, the rears are working, its only the front indicators over the radiators that are not actually working, which is odd because the bulbs actually work with DRLs on????? any idea what fuse I may want to look at to check if possible fuse is issue.

thanks for all the help,

sincerely,
J

MyNameIdeasWereT

Oops, I forgot we were talking about a 981.

Since the harnesses for those lower strip lights and the head lamp sprayers are zip tied together, it's possible something just got pulled loose and is completely unrelated to the battery issues that were taking place. If certain wires got pulled or cut, that would explain why the DRLs remain on.

The fuse guide is in the owner's manual. Though I wouldn't suspect a fuse since the other turn signal lights are working.

RX2DO

awesome, you really know your stuff, any idea on where that harness is located? something i could check myself? i have a quick jack that would allow me to get under front


thanks again
J

MyNameIdeasWereT

Here's a good article on removing the front bumper. http://blog.schnellautosports.com/20...r-981.html?m=1
In some of the later pictures, you'll see where the wires lead. The harness connection point should be near the wheel well where the bumper meets the fender.

But with the washers not working, I would also check around the washer fluid tank and pump area. I'm pretty sure the 981 just runs hoses to the sprayers and all the electrical parts are at the pump. But the quick disconnect for these hoses will be around the same area near the wheel well where the bumper meets the fender.

Another thing to check... If you activate the head light washers, does any washer fluid leak out from under the car? Can you hear the pump engaging at all?

RX2DO

no, pumps don't run at all, again thanks for the help.

J

RX2DO

heard back from dealer, stated that both turn signal lights are out? that doesn't sound right to me, as the car as 3K miles, when asked if could be 2/2 the fluctuation in power from dead battery they dismissed that pretty quick. I find it far more likely that the overcharge from alternator would have burned out lights rather than they happen to burn out on there own.


thoughts?
j

TMc993

Should be easy enough to test...Just put new bulbs in.

Did they explain how the turn signal lamps being "out" would cause the headlight washer pumps not to work? The bulbs may be blown, but I'd think there's got to be an underlying cause.

RX2DO

the headlight washers apparently only work when the headlights are on, so i guess i didn't know that as I've never used them, my mistake