Electrical Demon in 05 LGT

So, I own a LGT Wagon with 110K miles and it seems to be cursed with electrical problems. Major ones... Batteries last 18 months if I'm lucky, dash brightness constantly change themselves, had to have the radio stack replaced because 1) The CD changer was broken and 2) it was draining the battery dry when the car was off.

 

Last week however, a new and exciting problem:

 

 

Last week I took my car to be emissions tested (MD) and they just plug in to your OBD port to test the car. I pulled up, shut it off, they plugged the cable in, they asked me to start it back up... and it began. This has been going on at random since then.

• The car sometimes starts very hesitantly. I insert the key, turn it, and nothing. No click, no crank, no pings, no dash lights. I release the key back to "On" and leave it. Over the next few seconds the car s l o w l y starts coming alive. The gauges turn on dimly and get brighter, dash lights start appearing at random until they're all on, the pinger starts going. After a few seconds of waiting I can turn the car on with no problem. This has happened 4 times since last Wednesday.
  
• Most of the time it just starts right up with no problem.
  
• The electroluminscent dash gauges flicker sometimes when I'm stopped at a light.
  
• Sunday afternoon I went over a bump in the road and the ABS light came on and the Cruise control turned off (this went away by itself later that day).
  
• Yesterday the CEL came on after one of the long, slow start ups described above.
  

I took it to the dealer and they have no idea what's wrong. They say the codes aren't telling them anything and they can't reproduce the problem. They want me to replace the ECU and TCM because that seemed "like the most likely problem".

 

I held off, that repair sounds like a bank breaker for something they're not sure of. Anyone have any ideas?

I'd start with a known good battery, and ck the grounds on thr dr side head. Check for voltage drop thru the battery cables and alt B+ wire, and the battery engine AND chassis ground. Chk for water intrusion/corrosion in the bulkhead connector, and again the integrity of the ground circuits in that bulkhead connector. Did anyone test the alternator output? What about the actual starter draw, tested?

I've tried to get the dealer to look at the battery/electrical system but they're fixated on the CEL code that's telling them there's a bad connection between the ECU and TCM. They checked the wiring and found nothing.

The ECU's probably cannot communicate due to the voltage fluctuations gargling all the digital messages.

 

Fully charge the battery, then take the large red B+ wire off the alternator and wrap it with tape. Run the car and see if the condition still exists.

1 year old battery was toast.

 

They checked the starter and the charging system and found no problems.

How many batteries have you gone through? They should be lasting more than 1 year - 18 months.

 

There may be another problem causing the batteries to die quickly. Possibly the alternator?

I've gone through about 5 Batteries since I purchased the car in Sept 2004. They checked the alternator and it came back OK, same with the starter.

 

They had to replace my entire HVAC/Radio stack about 4 years ago after the CD Changer died. For some unknown and charming reason it was draining the battery to near dead overnight. Dealer confirmed a battery draw in to the HVAC unit even with the car off.

I've recently had some weird starting issues too. Did the problem go away with a new battery?

I've gone through about 5 Batteries since I purchased the car in Sept 2004. They checked the alternator and it came back OK, same with the starter.

 

They had to replace my entire HVAC/Radio stack about 4 years ago after the CD Changer died. For some unknown and charming reason it was draining the battery to near dead overnight. Dealer confirmed a battery draw in to the HVAC unit even with the car off.

 

I've seen "tested" alternators that were the cause of issues. I would consider replacing it.

 

-mike

 

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