Blanking idoit lights and no starter turnover.

jmoomaw · **Posted:** Mon Jul 19, 2010 6:00 am

Wow...something new. Yesterday I turned my key and noticed all the idot lights were staying on instead of going after a few seconds. The starter would not turn over and the radio did not turn on. Clearly there is some short in the lines somewhere.

Here are the bizarre things that are happening:

1. The back door will not open.
2. The back window lock works on its own when the starter key is turned on.
3. When I unlock the doors with my key buttons the back window opens.
4. The security activation light is turned on with the starter key turned. As far as I know, I do not have the security system installed.
5. I can unlock all the doors but the back gate will not open when I pull on the handle.
6. The lights flash when I try to start the car.
7. The rear wiper does not turn on.

Yesterday I tried to disable the short pulling fuses for different systems out. No luck. I undid the battery for a few minutes to see if that would reset the security system I do not think I have. We are going to look at the gate wire harness once we get it open. My friend also will check the codes to see if there is anything there. Otherwise it is off the to shop.

Any thoughts on this....what a mess.

dkenny · **Posted:** Mon Jul 19, 2010 7:44 am

did you check the battery?

-dkenny

Billwill · **Posted:** Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:09 am

The fact that the idiot lights refuse to go out would seem to indicate the ECM or maybe BCM?

Let us know what error codes you are getting

dgeist · **Posted:** Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:18 am

dkenny wrote:

did you check the battery?

-dkenny

x2 on the batter. The BCM goes wonky when the battery is dying. It might be holding a charge "okay" but if your current drops too low while the starter is on, other things will go awry.

Dan

Big Montana · **Posted:** Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:32 am

Hmmm... We should all have a security system built in. I have a blank key in my house just in case I lock the keys in the car, and I had to use it once. It sets the alarm off because the doors are not unlocked by the REAL key.

The first week I owned my car way back in 05, the car wouldn't start on two occations. I would turn the key and not a peep from anything in the car. I don't remember if any other symptoms you described happened too. It was the first two days of ownership, and I'm not sure I was thinking anything other than, "What the heck is going on with my first brand new car?" The first dealer I had it towed to replaced the key fob thingy (not the keys but the internal part on the car) claiming that my car was unable to recogize the key I was putting in the ignition. It worked for two days before it did it again to my wife. The second dealer I had it towed to replaced the battery, and I have never had a problem since. I've had the same battery ever since Oct 05 and it's not the red top that everyone talks about on here. It has a black top.

geordi · **Posted:** Mon Jul 19, 2010 10:13 am

Big Montana wrote:

Hmmm... We should all have a security system built in. I have a blank key in my house just in case I lock the keys in the car, and I had to use it once. It sets the alarm off because the doors are not unlocked by the REAL key.

The first week I owned my car way back in 05, the car wouldn't start on two occations. I would turn the key and not a peep from anything in the car. I don't remember if any other symptoms you described happened too. It was the first two days of ownership, and I'm not sure I was thinking anything other than, "What the heck is going on with my first brand new car?" The first dealer I had it towed to replaced the key fob thingy (not the keys but the internal part on the car) claiming that my car was unable to recogize the key I was putting in the ignition. It worked for two days before it did it again to my wife. The second dealer I had it towed to replaced the battery, and I have never had a problem since. I've had the same battery ever since Oct 05 and it's not the red top that everyone talks about on here. It has a black top.

Then they did not replace your battery with another Optima battery, they used whatever they had on the shelf. That isn't a problem (I have a regular wet battery from Wal-Mart now) but some people care about that.

But this is different - Can you open your door with the "right" key and NOT have the alarm set off? Unless I use the remote, it doesn't matter what I stick into the door... The alarm sounds.

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Mon Jul 19, 2010 2:17 pm

FYI - a dying battery in the key fob - will allow you to unlock the door - without turning off the alarm.....

as to the original problem - check the battery - when it's low - it doesn't always turn on the computer

bugnout · **Posted:** Mon Jul 19, 2010 4:51 pm

Check the battery, Computers do really weird things on a marginal battery.

Big Montana · **Posted:** Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:57 pm

geordi wrote:

Big Montana wrote:

Hmmm... We should all have a security system built in. I have a blank key in my house just in case I lock the keys in the car, and I had to use it once. It sets the alarm off because the doors are not unlocked by the REAL key.

The first week I owned my car way back in 05, the car wouldn't start on two occations. I would turn the key and not a peep from anything in the car. I don't remember if any other symptoms you described happened too. It was the first two days of ownership, and I'm not sure I was thinking anything other than, "What the heck is going on with my first brand new car?" The first dealer I had it towed to replaced the key fob thingy (not the keys but the internal part on the car) claiming that my car was unable to recogize the key I was putting in the ignition. It worked for two days before it did it again to my wife. The second dealer I had it towed to replaced the battery, and I have never had a problem since. I've had the same battery ever since Oct 05 and it's not the red top that everyone talks about on here. It has a black top.

Then they did not replace your battery with another Optima battery, they used whatever they had on the shelf. That isn't a problem (I have a regular wet battery from Wal-Mart now) but some people care about that.

But this is different - Can you open your door with the "right" key and NOT have the alarm set off? Unless I use the remote, it doesn't matter what I stick into the door... The alarm sounds.

It is a Mopar. I just meant the normal spare key I have will unlock the door like keys used to way back in 1994. It sets the alarm off though like assume the real key would if I didn't push the button to unlock it. Either way, I agree it could be the battery.

jmoomaw · **Posted:** Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:33 am

Well, according to the "stealership" it is the battery and the starter. Apparently the starter tried to engage and then got locked into the gears and countinue to draw power from the system. I smelled the electrical burn out before they towed my baby away.

I wish I had seen all these posts before I had her towed. Starter $355 installed, $100.00 for the battery if it doesn't hold a charge anymore. I could get a starter with a lifetime guarantee for $250.00 and have a friend install it..but things are set in motion.

It never occurred to me it was the battery with all the blinking lights. I guess that started the problem and then the starter got burned up afterward.

Blanking idoit lights and no starter turnover.

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