jrockwood

Have '01 turbo--

Out on country roads and she got dusty--pulled into town and I got a "brushless" car wash and 2 mins later all hell broke loose on my dash.

I pulled out of the car wash and immidiately I notice the volt meter dropping.

Soon I was down to under 11 volts and idoit light started to pop.

First ABS, then Airbag, then CEL, then PSM, then "Tiptronic Emergency Run"--volt meter continued to drop all the way down.

I slammed on the breaks and pulled over-- volt meter went up immediately-light started to go off.

I stayed there for a bit and all lights went off and volt meter went back to 13.8.

Started to limp home and volt meter began to rise -- 14, 15, 16. Idiot Lights went back on. I shut down and sat panic'd I would fry something.

Started it again. volt meter at 13.8 and rising. I turned on ac, headlamps etc. volt meter stayed constant. Limped home.

Reveresed into my garage--my park asssit went on, then off, then on.

Parked it for the night ---started up the next morning and have not had any issues return and no codes--but park assist it dead.

I think that water got somewhere it should have--no more car washes for me.

My wife jokes that I can't take a $125k car through a car wash--great engineering she laughs.

What the heck happened?

Is there a connection to park assist in the engine bay that I need to look at or dry off?

wross996tt

check fuses.

jrockwood

All fuse seem good--- why would it freak out like this after a wash?

wross996tt

seriously electrical gremlins are a PIA to diagnose and fix....check ground wires, battery connections. when was the last time you replaced the battery? it shouldn't just happen as a result of the wash, but I would never use a brushless car wash (or any other for that matter) as they high power spray small particles (like sand blasting) into your paint.

slant911

Sounds like an alternator problem to me. The car wash sent it off as the alternator got wet and was probably on it's last legs.

Macster

Obviously something got real wet from car going through car wash. Some carwashes really blast the car's undercarriage -- generally washes in areas that receive snow/ice in winter cause people like to run their vehicles through this to help rinse off undercarriage -- and this can spray alot of water into engine compartment.

Have not have my Turbo long enough to familiarize myself with its water shedding behavior so not sure how engine compartment cover sheds water either and if there are drains that might need clearing/cleaning to keep water from getting into engine compartment.

To make matters worse belt and accessory pulleys probably got wet and belt started slipping some and likely not driving alternator very much if at all intermittently for a few moments until water dried.

As for park assist as someone very intelligently suggested check fuses. Could be the device just got good and doused with water and might recover after car sits long enough for water to evaporate.

Your wife does have a point about the car's engineering apparently not up to the task of protecting car's belt and acessory drives from the effects of a car wash. That's very observant of her.

Of course, now that you know stay away from drive through car washes.

Sincerely,

Macster.

adam_

You wife insulted your ride.

Actions must be taken.....



Could be as simple as water on the alt belt causing it to slip? Hence the slowly varying behavior?

Not sure why park is still dead though, assuming the fuses check out...

A

jrockwood

can anyone show me where the park assist and rear lights connector is? Since both are out it makes sense to track the problem back to a common source or connection.

wross996tt

I'm not an electrician, but here are parts of the wiring schematics:

jrockwood

Thanks--where is the connector located? I thought it was in the engine bay?

wross996tt

behind the license plate....