Bioscache2
Well-known member
This was very strange and although the car is now fine I'm worried it will happen again, dealer could offer no explanation.
Car is an 01 coupe with a manual transmission and 110k miles on it. I had driven the car back and forth to work and it presented with no issues. Then I went out to grab something later that night and when I started the car the engine started fine but the dashboard did not react (ie, tach didn't move, no gauges registered, etc). The the car shuts off on its own giving me the reduced power message and then service engine soon.. Now I turn off the key, wait and try it again, same results. Also, after turning the car completely off, the car will not react to anything. Panel lights are on but will not shut off, car does not respond to opening the door or they key fob, like the computer is frozen. Headlights do respond though and do not appear dim. I try once more and realize that after the car shuts off on its own, then some of the assoecories come on and some but not all guages react. Battery reads 11.8 volts but I don't trust it since only some of the guages are reading anything. I turn the car completely off and then pop hood to check battery connections, connections are nice and tight. I realize I will need a flat bed tow but it's late and no service station is open so I wait until morning. Next morning the panel lights are still on so I figure the battery will be or is dead by the time the tow gets there. I finally get it flat beded to the dealer by lunch and of course now the battery is dead so the car will not even start. Dealer says to leave it and they will check it out.
Dealer calls next day and says they recharged the battery and found a battery draw, the lamp on the passenger sun visor was staying on. He says I can disconnect it or replace it. Replacing it is something like $350 so I tell him to just disconnect it but he says now the car runs fine and they can't duplicate the problem. I picked up the car just at closing so I haven't gotten a chance to talk to the guy yet but they did not disconnect the visor lamp after all. Instead stuck a pad in there where the sensor touches the panel (my guess is the lid wasn't pushing down enough on the sensor for some reason). Will call the dealer on Monday to get the full story but any guesses?
I know this was a lot of info but I wanted to include all the details and see if anyone had any thoughts.
Car is an 01 coupe with a manual transmission and 110k miles on it. I had driven the car back and forth to work and it presented with no issues. Then I went out to grab something later that night and when I started the car the engine started fine but the dashboard did not react (ie, tach didn't move, no gauges registered, etc). The the car shuts off on its own giving me the reduced power message and then service engine soon.. Now I turn off the key, wait and try it again, same results. Also, after turning the car completely off, the car will not react to anything. Panel lights are on but will not shut off, car does not respond to opening the door or they key fob, like the computer is frozen. Headlights do respond though and do not appear dim. I try once more and realize that after the car shuts off on its own, then some of the assoecories come on and some but not all guages react. Battery reads 11.8 volts but I don't trust it since only some of the guages are reading anything. I turn the car completely off and then pop hood to check battery connections, connections are nice and tight. I realize I will need a flat bed tow but it's late and no service station is open so I wait until morning. Next morning the panel lights are still on so I figure the battery will be or is dead by the time the tow gets there. I finally get it flat beded to the dealer by lunch and of course now the battery is dead so the car will not even start. Dealer says to leave it and they will check it out.
Dealer calls next day and says they recharged the battery and found a battery draw, the lamp on the passenger sun visor was staying on. He says I can disconnect it or replace it. Replacing it is something like $350 so I tell him to just disconnect it but he says now the car runs fine and they can't duplicate the problem. I picked up the car just at closing so I haven't gotten a chance to talk to the guy yet but they did not disconnect the visor lamp after all. Instead stuck a pad in there where the sensor touches the panel (my guess is the lid wasn't pushing down enough on the sensor for some reason). Will call the dealer on Monday to get the full story but any guesses?
I know this was a lot of info but I wanted to include all the details and see if anyone had any thoughts.
