Had the dealer replace ECU, starter switch and finally steering lock trying to cure immobilzer problems.
Immobilzer now works, but:
With engine off, when I turn on headlight switch the left side turn signal lamp illuminates (not contollable with signal stalk).
With headlights on, the parking light indicator on the dash illuminates.
About half the dash instrument lights are not working.
When I parked the car this evening, the left side turn signal illuminated when I removed the key; had to disconnect battery to kill it.
Could the electrical connections on rear of starter switch be causing this?
Anyone have suggestions?

Gordo

 

I'd start looking for a bad ground behind the dash. This could contribute to the dash lights being out. The turn signal is odd. Does the left turn signal work normally when the car is running? A bad ground may be causing stray electrons to be heading up the wrong wires when the car is off, thus energizing the turn signal. I'm not familiar with the ground locations, but you could start looking around.

 

Thanks, would not have suspected a ground, I will look around.
Yes, the blinkers work normally.
I had the same strangness with the lit turn signal prior to replacing all the immobilizer stuff, but it was on the RIGHT side instead of the left.
I suspect it may be related to the immobilzer because the parking lots are programmed to flash when locking and unlocking the car.
Stray electrons.....gotta think about that.
Thanks,
Gordo

 

Strange electrics solved.
When replacing components to cure immobilizer problems, tech removed headlight switch.
When he re-installed the switch, plugged the coupler in upside down; headlights but no tailights.
Installed coupler properly and cured all ills.
Dash lights were a couple of burned out 15 year old bulbs.

Gordo

 

Glad you got it fixed, I cringed every time I saw one of your immobilizer posts come up.

I accidentally left the rear deck unlatched for a couple of days and drained the battery dead. Had the car towed to a shop and the tech found the problem and diagnosed it with a voltmeter after 10 or 15 minutes. I was amused at my folly, but so relieved, especially when he told me that it sometimes takes days of effort to sort electrical gremlins.

Anyway, congrats, and enjoy.

 

Thanks Mongrelcat....

Everything is working fine now.

I replace the DME relay Steve Weiner sent me, that cured the intermittent hard starting.

Went out for a nice drive to celebrate....felt great!

 

DME problems seem to be so frequent and such a nightmare of mixed problems that I wonder if we should be just replacing them with every 30K service.