Help - weird electrical issues
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From: Ottawa, Ontario
Help - weird electrical issues
The oddest thing just happened. As I pulled out of the driveway, the brake wear light came on. I thought thisa bit odd as the pads only have about 15K miles on them. But as I had washed the car this morning, I thought perhaps it might be a short caused by water (odd though as I had driven 50 miles this morning after washing the car). A couple of minutes later the low coolant light started to blink (odd as the expansion tank is brand new). Finally, as I am frantically taking the car home as quickly as possible, I note the rear spoiler has deployed even though I never got over 45 mph.
Get the car home and inspect. Coolant level is fine, right at the max line. I manually lowered the spoiler with the swtch with no issues. Started the car back up and voila, no idiot lights at all.
Anyone have any ideas what might have happened?
Thanks
Get the car home and inspect. Coolant level is fine, right at the max line. I manually lowered the spoiler with the swtch with no issues. Started the car back up and voila, no idiot lights at all.
Anyone have any ideas what might have happened?
Thanks
Last edited by fbgh2o; Jun 4, 2011 at 06:30 PM. Reason: typos from my BB Torch
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Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 737
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From: Silicon Valley
Multiple random issues like this point to bad ground. As previous poster said, ignition switch could be culprit - should be cheap and easy to replace, but first check fuse box area (any signs of water getting in the car ? Remove and reseat the fuses for the effected components), check battery terminals (do they need cleaning ?), what is voltage reading when car is off and car is running (should be just under 14V running). On early cars I heard there was issue with ground strap under the passenger side of the engine (you could check the condition of the connection there for corrosion and clean if necessary - I think a search of the forums will show you a picture of that - I found it quite easily on my car)
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Thread Starter
Odd Posts
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From: Ottawa, Ontario
Update - It's a mystery
Spent a bit of time tinkering today.
I did discover that the coolant level cold was about 300ml low, but I don't think that would trigger a blinking light (especially as it was at the max line hot). I wonder if the blinking was actually an engine compartment fan error? And perhaps then the issue was in the rear electrical harness (engine compartment fan, spoiler and rear pad sensor).
My Durametric revealed no codes.
The battery was showing 12.4V static (a bit low, but I have not been on a long run for a while) and the Durametric showed 13.8V at idle.
I was not able to replicate any of the issues and put about 40 miles on the car doing errands with multiple stop starts. Spoiler operated fine, no evidence of coolant loss and no issues with brake sensors.
I will monitor and see if anything happens again.
I did discover that the coolant level cold was about 300ml low, but I don't think that would trigger a blinking light (especially as it was at the max line hot). I wonder if the blinking was actually an engine compartment fan error? And perhaps then the issue was in the rear electrical harness (engine compartment fan, spoiler and rear pad sensor).
My Durametric revealed no codes.
The battery was showing 12.4V static (a bit low, but I have not been on a long run for a while) and the Durametric showed 13.8V at idle.
I was not able to replicate any of the issues and put about 40 miles on the car doing errands with multiple stop starts. Spoiler operated fine, no evidence of coolant loss and no issues with brake sensors.
I will monitor and see if anything happens again.
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