Last Friday I was getting ready for the Annual Yosemite Waterfall Run, got my car washed, drove home, parked, packed, loaded stuff into the trunk, started the car, all without problems. played with the windows to open them a little bit (it was around 100 degrees outside), when suddenly electrical systems started to fail: no more radio, power windows dead, ABS off, traction control off, fuel gauge off, shocks inoperable, reduced engine power, etc etc. engine was still running, power steering ok, so I carefully drove it to the local dealership. bear in mind, it is a Friday, 5pm! I am still hoping that it's just a fuse that blew. Mechanic checks fuses, couple of other things, noticed that the main computer lost communication to all other modules, and now the car won't even start.

Had to leave the car at the dealership, got a "serious Detroit Muscle" rental car (Chevy Malibu , still beats having to walk home ).

Checked with the dealer on Monday: when they looked at the car on Monday, it was working 100%. they still saw the error codes from Friday, but all systems did work. Both, dealer and I, are not convinced that the real issue is fixed, so they still have the car for additional tests.

Anybody seen anything like that before? Any ideas?

If water got into a module or shortcircuited a connection, it could have dried off over the weekend, that would explain why it works again. But I would be concerned that a normal (hand) wash of the car would cause that. Also, the car worked perfectly for hours after it had been washed.

I did get the engine cleaned a week prior to last Friday at a very experienced place that deals with a lot of expensive cars (Corvettes, Ferraris, ...), so I expect that they know what to do and what not to do. They did carefully steam clean both top and bottom of the engine, and while the vehicle is lifted, the inner sided of the wheel mags are cleaned as well. Not sure if that could cause the problem, and if so, why did the car work for a whole week without any problems?

The last two days had been very hot (up to 104 degrees), not sure if that could play a role.

Any idea what else to check for?

Cheers
--pwo


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Peter W. Osel http://pwo.de/

 

I guess you've tried the obvious - replace the battery.

Random electrical problems normally mean a dead AC Delco.

 

actually no, but the battery had been replaced in October 2005 (battery died).
The car is an 03 which got delivered in January 2003. Will still talk with the dealer to see if we can swap the battery (just in case).

Thanks,
--pwo

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Peter W. Osel http://pwo.de/

 

I just answered a post that may help you!

Check out the post and see if that may be related to your issue. Is an easy check and its free.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1429557

Let me know what you find. I have other stuff to check!

BC

 

cool. this sounds very similar to my problem. The car is still at the dealership, though, hope to get it back tomorrow.

hhmh, makes me wonder whether the root cause of my problem is that the floor mats where shampooed and that I do have plastic floor mats on top of the standard floor mats.

Thank you,
--pwo